Fresh off the shocking upset of Brandon Halsey choking out the much more experienced, lauded Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko (well, he's not champion any longer) at Bellator 126 comes a bout between Daniel Straus and Justin Wilcox in one of the most confusing cards Bellator has offered so far this year. Straus is a former featherweight champion who lost his belt back to Pat Curran earlier this year, the very same man he won it off in the first place. Wilcox most recently fought at lightweight; prior to that he lost the season nine featherweight tournament to Patricio Freire. Basically, these are fighters on the rebound. Also on the card: Kendall Grove, Karo Parisyan, and on the undercard, Sokoudjou. That's a bit of a surprising placement, given that earlier this year, Sokoudjou was one of their bigger signings. It's a card with a lot of names from the past but not a single name that can really carry a headlining bout, so the promotion seems to have opted to go with some home grown fighters this time out in the big fight. It's quantity over quality, or a nostalgia trip, and while Bellator is going that route by giving guys like Joey Beltran and Melvin Manhoeff title shots, with three names of old on this card, it seems rather heavy on it even by modern Bellator standards. Still, there's four fights to look at, and as a bonus prediction, you can take it to the bank that Sokoudjou will overcome promotional newcomer Malik Merad and continue the comeback he began at Bellator 121.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
