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Bellator returns to New York this week and the welterweight title is in play in the main event.
The Bellator 222 will take place Friday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main map airs on DAZN after the preliminary matches on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF file of the staff selection grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, welterweight champion Rory MacDonald (20-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 BMMA) puts his title on the line against Neiman Gracie (9-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) in a fight that serves as a semi-final bout in the current Bellator welterweight grand prix. MacDonald is almost a 2-1 favorite, but he only has the narrowest edges among seven of our 13 writers, writers, radio hosts and videographers MMA Junkie.
In the co-feature, former UFC lightweight champion, Lyoto Machida (25-8 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), faces Chael Sonnen (30-16-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA). Machida is an important favorite, and it is the choice of 11 of our 13 staff members.
Still on the main card, Dillon Danis (1-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) is one of two unanimous picks in his 175 pound fight against Max Humphrey (3-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). The other unanimous sign goes to Ricky Bandejas (11-2 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) in his fight against bantamweight against Patrick Mix (10-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Danis is the biggest favorite on the card at 10-1, but Bandejas is only a favorite -125 compared to Mix.
Juan Archuleta (22-1 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) is almost a unanimous choice over former bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas (21-6 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) in their featherweight fight . But he must be content with a rout of 12-1 in the choices.
And to open the main map, Darrion Caldwell (12-2 MMA, 9-1 BMMA), champion of the lean weights, puts his belt in play during a rematch against Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2 MMA, 0- 0 BMMA). Caldwell went to Japan last December to play Horiguchi's Rizin title, but was disappointed. Now, Horiguchi is attacking Caldwell's Bellator belt and has an 8-5 lead in the choices.
MacDonald (57%), Machida (69%), Danis (71%), Bandejas (61%), Archuleta (64%) and Horiguchi (56%) are the choices that have been unanimously approved.
Discover all the choices above.
To learn more about Bellator 222, see the MMA Rumors section of the site.
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