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BELLATOR FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS 48 TELEVISED CARD PREVIEW

The conclusion of the Bellator “Summer Series” takes place on Saturday Night and it is arguably the most loaded card in the company’s history. Two crucial heavyweight bouts will take place on the card featuring BFC Heavyweight Champion Cole Konrad and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriquez. Also, there are the finals of the highly entertaining BFC Featherweight Tournament as Pat Curran takes on Marlon Sandro.

Kicking off the card is a lightweight division fight as Juan Barrante (7-5-0) will go into battle against Rene Nazare (9-0-0). Juan Barrante has not competed in an MMA fight in well over a year and he is coming off of a loss to Antonio Carvalho at W-1 MMA 5. Rene Nazare is currently undefeated in Bellator competition, defeating Luiz Azeredo and Kelvin Hackney. The long layoff is going to hurt Juan Barrante here as Rene Nazare will remain undefeated when this one is over.

We jump into the heavyweight division for our next fight as Seth “The Silverback” Petruzelli (13-6-0) takes on Ricco “Suave” Rodriguez (47-11-0). Seth Petruzelli is coming off of a victory over Dave Mewborn, this after being released from the UFC. Ricco Rodriguez enters the fight riding a twelve fight undefeated streak, which includes a victory over UFC veteran James McSweeney. This fight could determine who gets a return trip to the UFC and that fighter will be Ricco Rodriguez.

The co-main event is a non-title fight as BFC Heavyweight Champion Cole “The Polar Bear” Konrad (7-0-0) goes to war with Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello (29-13-0). Cole Konrad won the BFC Heavyweight Title at Bellator 32 when he submitted Neil Grove in the first round. Paul Buentello is competing in his first MMA fight in 2011, but is coming off a victory over UFC veteran Kerry Schall. This is a classic striker versus grappler battle, but it will be Cole Konrad out wrestling his opponent to a decision win.

The main event is the BFC Featherweight Tournament Finals as Pat Curran (15-4-0) faces Marlon Sandro (19-2-0). Pat Curran earned his way to the tournament finals by defeating the duo of Luis Palomino and Ronnie Mann. Marlon Sandro achieved his spot in the tournament finals with victories over Genair Da Silva and Nazareno Malegarie. This fight should be an awesome striking battle, but I see Pat Curran winning his second Bellator tournament.

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You can contact David Tees at bigteesps3@yahoo.com

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