Bellator 291 Betting Preview: Ireland Hosts a Hotly Anticipated Rematch

Undisputed Status On the Line as Irish Fighters Also Line Card

February 22, 2023 41 3 minutes readMMA News

Bellator 291 Betting Preview: Ireland Hosts A Hotly Anticipated Rematch — JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Amosov Favored To Beat Storley Again
Amosov-Storley 2: What’s Changed?
Irish Fighters Face (Mostly) Favorable Matchups

Amosov Favored to Beat Storley Again

More than the Bellator Welterweight Championship is on the line this Saturday. Yaroslav Amosov defends his belt and rematches Logan Storley, the interim champion, to determine who is the undisputed best fighter in their division. Amosov is unbeaten and Storley’s only loss came via a split decision against Amosov in 2020. Per this Bellator 291 betting preview, Amosov is favored as he returns for the first time since 2021.

Event Info

Amosov vs Storley 2

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 25, 11:30 pm ET
Location: 3Arena Dublin, Ireland
Streaming: Showtime, YouTube

Amosov-Storley 2: What’s Changed?

The short answer: A lot. For Amosov, the Ukrainian had to put his MMA career on hold as he returned to his homeland for the war. It was November of last year, