Bellator 296 predictions: Mousasi or Edwards, Barnaoui or Primus in Paris?

Check out our staff members’ picks for the Bellator 296 main card in Paris.

Mousasi
vs.
Edwards
Barnaoui
vs.
Primus
Lima
vs.
Van Steenis
Gouti
vs.
Mousah
MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
66-49
mousasi2023
Mousasi
(77%)
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
(56%)
lima2023
Lima
(60%)
gouti2023
Gouti
(67%)
Matt Erickson
@MattE
75-40
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
lima2023
Lima
mousah2023
Mousah
Simon Samano
@SJSamano
73-42
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
vansteenis2023
Van Steenis
mousah2023
Mousah
Nolan King
@mma_kings
71-44
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
vansteenis2023
Van Steenis
mousah2023
Mousah
Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
70-45
mousasi2023
Mousasi
primus2023
Primus
lima2023
Lima
mousah2023
Mousah
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
70-45
mousasi2023
Mousasi
primus2023
Primus
vansteenis2023
Van Steenis
mousah2023
Mousah
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
68-47
trophy copy 2014 Champion
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
lima2023
Lima
mousah2023
Mousah
Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
-65-50
trophy copy 2018, 2022 Champion
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
lima2023
Lima
gouti2023
Gouti
Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
65-50
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
vansteenis2023
Van Steenis
mousah2023
Mousah
Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
63-52
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
vansteenis2023
Van Steenis
gouti2023
Gouti
Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
62-53
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
lima2023
Lima
mousah2023
Mousah
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
62-53
trophy copy 2017 Champion
mousasi2023
Mousasi
barnaoui2023
Barnaoui
lima2023
Lima
mousah2023
Mousah

Bellator is back in the “City of Light” for the third time with a key tournament fight and an ex-champ at the top of the bill.

Bellator 296 takes place Friday at Accor Arena in Paris. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, former middleweight champion [autotag]Gegard Mousasi[/autotag] (49-8-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) will fight for the first time since he lost his title when he takes on [autotag]Fabian Edwards[/autotag] (11-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA), the brother of UFC welterweight champ Leon Edwards.

Mousasi is a -260 favorite in the fight, and he’s a near-unanimous pick from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers. They have it as a blowout for the former champ, Mousasi, at 10-1.

In the co-feature, [autotag]Mansour Barnaoui[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) takes on former lightweight champ [autotag]Brent Primus[/autotag] (11-3 MMA, 9-3 BMMA) in a quarterfinal fight in Bellator’s lightweight grand prix. Barnaoui is a moderate favorite at -360 and has a big 9-2 lead in the picks.

Also on the main card, former welterweight champion [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (32-11 MMA, 14-7 BMMA) takes on [autotag]Costello van Steenis[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) in a middleweight bout. Van Steenis is a slight favorite at -160, but it’s Lima with a narrow 6-5 edge in the picks.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Thibault Gouti[/autotag] (16-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) meets [autotag]Kane Mousah[/autotag] (14-4 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) at lightweight. Gouti is a slight favorite at -140, but it’s Mousah in a blowout at 9-2.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Mousasi (77 percent), Barnaoui (56 percent), Lima (60 percent) and Gouti (67 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 296.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Jan. 9-15)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from Jan. 9-15.

Bellator 285 post-event facts: Yoel Romero makes history with late knockout

Check out the numbers behind Bellator 285, where Yoel Romero added to one of the most unique records in MMA.

Bellator returned from a six-week hiatus on Saturday with Bellator 285, which went down at 3Arena in Dublin and featured a 13-fight lineup on the card.

The main event featured a dominant performance from former UFC and WEC lightweight champion [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (30-11 MMA, 7-6 BMMA), who shut down Ireland’s [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-7 MMA, 2-3 BMMA) over the course of five rounds to win a unanimous decision and begin his late-career push toward the title.

For more on the numbers behind the headliner, as well as the rest of the event, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 285.

Bellator 285 preliminary stream and live results

Watch the preliminary stream and keep up with live and official results of Bellator 285 in Dublin, Ireland.

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Bellator 285 takes place Friday, and you can join MMA Junkie for the preliminary live stream and official results.

The event takes place at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

In the main event, [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (29-11 MMA, 6-6 BMMA) steps into the backyard of Ireland’s [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-6-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) for a lightweight showdown.

