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Bellator Champions Series Belfast: Anderson vs. Moore Preview
At 1 PM EST on Friday, March 22, Bellator returns after its sale and merger with PFL to bring us the Bellator Champions Series. This show will be taking place in Belfast, hence the early US start time, and will feature two title fights.
What makes this even better is that, going forward, Bellator will be easier to access for many fight fans. Max stepped up and agreed to show Bellator on its streaming service, which will allow many more eyes to land on the promotion. This worked out nicely for me, as I was not planning to renew my DAZN subscription when it expires next month.
Let’s take a look at Friday’s card…
MAIN CARD
Corey Anderson vs. Karl Moore - Light Heavyweight Title Fight (Champion Vacant)
Patricio Pitbull (champion) vs. Jeremy Kennedy - Featherweight Title Fight
Fabian Edwards vs. Aaron Jeffery
James Gallagher vs. Leandro Higo
Tim Wilde vs. Manoel Sousa
PRELIMINARY CARD
Ciaran Clarke vs. Darius Mafi
Tofiq Musayev vs. Alfie Davis
Steven Hill vs. Jordan Newman
Luke Trainer vs. Grant Neal
Nathan Kelly vs. Vikas Singh Ruhil
Abraham Bably vs. Isaiah Pinson
The Prelims
I always say to not sleep on the UFC Prelims, right? Well, the Bellator Prelims are a little more hit or miss. I tend to enjoy them, but a lot of the recent cards had SO many fights in the Prelims that it became a bit of a chore after a while and tired me out for the Main Card. I’m happy to see that this card has the normal amount of Prelims with some fun UK names. If nothing else, the crowd will probably be hot for a few of these fights.
James Gallagher vs. Leandro Higo
Belfast will be hot for their countryman, James Gallagher. Gallagher likes to go out there, especially in front of his fans, and put on a show. I expect him to try and make the crowd happy here against Higo.
Fabian Edwards vs. Aaron Jeffery
Aaron Jeffery is an exciting fighter who was getting a lot of hype before the sale of Bellator to PFL. He will be taking on a very tough Fabian Edwards. Edwards, the brother of UFC’s Leon, has all the tools to be a champion like his brother. This will be a fun fight to showcase who takes the next step in their careers and becomes a favorite to make their case for a title fight.
Patricio Pitbull vs. Jeremy Kennedy
Kennedy was originally scheduled to fight Gallagher earlier on the card, but is getting the call to take on Patricio Pitbull in a Featherweight Title fight. No offense to Gallagher, but it’s quite the upgrade in opportunity for Kennedy. He’ll have the chance to take away the title from one of the cornerstones of Bellator. Pitbull was originally scheduled to be on the PFL vs. Bellator card last month. Both opponents he was scheduled against ended up pulling out of the fight, which was a shame for Pitbull. He was able to get on this card, though, which is more fitting, if you think about it. It has more of a “Bellator feel” to it. Who better to be on the card that kicks off this new Bellator era?
Corey Anderson vs. Karl Moore
The Light Heavyweight Division needs a champion with Vadim Nemkov moving up to Heavyweight, so Corey Anderson and Karl Moore will battle on Friday to fill the void. Karl Moore, who is from Belfast, is on a four fight win streak and will have the home field advantage. Corey Anderson has a No Contest, a loss, and a split decision win in his last three outings (the No Contest and loss came against Nemkov). While he isn’t on the same roll as Moore is, he is still dangerous. He’ll look to use his stamina to drag Moore into deep waters and grind out a win. Both men have knockout power, though, so if they decide to stand and bang, it could end up as a very exciting main event.
On their YouTube page, Bellator is doing a nice job of giving fans behind the scenes access to Fight Week. They had two cool videos on Corey Anderson and Karl Moore, if you are looking to get to know them better. They also started their Fight Week daily vlog, too. I suggest checking it all out, whether you know the fighters or not, to prepare for Friday.
My picks for the Main Card…
Karl Moore
Patricio Pitbull
Fabian Edwards
James Gallagher
Tim Wilde
What do you guys think? Does this card get you excited for the Bellator Champions Series? Do you plan on watching on Friday? Does the show being on Max make it easier or more enticing? Let me know at matt.tenhoeve@gmail.com. I’ll be back in a day or so to talk about UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas, which is taking place on Saturday. See you then!
