Picks are in for the MMASucka crew with a day of fights ahead.
Kicking off in a few short hours today, September 23rd sees Bellator 299, also titled as “Bellator Dublin,” taking place from Dublin, Ireland’s 3Arena. This comes as the promotion’s return to the populous city for the eleventh time since December of 2016 and the second time this year after a packed Bellator 291: Amosov vs. Storley event in February. Catch all preliminary fights with Bellator 299: Eblen vs. Edwards results here at MMASucka beginning at 11:00am ET (8:00am PT) followed by the main card on Showtime at 4:00pm ET (1:00pm PT).
Stay tuned later today for our UFC Vegas 79: Fiziev vs. Gamrot picks and this upcoming September 26th for our Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 7, Week 8 picks both from Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Fights
In the penultimate event from three hundred promotional shows, Bellator 299 kicks off with a Middleweight Championship fight between current title holder Johnny Eblen and challenger Fabian Edwards.
Looking to defend his belt for the second time sees Eblen who has won in all 13 of his fights dating back to his professional beginnings in July of 2017. The former NCAA Division I wrestler and American Top Team talent took the 185-pound strap with a unanimous decision over Gegard Mousasi in June of last year as he prepares to back up his decision defense over Anatoly Tokov from February. Eblen’s opponent, Edwards, looks to follow down a similar path to his older brother, current UFC Welterweight Champion Leon, as the underdog in his first championship fight. Three straight wins, including his most recent title elimination bout victory over the aforementioned Mousasi, led him to the opportunity in what will be his tenth Bellator appearance.
Featherweights Aaron Pico and Pedro Carvalho will meet in the co-main event. Former freestyle wrestling champion Pico has won in eight of last nine outings including his most recent decision over James Gonzalez in April. Former title challenger Carvalho anticipates a strong rebound following his February decision loss to Jeremy Kennedy.
Former champion challenger and Dublin’s very own Sinead Kavanagh looks to make it three in-a-row as she battles at featherweight against Australia’s Sara Collins who made the most of her promotional debut in March with a dominant first-round submission over Pam Sorenson.
Two additional fights compose the main card ahead. Former Cage Warriors Featherweight Champion Mads Burnell fights 45-fight veteran Daniel Weichel in the featherweight division, and welterweights Levan Chokheli and Sabah Homasi open the Showtime main card. See further below for our picks and predictions from Bellator 299: Eblen vs. Edwards.
π§π΅πΆπ»π΄π π΄πΌπ ππππ§ππ πΆπ» πππ―πΉπΆπ» π
Emotions boiled over when @JohnnyEblen and @fabianedwards24 came face-to-face! Don’t miss the middleweight world title fight TOMORROW on @SHOsports π
π #Bellator299 | Sat, Sept 23
πΊπΈ 4pm ET/1pm PT | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/SSkeGo3omoβ Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) September 22, 2023
2023 Staff Picks
MMASucka staff picks are composed of five promotions: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). UFC and Bellator events feature picks from only main cards. PFL will feature select fights from the main and/or preliminary card while DWCS sees all fights counted from the event. ONE Championship returns to picks for the first time since 2020 and will feature only mixed martial arts (MMA) fights selected from cards with a minimum three matchups.
The WINNER of staff picks at the end of 2023, who picked the most victorious fighters, will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBeltsΒ or a chain fromΒ Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.
Find our Bellator 299: Eblen vs. Edwards staff picks below.
Staff Records after Dana White’s Contender Series – Season 7, Week 6:
1. Ben Jamieson: 231-117
2. Michael DeSantis: 228-120
3. Jeremy Brand: 222-126
4. Wesley Riddle: 220-128
5. Nate Freeman: 216-132
6. Frazer Krohn: 211-137
7. Julio Monteros Jr.: 192-110
8. Andrew Benjamin: 161-137
9. Jack Goodwillie: 148-83
10. Brian Knight: 140-84
11. Tim Wheaton: 105-60
12. Roemello Reyes: 62-34
13. Jonathan Andrade: 31-24
14. Brandon Joint: 12-9
15. Andrew Harbaugh: 10-7
16. Joshua Yule: 7-6
17. Chris De Santiago: 6-6
18. Antwyn Jackson: 5-6
*Note β not all staff pick for every event*
Levan Chokheli (12-2, 1 NC), -230
vs.
Sabah Homasi (17-11), +190
Welterweight Division
– 170 LBS. ~ 77.1 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Chokheli via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Chokheli via Round 2 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Chokheli via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Homasi via Round 2 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Homasi via Round 1 TKO
Nate Freeman: Chokheli via Round 2 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Homasi via Round 1 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Chokheli via Round 2 TKO
Staff picking Chokheli: 5
Staff picking Homasi: 3
Mads Burnell (17-5), -345
vs.
Daniel Weichel (42-14), +275
Featherweight Division
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Burnell via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Burnell via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Burnell via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Weichel via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Burnell via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Burnell via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Burnell via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Burnell via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Burnell: 7
Staff picking Weichel: 1
Sinead Kavanagh (9-5), -135
vs.
Sara Collins (4-0), +114
Women’s Featherweight Division
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Kavanagh via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Collins via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Kavanagh via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Kavanagh via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Kavanagh via Round 2 TKO
Nate Freeman: Kavanagh via Split Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Kavanagh via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Kavanagh via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Kavanagh: 7
Staff picking Collins: 1
Aaron Pico (11-4), -1200
vs.
Pedro Carvalho (13-7), +750
Featherweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Pico via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Pico via Round 2 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Pico via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Pico via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Pico via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Pico via Round 2 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Pico via Round 2 SUB
Ben Jamieson: Pico via Round 2 SUB
Staff picking Pico: 8
Staff picking Carvalho: 0
Johnny Eblen (13-0), -535
vs.
Fabian Edwards (12-2), +400
Middleweight Divisional Championship
– Main Event –
– 185 LBS. ~ 83.9 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Edwards via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Eblen via Round 4 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Eblen via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Eblen via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Eblen via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Eblen via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Eblen via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Eblen via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Eblen: 8
Staff picking Edwards: 0
BELLATOR 299 FEATURED IMAGE:
Mads Burnell (left) and Daniel Weichel (right) ahead of their Bellator 299 fight taking place Saturday, September 23rd from the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland (photo credits to Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA).