The co-feature will see [autotag]Yoel Romero[/autotag] (14-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) take on [autotag]Melvin Manhoef[/autotag] (32-15-1 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) in a light heavyweight bout.

Official Bellator 285 results include:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)

  • Benson Henderson def. Peter Queally via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45)
  • Yoel Romero def. Melvin Manhoef via knockout (elbows) – Round 3, 3:34
  • [autotag]Leah McCourt[/autotag] def. [autotag]Dayana Silva[/autotag] via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
  • [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag] def. [autotag]Mads Burnell[/autotag] via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-29, 29-28)
  • [autotag]Ciaran Clarke[/autotag] def. [autotag]Rafael Hudson[/autotag] via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:50
  • [autotag]Karl Moore[/autotag] def. [autotag]Karl Albrektsson[/autotag] via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:36

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 1 p.m. ET)

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 285.

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Bellator 285: Best photos from Dublin

Check out these photos from the fights at Bellator 285 which took place at 3Arena in Dublin.

Check out these photos from the fights at Bellator 285 which took place at 3Arena in Dublin. (Photos courtesy of Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA)

Bellator 275 loses Peter Queally vs. Kane Mousah; lineup finalized for Dublin

Thirteen fights are set for Friday in Dublin, but Peter Queally is no longer featured.

Bellator returns Friday to Dublin where the middleweight strap will be atop a card that no longer features a specific home-country favorite.

With the finalization of the Bellator 275 lineup, the previously scheduled co-main event between [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] (13-6-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Kane Mousah[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) is off the card, promotion officials confirmed Monday. Ireland-based outlet Severe MMA, which first reported the bout cancellation, reported the fight was scrapped because of an undisclosed injury to Queally.

Queally, 33, is a friend and former training partner of Conor McGregor. A competitor in Bellator since 2019, Queally has made a name for himself as a lightweight contender – and for his captivating walkout using “Zombie” by the Cranberries as his entrance music.

He most recently competed for the vacant lightweight title at Bellator 270 in Dublin this past November, when he was stopped by Patricky “Pitbull” Freire via strikes in Round 2.

As for Mousah, he’s only competed once since 2020, which was a unanimous decision defeat to Davy Gallon at Bellator 267 in October.

In place of the fallen-through lightweight bout, [autotag]Ciaran Clarke[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Abou Tounkara[/autotag] (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has been elevated from the prelims. Additionally, [autotag]Khasan Magomedsharipov[/autotag] (6-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) vs. [autotag]Jose Sanchez[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) has been tacked onto the main card, making it five fights long rather than the previously planned four.

Bellator 275 takes place Friday at 3Arena. The main card airs on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Check out the finalized lineup below.

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Gegard Mousasi vs. Austin Vanderford – for middleweight title
  • Sinead Kavanagh vs. Leah McCourt
  • Ciaran Clarke vs. Abou Tounkara
  • Khasan Magomedsharipov vs. Jose Sanchez
  • Jornel Lugo vs. Brian Moore

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 1 p.m. ET)

  • Brett Johns vs. Khurshed Kakhorov
  • Davy Gallon vs. Charlie Leary
  • Danni McCormack vs. Stephanie Page
  • Darragh Kelly vs. Junior Morgan
  • Daniele Scatizzi vs. Vladimir Tokov
  • Gokhan Saricam vs. Kirill Sidelnikov
  • Nathan Kelly vs. Scott Pedersen
  • Lee Hammond vs. Jamie Hay

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Peter Queally vs. Kane Mousah co-headlines Bellator Dublin on Feb. 25

Peter Queally will compete in Bellator’s return to Ireland when he faces Kane Mousah.

[autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] will compete in Bellator’s return to Ireland.

Queally (13-6-1 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) faces [autotag]Kane Mousah[/autotag] (13-4 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) in the co-main event of Bellator Dublin, which takes place Feb. 25 at the 3Arena, promotion officials announced Thursday morning. Tickets go on sale Saturday and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.ie and Bellator.com with a special pre-sale starting Friday.

Queally will look to rebound from his title fight loss to Patricky Freire in November. After stopping Freire in a non-title bout at Bellator 258 in May, the pair rematched at Bellator 270 in Dublin, this time for the vacant lightweight belt. But Freire exacted his revenge and stopped the Irishman in the second round to claim the title.

