The doors of the Bellator cage open for business once again Friday as the promotion returns to its happy hunting ground of Thackerville, Okla., for Bellator 224.
With a four-fight main card and a colossal 12-fight preliminary slate, there’s sure to be plenty of action under the lights at the WinStar World Casino.
Here are four burning questions heading into Bellator 224.
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Will Julia Budd cement her dominance at featherweight?
With this fight being her fifth appearance in Thackerville, champion Julia Budd could be forgiven for thinking she’s fighting at home, but you won’t be hearing any complaints from the Canadian. She’s at the top of the bill, she has a new contract, and the prospect of a crazy fight with Gabi Garcia seems to be developing into a real-life possibility.
But before she can even think about buying a Japanese phrase book and jumping on a plane to Saitama, Budd (12-2 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) has business to take care of in the form of a title defense against an undefeated challenger. Olga Rubin (6-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) has a hat-trick of wins to her name inside the Bellator cage. Budd can’t afford to take her eye off the ball, or all her hopes and dreams could be put on ice.
Budd says she’s been working on her striking, and she’ll be looking to not just win, but deliver a statement. Can she hand Rubin her first loss, or will the Israeli challenger spring a shock?
Can Rafael Carvalho bounce straight back into middleweight title contention?
Former Bellator middleweight champ Rafael Carvalho has suffered more than most from the influx of former UFC stars to the Bellator roster. First he lost his middleweight strap to Gegard Mousasi, then he was consigned to back-to-back losses in his comeback fight by Lyoto Machida.
Now Carvalho (15-3 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) has dusted himself off, regrouped, and is ready to return against Chidi Njokuani (18-6 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) in a 190-pound catchweight bout.
Carvalho insisted to MMA Junkie this week that he wasn’t feeling any additional pressure, but you can bet he’ll be even more focused than ever to snap that losing streak.
And if he can do so impressively enough, he may well find himself right back in the mix at the top of the division. The big question, of course, is will he recapture his past glories and return to the top, or will Njokuani impart more career pain on the Brazilian?
Was Ed Ruth’s first loss just a blip or a sign of MMA growing pains?
There’s no doubting Ed Ruth’s athletic credentials. A three-time NCAA Division I national champion, his wrestling base was the perfect platform from which to build himself into an elite-level mixed martial artist, and things have gone pretty well so far.
But last time out, Ruth (6-1 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) suffered his first loss as a pro when he was eliminated from the welterweight grand prix by Neiman Gracie. But what did that defeat tell us about Ruth? We should find out more at Bellator 224.
Will he bounce back with a return to the impressive displays we’ve seen from him previously, or will wily Japanese veteran Kiichi Kunimoto’s experience prove too much for the still-evolving wrestler?
The smart money says Ruth will turn in an eye-catching performance and register his seventh career win this weekend, but the manner of his performance and how he approaches the tricky problem that Kunimoto (20-7-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) poses, that will tell us the most about him as a rising prospect.
Can Ruth resist leaning on his wrestling game to avoid Kunimoto’s submissions, or will he fall back into his comfort zone and, potentially, put himself in harm’s way on the mat? Ruth is a blue-chip prospect with a sky-high ceiling. Watching his attempt to bounce back will make his fight with Kunimoto one of the most intriguing bouts on the card.
What statement will Leslie Smith make in her Bellator return?
For well documented reasons, it’s been a while since we’ve seen featherweight Leslie Smith in action. But now, almost two years to the day since her last fight, “The Peacemaker” is back.
It’s been so long that it’s easy to forget Smith (10-7-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) left the UFC on a two-fight winning streak thanks to a decision over Irene Aldana and an elbow TKO finish of Amanda Lemos.
Now Smith will ply her trade for Bellator for the second time in her career – her second pro bout back in 2009 was under the Bellator banner – as she makes her long-awaited return. How will she look after a two-year layoff? Can she produce another impressive finish against Ireland’s Sinead Kavanagh (5-3 MMA, 2-3 BMMA)? And what will she say on the mic if she picks up the win?
If Smith picks up where she left off two years ago, expect plenty of violence, followed by a wide smile and quite possibly a few pointed words about her former employer. And who could blame her?
For more on Bellator 224, check out the MMA schedule.
