Bellator is back for this weekend’s Bellator 220, which features two title fights at the top of the card.
In the headliner, welterweight champion Rory MacDonald puts his title on the line for the first time when he meets former WSOF/PFL champion Jon Fitch. The bout also is the last opening-round matchup in the Bellator welterweight grand prix. The winner moves on to face Neiman Gracie at Bellator 222.
In the co-main event, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane attempts to defend her women’s flyweight title for the third time when she meets Veta Arteaga. A rematch between former light heavyweight champions Liam McGeary and Phil Davis also takes place on the main card.
Bellator 220 takes place Saturday at SAP Center. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Here are five burning questions about the card.
1. What is Rory MacDonald’s mindset heading into his first title defense?
It’s been over a year since MacDonald won the Bellator welterweight title with a unanimous-decision win over Douglas Lima. At the end of that hard-fought battle, MacDonald was unable to walk from the cage under his own power thanks to the brutal leg kicks of his opponent.
After that win, MacDonald attempted to become a two-division champion when he moved up to face middleweight kingpin Gegard Mousasi last September. MacDonald took a hammering as Mousasi won via second-round TKO. MacDonald, who is No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA welterweight rankings, has not worn damage well since his 2015 “Fight of the Year” loss to Robbie Lawler. On top of that, MacDonald acknowledged that he “didn’t mentally show up” and “froze” when he faced Mousasi.
Fitch (31-7-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) is not nearly as aggressive as Mousasi, Lima or Lawler, but he is experienced and can take advantage of small openings and opportunities. If MacDonald (20-5 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) is not fully invested in this fight or if he is the least bit gun shy, he could find himself leaving SAP Center without his title.
This is an important fight for MacDonald, one that could go a long way toward telling us where he stands both psychically and mentally.
2. How far can Ilima-Lei MacFarlane’s star rise?
It’s remarkable how far Macfarlane has come since she made her Bellator debut in August 2015. In just over two years, she went from being a curiosity to inaugural Bellator women’s flyweight champ. And then, in December, her star power pretty much convinced the promotion to head to her home state of Hawaii for two events. Macfarlane rewarded the promotion by scoring a third-round submission win over former UFC title challenger Valerie Letourneau.
With the win over Letourneau, Macfarlane rose to No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie women’s flyweight rankings, where she trails only UFC champion Valentina Shevchenko. If she wasn’t a star before, Macfarlane (9-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA), who was MMA Junkie’s “Breakout Fighter of the Year” for 2018, can certainly be described as such heading into her Bellator 220 matchup against Arteaga (5-2 MMA, 4-2 BMMA).
Macfarlane is 9-0 and on a run of four consecutive submission wins. She could be headed for bigger and better things now that she has a new dose of confidence.
“I think it was a huge self-confidence booster,” she said of her win over Letourneau. “I’ve struggled with that my entire career. Like, do I belong here? I’m like, the accidental champ. And just having the performance I did under the circumstances of having all that pressure on me, and being able to perform still, it was a huge confidence booster.”
3. Is this Liam McGeary’s last chance to get back in the title picture?
McGeary was 11-0 with 10 stoppages heading into his November 2016 bout against Davis. At the time, McGeary was the defending Bellator light heavyweight champion. Despite holding the title, McGeary was the No. 10 fighter in the 205-pound division, while Davis checked in at No. 4. Davis’ wrestling carried the day in that matchup, allowing the former UFC fighter to walk away with the light heavyweight crown.
Since that loss, we’ve been waiting to see if McGeary would (or could) improve his wrestling to the point where he’d get back in the title picture. McGeary is 2-2 since his loss to Davis and no longer ranked. He’s also been unable to show significant improvement in his wrestling game despite his assertion in 2018 that he had shored up his takedown defense.
So, we’re left to wonder, is his rematch with Davis (19-5 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) at Bellator 220 the fight where McGeary (13-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) shows us that he can stop takedowns and deal with the heavy top game of a worthy opponent? If not, his chances of ever seeing another title fight are likely to disintegrate.
4. Is Benson Henderson feeling the pressure to pursue Bellator gold?
Well, will you look at that: Benson Henderson is on the first winning streak of his Bellator career. He’s also the owner of a new long-term contract with the promotion.
The former WEC and UFC lightweight champ signed with Bellator in 2016 as a free agent. He went 1-3 in his first four fights but seems to have righted the ship as of late. Henderson looked rejuvenated in his two most recent outings. With those wins behind him, we’re left to wonder if Henderson is feeling the pressure to get another shot at Bellator gold before he calls it a career.
In September 2017, days before he lost a split decision to Patricky Freire, Henderson said he didn’t plan to fight much longer.
“I have a limited amount of time left – one year, two years,” Henderson told MMA Junkie. “I know I don’t want to be fighting when I’m 40. I don’t want to be fighting when I’m 37. And I don’t want to be fighting when I’m 36.”
Henderson (26-8 MMA, 3-3 BMMA) turned 35 in November. So if his ultimate goal is to secure a Bellator title, he needs a dominant win over Adam Piccolotti (11-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA).
5. Is Gaston Bolanos a potential homegrown Bellator star?
Bellator is not afraid to sign unproven fighters in the hope of developing them into future champions. Gaston Bolanos is one of those developing talents. At 26, the young striker has competed in five MMA bouts, with each of those under the Bellator banner. Bolanos, who has a kickboxing base, has won four of those fights with each victory coming by way of knockout.
The up-and-coming featherweight was in the running for MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Month” in December 2017 for his devastating spinning back elbow stoppage of Rick Gutierrez at Bellator 189. He followed that stoppage with a September 2018 knockout of Ysidro Gutierrez.
His performance with Bellator has caught the eye of the promotion’s lightweight champion, Michael Chandler, who dubbed Bolanos “one of the best strikers I have ever worked with.” At Bellator 220, Bolanos (4-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA), who has been shoring up the other aspects of his MMA game, meets Nathan Stolen (8-4 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).
With a featherweight grand prix tournament on the horizon, this bout could be looked at as Bolanos’ audition for that upcoming 16-man tournament.
For more on Bellator 220, check out the Rumors section of the site.
