MMASucka’s Bellator 218 Staff Picks
Bellator returns to Thackerville, Oklahoma with an intriguing Bellator 218 fight card riddled with competitive match-ups. From the first prelim of the night all the way to the main event, you’d be hard-pressed to find any ‘gimmes’ on this one.
The Fights
The main event sees a featherweight rematch as Emmanuel Sanchez looks to bounce back from a losing effort in his title shot late last year as he takes on a familiar face in Georgi Karakhanyan.
Prior to his recent loss in a firefight against reigning champ Patricio Pitbull, the Roufusport athlete Sanchez had won four-straight. That win streak includes sick submission finishes against Sam Sicilia and former champion Daniel Straus. During this four-fight stretch, Sanchez also defeated former bantamweight champion Marcos Galvao as well as Karakhanyan by way of decision.
Since this loss, Georgi Karakhanyan has gone 2-1-1, competing in both Bellator MMA and ACB/ACA. This includes a TKO win vs. Daniel Pineda in Bellator, as well as a dominant decision win vs. Alexey Polpudnikov in ACB. In between those two wins, Karakhanyan lost to Henry Corrales. In the most recent outing for “Insane,” he fought to a no contest after some controversial antics that saw him and Timur Nagibin exchange shots after the bell concluding round one had sounded.
Also on the card; Team Fedor fighters Valentin Moldavsky and Anatoly Tokov return to action. As Moldavsky welcomes Linton Vassell to the heavyweight division and Tokov takes on king of the slam, UFC veteran Gerald Harris at middleweight.
Bellator 218 Staff Picks
Throughout the year, staff picks will be composed of four different MMA promotions: UFC, Bellator, ONE, and RIZIN. Main cards will make up both UFC and Bellator picks, while the biggest fights to make up ONE and RIZIN events will be used. The WINNER of staff picks will have a choice between receiving a championship belt from ProAmBelts or a championship chain from Championship Chains. The 2018 winner was awarded to Michael DeSantis, compiling a record of 202-101.
Staff Records After UFC Fight Night 147
Michael DeSantis: 61-22
Ed Gallo: 59-24
Brian Gerson: 56-27
Connor Deitrich: 55-28
Wesley Riddle: 54-29
Mitch Banuelos: 53-25
Ryan Wagner: 53-22
Omar Villagrana: 51-32
Mike Skytte: 51-32
Matt Bricker: 51-32
Justin Pierrot: 50-32
Jeremy Brand: 47-36
Patrick Auger: 47-31
Ash Camyab: 43-24
Suraj Sukumar: 34-13
Sasha Moksyakov: 31-16
Idrees Crawley: 12-4
Anatoly Tokov (27-2) vs. Gerald Harris (25-7-1)
Jeremy Brand: Tokov via Round 3 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Tokov via Round 2 TKO
Mike Skytte: Tokov via UD
Michael DeSantis: Tokov via UD
Ryan Wagner: Tokov via Round 1 TKO
Mitch Banuelos: Tokov via UD
Ed Gallo: Tokov via Round 2 TKO
Omar Villagrana: Tokov via UD
Brian Gerson: Tokov via UD
Matt Bricker: Tokov via Round 2 TKO
Connor Deitrich: Tokov via UD
Patrick Auger: Harris via UD
Ash Camyab: Tokov via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Tokov: 12
Staff picking Harris: 1
Michael Shipman (13-1) vs. Hracho Darpinyan (17-8-2)
Jeremy Brand: Darpinyan via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Shipman via Round 1 TKO
Mike Skytte: Shipman via Round 1 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Shipman via Round 1 TKO
Ryan Wagner: Shipman via UD
Mitch Banuelos: Shipman via Round 1 TKO
Ed Gallo: Shipman via UD
Omar Villagrana: Shipman via UD
Brian Gerson: Shipman via Round 1 SUB
Matt Bricker: Shipman via Round 1 KO
Connor Deitrich: Shipman via UD
Patrick Auger: Shipman via Round 1 KO
Ash Camyab: Shipman via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking Shipman: 12
Staff picking Darpinyan: 1
Valentin Moldavsky (7-1) vs. Linton Vassell (18-7)
Jeremy Brand: Moldavsky via UD
Wesley Riddle: Moldavsky via UD
Mike Skytte: MoldavMoldavsky via UDsky via Round 3 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Moldavsky via UD
Ryan Wagner: Moldavsky via UD
Mitch Banuelos: Moldavsky via UD
Ed Gallo: Moldavsky via UD
Omar Villagrana: Moldavsky via UD
Brian Gerson: Moldavsky via UD
Matt Bricker: Vassell via SD
Connor Deitrich: Moldavsky via UD
Patrick Auger: Vassell via SD
Ash Camyab: Moldavsky via UD
Staff picking Moldavsky: 11
Staff picking Vassell: 2
Emmanuel Sanchez (17-4) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (27-8-1)
Jeremy Brand: Karakhanyan via UD
Wesley Riddle: Sanchez via UD
Mike Skytte: Sanchez via Round 2 SUB
Michael DeSantis: Sanchez via UD
Ryan Wagner: Sanchez via UD
Mitch Banuelos: Sanchez via UD
Ed Gallo: Sanchez via UD
Omar Villagrana: Sanchez via UD
Brian Gerson: Sanchez via UD
Matt Bricker: Karakhanyan via UD
Connor Deitrich: Sanchez via UD
Patrick Auger: Sanchez via UD
Ash Camyab: Karakhanyan via UD
Staff picking Sanchez: 10
Staff picking Karakhanyan: 3
