The Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix will continue to proceed along with the last quarterfinal bout to be reserved, and I’ll offer my thoughts on this brand new matchup in the present MMA odds and ends. Rory MacDonald vs. Jon Fitch, Bellator Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will put his belt on the line from the quarterfinals of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix when he chooses Jon Fitch in a yet-to-be-named event set for April 27 in San Jose, California. Marc Raimondi of all MMAFighting.com broke the information. Here is the fourth and final quarterfinal bout in the championship. Douglas Lima conquer Andrey Koreshkov within their trilogy fight and Nieman Gracie upset Ed Ruth in another quartefinal matchups completed thus far, together with the Michael Page vs. Paul Daley struggle set to take place in February. The winner of MacDonald vs. Fitch will take on Gracie on the side of the bracket’s semifinals, while Lima will combat the winer of Page vs. Daley. MacDonald (20-5) is 2-1 so much in Bellator. In his first two Bellator fights, he seemed like one of the best fighters in the world as he filed Daley and beat Lima more than five rounds to win the welterweight title. He then moved up in weight in his final bout when he took on Gegard Mousasi in his bid to be a rare Bellator double winner. However, MacDonald got crushed in that fight, losing through second-round TKO. MacDonald will have had six months between the Mousasi and Fitch fights, so that he ought to be good to go health-wise. But the fact he took so much damage against Mousasi is worrisome. Then again, MacDonald was fighting a weight class for the first time. At welterweight, he’s clearly one of the very best in the world, and he owns a dominant win over current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Fitch (31-7-1) has quietly made a run at the dusk of his profession. Currently 40, Fitch is riding a five-fight win series at the moment which comprises a dominant win over Daley in his Bellator debut. As well, Fitch holds noteworthy wins over Jake Shields and Yushin Okami during his latest win series, and he was the PFL welterweight champion before signing with Bellator. Since becoming cut by the UFC in 2013, Fitch has gone 7-2 in WSOF, PFL and Bellator. He is no longer one of the sport’s elite welterweights such as he was a decade ago, but he still has a solid wrestling base that can get him his hand raised. That being said, this is MacDonald’s fight to lose. He must possess the takedown defense to maintain the fight on the toes, and in the standup there’s no wonder MacDonald is the superior fighter. Fitch hasn’t won a fight by knockout since 2006, therefore he seems to have no route to victory in this bout if he can not get it into the floor. Even with the reduction to Mousasi, I would nevertheless peg MacDonald about a -500 preferred to defend his belt against Fitch and move on to another round of this championship. Disclaimer: This page includes affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker is going to be paid if you make a purchase after clicking on the hyperlinks.

The Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix will continue to move along with the past quarterfinal bout to be reserved, and I’ll offer my thoughts on this brand new matchup in the present MMA odds and ends. Rory MacDonald vs. Jon Fitch, Bellator Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will put his belt on the line from the quarterfinals of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix if he takes on Jon Fitch in a yet-to-be-named event set for April 27 at San Jose, California. Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com broke the information. This is the fourth and final quarterfinal bout at the tournament. Douglas Lima beat Andrey Koreshkov in their trilogy fight and Nieman Gracie upset Ed Ruth in the other quartefinal matchups completed so far, with the Michael Page vs. Paul Daley struggle set to occur in February. The winner of MacDonald vs. Fitch will take on Gracie on the side of the bracket’s semifinals, while Lima will fight the winer of Page vs. Daley. MacDonald (20-5) is 2-1 so far in Bellator. In his first two Bellator fights, he seemed like one of the greatest fighters in the world as he submitted Daley and beat Lima more than five rounds to win the welterweight title. Then he moved up in his last bout when he took on Gegard Mousasi in his bid to be a rare Bellator double champion. But MacDonald got crushed in that fight, losing via second-round TKO. MacDonald will have had six months between the Mousasi and Fitch fights, so that he should be good to go health-wise. However, the fact that he took so much harm against Mousasi is painful. Then again, MacDonald was battling a weight class for the first time. At welterweight, he is definitely one of the best in the world, and he owns a dominant win over present UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Fitch (31-7-1) has quietly made a run at the dusk of his career. Currently 40, Fitch is riding a five-fight win streak at the moment which includes a dominant win over Daley within his Bellator debut. As well, Fitch holds noteworthy wins over Jake Shields and Yushin Okami during his latest win series, and he was the PFL welterweight champion before signing with Bellator. Since becoming cut from the UFC in 2013, Fitch has gone 7-2 in WSOF, PFL and Bellator. He is no longer among the sport’s elite welterweights like he had been a decade ago, but he still has a solid wrestling base that may get him his hand raised. That being said, this is MacDonald’s fight to lose. He must have the takedown defense to keep the battle on the toes, and in the standup there is no question MacDonald is the exceptional fighter. Fitch hasn’t won a fight by knockout since 2006, so he appears to have no path to victory in this bout if he can’t get it into the floor. Despite the loss to Mousasi, I would still peg MacDonald about a -500 preferred to defend his belt against Fitch and proceed on to the next round of the championship. Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links and MMA Odds Breaker will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the hyperlinks.