Mousah will also look to get back to the win column. The Manchester Top Team fighter has split his four Bellator appearances with wins over Mateusz Piskorz and Alessandro Botti. He’s coming off a unanimous decision loss to Davy Gallon at Bellator 267 in October.

The Bellator Dublin lineup currently includes:

MAIN CARD

  • Gegard Mousasi vs. Austin Vanderford – for middleweight title
  • Kane Mousah vs. Peter Queally

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Davy Gallon vs. Charlie Leary
  • Darragh Kelly vs. Junior Morgan

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Photo: Kane Mousah suffers horrific gash in decision loss at Bellator 267

Kane Mousah battled through one of the nastiest cuts in recent memory and went the distance at Bellator 267.

[autotag]Kane Mousah[/autotag] sure kicked off the spooky season in the combat sports world.

The Bellator lightweight suffered one of the most horrific cuts sustained in recent memory in MMA during his clash against Davy Gallon in the preliminary card of Bellator 267. The event took place on Friday at The SSE Arena, Wembley in London.

Below is a picture of the cut that was opened up by Gallon in the first round from an elbow:

Shortly after the conclusion of the fight, and being stitched up by the doctors, Mousah posted a video to his Instagram story explaining how he felt about the outcome, and of course, the nasty gash on his forehead.

[lawrence-related id=1200691]

“It didn’t go our way but I think I won the fight,” Mousah said on his Instagram stories. “A fight is a fight. This is the thing about MMA, it’s such an amazing sport and it can be scored any way. That was the fight of the night. You saw me in there gritty; southpaw; head kick; hurt him; split me; blood in my eyes, but never quit once. Heart of a lion.”

Mousah (13-4 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) fought through the cut, but unfortunately didn’t get the nod from the judges despite the gutsy performance. Gallon was awarded a unanimous decision win.

Up-to-the-minute results of Bellator 267 include:

  • Lewis Long def. Michael Dubois via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:41
  • Davy Gallon def. Kane Mousah via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Elina Kallionidou def. Petra Castkova via submission (heel hook) – Round 1, 2:07
  • Jack Grant def. Nathan Jones via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 2:16
  • Fabacary Diatta def. Nathan Rose via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Chiara Penco def. Katharina Dalisda via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:45
  • Khurshed Kakhorov def. Jair Junior via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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Douglas Lima to rematch Michael Page in Bellator 267 headliner in London

Michael Page will finally get the opportunity to avenge the lone loss of his MMA career, when he rematches Douglas Lima on Oct. 1.

[autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] will finally get the opportunity to avenge the lone loss of his MMA career.

Page (19-1 MMA, 15-1 BMMA) rematches former three-time welterweight champion [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (32-9 MMA, 14-5 BMMA) in the main event of Bellator 267, which takes place at London’s The SSE Arena, Wembley on Oct. 1, Bellator officials announced Tuesday morning.

Since losing to Lima in the welterweight grand prix semi-finals in May 2019, “MVP” has won five straight bouts, most recently smashing Derek Anderson’s nose in with a left kick in the first round of Bellator 258. He’s been eager to run things back with Lima ever since getting knocked out by him and he will get his wish, this time, in front of his home crowd.

After recapturing his welterweight title from Rory MacDonald in the grand prix finals in October 2019, Lima attempted to go up in weight and become a dual-champion by challenging Gegard Mousasi for the vacant light heavyweight title at Bellator 250. Lima would fall short in his pursuit and would go on to lose his 170-pound belt in his first title defense against Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 260 in June.

The full Bellator 267 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 4 p.m. ET)

  • Douglas Lima vs. Michael Page
  • [autotag]Andrew Fisher[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Robert Whiteford[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Yves Landu[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tim Wilde[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Yannick Bahati[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Luke Trainer[/autotag]

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 12:30 p.m. ET)

  • [autotag]Uros Jurisic[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Lewis Long[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Davy Gallon[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Kane Mousah[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Lucie Bertaud[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Elina Kallionidou[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Gavin Hughes[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Charlie Leary[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Fabacary Diatta[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Nathan Rose[/autotag]
  • [autotag]Mike Ekundayo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Khurshed Kakhorov[/autotag]

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