A stacked night of fights awaits MMASucka staff picks.
Bellator 301 kicks off a double-header weekend for our crew taking place later tonight, November 17th, from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Preliminary fights will begin at 5:00pm ET (2:00pm PT) on Bellator’s YouTube channel featuring a heavyweight battle between Tyrell Fortune and Marcelo Golm. The main card follows at 9:00pm ET (6:00pm PT) on Showtime.
Stay locked in here at MMASucka for Bellator 301: Amosov vs. Jackson results.
Also, stay tuned tomorrow, November 18th for our picks and predictions from UFC Vegas 82: Allen vs. Craig taking place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Fights
In the night’s featured headliner, Yaroslav Amosov and Jason Jackson will fight for the Bellator Welterweight Championship across five possible five-minute rounds.
Looking to defend his belt sees Amosov, who claimed the strap with his June of 2021 decision over Douglas Lima earning his first defense in February of this year in a rematch over Logan Storley. The multi-time European and world Sambo specialist has yet to face defeat in 27 professional mixed martial arts bouts. Amosov’s opponent, Jackson, has not looked back after dropping his October of 2019 promotional debut to Ed Ruth. The former VFC and Titan FC Welterweight title holder has won six in-a-row by way of unanimous decision including over notable veterans Benson Henderson, Neiman Gracie, Paul Daley, and, most recently, Douglas Lima.
Battling in the bantamweight division sees another championship pairing between Sergio Pettis and Patchy Mix. Reigning and defending 135-pound champion Pettis has yet to face defeat since joining the promotion after a lengthy tenure with the UFC as he searches for his third defense of the title and second of the year after an impressive June decision victory over Patricio Pitbull. Current interim champion Mix advanced his way through Bellator’s World Grand Prix with a decision in April of last year over Kyoji Horiguchi followed by back-to-back finishes of Magomed Magomedov in the semifinals and Raufeon Stots in the finals.
The aforementioned Raufeon Stots and opponent Danny Sabatello will fight in a rematch at bantamweight. Stots took their five-round, December of 2022 meeting by split decision in a fight then for the interim title.
Former Bellator Featherweight Champion A.J. McKee makes his anticipated return to the cage after a near-year hiatus opposite former Ring of Combat Welterweight Champion Sidney Outlaw at 155 pounds.
Opening the Showtime main card sees a semifinal matchup in the promotion’s Lightweight World Grand Prix between former divisional champion, Patricky Pitbull, and number two-ranked contender, Alexandr Shabliy. The winner of this five-round fight will advance onward to the finals against 25-year-old undefeated champion Usman Nurmagomedov at a later date.
Who have the MMASucka staff picked to win at Bellator 301: Amosov vs. Jackson? Find out further below.
THE MAIN EVENT! ✨
Respect runs deep between welterweight champ @YaroslavAmosov and @TAKM_MMA. #Bellator301 | Friday, 9pm ET / 6pm PT | @SHOsports 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/CSOfyzbNpR
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) November 16, 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 ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.
See below for our Bellator 301: Amosov vs. Jackson picks and predictions.
Staff Records after UFC 295:
1. Ben Jamieson: 275-139
2. Michael DeSantis: 266-144
3. Nate Freeman: 261-153
4. Jeremy Brand: 259-155
5. Wesley Riddle: 258-156
6. Frazer Krohn: 247-161
7. Julio Monteros Jr.: 226-127
8. Andrew Benjamin: 194-166
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
15T. Andrew Harbaugh: 10-7
15T. Chris De Santiago: 10-7
17. Joshua Yule: 7-6
18. Antwyn Jackson: 5-6
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
Patricky Pitbull (25-11), +550
vs.
Alexandr Shabliy (23-3), -800
Lightweight World Grand Prix Semifinals
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Shabliy via Round 3 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Shabliy via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Shabliy via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Shabliy via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Shabliy via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Shabliy via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Shabliy via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking Pitbull: 0
Staff picking Shabliy: 7
A.J. McKee (20-1), -290
vs.
Sidney Outlaw (17-5), +235
Lightweight Division
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: McKee via Round 2 SUB
Wesley Riddle: McKee via Round 1 SUB
Michael DeSantis: McKee via Round 2 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: McKee via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: McKee via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: McKee via Round 2 SUB
Ben Jamieson: McKee via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking McKee: 7
Staff picking Outlaw: 0
Raufeon Stots (19-2), +110
vs.
Danny Sabatello (14-3), -130
Bantamweight Division
– 135 LBS. ~ 61.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Sabatello via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Sabatello via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Stots via Split Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Stots via Split Decision
Frazer Krohn: Stots via Split Decision
Nate Freeman: Stots via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Sabatello via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Stots: 4
Staff picking Sabatello: 3
Sergio Pettis (23-5), +180
vs.
Patchy Mix (18-1), -218
Bantamweight Divisional Championship
– Co-Main Event –
– 135 LBS. ~ 61.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Mix via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Pettis via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Mix via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Mix via Round 3 SUB
Frazer Krohn: Mix via Round 4 SUB
Nate Freeman: Mix via Round 3 SUB
Ben Jamieson: Mix via Round 3 TKO
Staff picking Pettis: 1
Staff picking Mix: 6
Yaroslav Amosov (27-0), -485
vs.
Jason Jackson (16-4), +370
Welterweight Divisional Championship
– Main Event –
– 170 LBS. ~ 77.1 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Amosov via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Amosov via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Amosov via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Amosov via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Amosov via Round 4 TKO
Nate Freeman: Amosov via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Amosov via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Amosov: 7
Staff picking Jackson: 0
BELLATOR 301 FEATURED IMAGE:
Sergio Pettis (left) and Patchy Mix (right) ahead of their Bantamweight Championship fight taking place in the Bellator 301 co-main event on Friday, November 17th from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois (photo credits to Bellator MMA).
