Bellator 198: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Frank Mir Predictions
This evening (Sat., April 28, 2018), Bellator MMA will put on one of their biggest fights ever when legendary former PRIDE FC champion Fedor Emelianenko faces former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the main event of Bellator 198 from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
Although it’s clear that both aging superstars are past their athletic primes, it’s still an intriguing match-up that ha until this point been unable to be booked due to Emelianenko’s foregoing of the UFC.
Mir will make his Bellator debut tonight, however, and the winner of the anticipated showdown will advance to the next round of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix in addition to owning the bragging rights of being one of the best heavyweights to ever compete in MMA.
It’s an intriguing fight with a ton of question marks and not exactly many answers from both fighters. Without further ado, LowKick’s Mike Drahota and Matt McNulty predicted the outcome of tonight’s potentially tumultuous Bellator 198 main event.
Check out our picks right here:
Mike Drahota:
I truly can’t come up with a concrete pick one way or the other here, as Fedor has looked to be operating at less than his expected elite level for a long and is without a true victory under the bright lights since his huge knockout of Brett Rogers under the Strikeforce banner in 2009. Yes, it’s been almost eight years since he picked up a high-profile win in a mjoar promotion.
He has the chance to do just that in another high-profile former champion in Mir tonight.
True, he won two straight since returning in December 2015 before Matt Mitrione knocked him out in a strange scene that just as easily could have gone Fedor’s way at Bellator 180 last summer. “The Last Emperor” is undoubtedly a legend of mixed martial arts and arguably the greatest heavyweight of all-time. If he can still win at this level in the current era of pro MMA remains to be seen, however.
The same could be said for Mir, who has been out of action since Marl Hunt turned his lights off in March 2016. After that, Mir served a two-year suspension from USADA for testing positive for a banned substance. He’s also lost six of his last eight fights, with three of those coming by knockout.
Not to pile on these two heavyweight greats at all, but the recent facts of the matter simply show they may not have much left in the tank.
Thankfully, the same could be said for both men, so we could see a surprisingly good fight tonight. If Fedor can unload his patented rushing strikes early, then the knockout-susceptible Mir could be in for a short night. But he’ll clearly be looking to take the fight to the ground where he does his best, and Emelianenko has shown he can be finished on the ground in his fights with Fabricio Werdum, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, and Dan Henderson.
I think Mir may see some rough moments early but will ultimately be able to use his superior conditioning to wear Fedor down and finish him on the mat.
Prediction: Frank Mir def. Fedor Emelianenko via R2 TKO (ground strikes)
Matt McNulty:
