| Freire vs. Carvalho |
Sanchez vs. Weichel |
Markes vs. Mitrione |
Daley vs. Homasi |
Newell vs. Zane |
Aguiar vs. Tokov |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 36-18 |
 Freire (69%) |
 Sanchez (61%) |
 Mitrione (77%) |
 Daley (92%) |
 Newell (70%) |
 Tokov (84%) |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 41-13 |
Freire |
 Weichel |
Mitrione |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 40-14  2019 Champion* |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Mitrione |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 40-14 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
 Markes |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 40-14 |
Freire |
Weichel |
Mitrione |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 40-14 |
Freire |
Weichel |
Mitrione |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 40-14 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Markes |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 40-14 |
Freire |
Weichel |
Markes |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 40-14 2017 Champion |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Markes |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 39-15 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Markes |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 38-16 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Markes |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 38-16 2014 Champion |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Mitrione |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 38-16 2018 Champion |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Mitrione |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 33-21 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Markes |
Daley |
Newell |
Tokov |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 25-29 |
Freire |
Sanchez |
Mitrione |
 Homasi |
Newell |
 Aguiar |
Bellator is back in Connecticut this week for the continuation of its ongoing featherweight tournament.
Bellator 241 takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, featherweight and lightweight champion [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] (30-4 MMA, 18-4 BMMA) puts his 145-pound title on the line against challenger [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) in the quarterfinals of the grand prix. “Pitbull” Freire is a big 10-1 favorite from the oddsmakers, and he pitched a shutout from our 14 MMA Junkie editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers.
The co-main event is another quarterfinal fight in the tournament, and the winner will move on to face the Freire-Carvalho winner in what will be a semifinal bout that doubles as a title fight. [autotag]Emmanuel Sanchez[/autotag] (19-4 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) is a slight favorite against [autotag]Daniel Weichel[/autotag] (40-11 MMA, 9-3 BMMA) in a rematch of a fight Weichel won in 2016. But this time, it’s Sanchez with a 10-4 lead in the picks.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Ronny Markes[/autotag] (19-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) takes on late replacement [autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag] (13-7 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) in a heavyweight bout. Markes was supposed to fight Josh Barnett in a fight rescheduled from December, but Barnett was pulled from the event. Mitrione is the favorite at around -170, but our pickers have it split right down the middle at 7-7.
[autotag]Paul Daley[/autotag] (42-17-2 MMA, 8-4 BMMA) is a 4-1 favorite in his welterweight fight against [autotag]Sabah Homasi[/autotag] (13-8 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), and the picks reflect that. Only one picker is taking Homasi in an upset, giving Daley a whopping 13-1 edge.
[autotag]Nick Newell[/autotag] (16-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) will try to rebound from his first Bellator loss with another fight in his home state when he takes on [autotag]Zach Zane[/autotag] (14-9 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at lightweight. Newell is more than a 2-1 favorite, and he’s our second unanimous pick.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Anatoly Tokov[/autotag] (29-2 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) is a massive 12-1 favorite against [autotag]Fabio Aguiar[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), who is making his Bellator debut at middleweight. Only one picker is taking Aguiar in what would be a big upset.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Freire (69 percent), Sanchez (61 percent), Mitrione (77 percent), Daley (92 percent), Newell (70 percent) and Tokov (84 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.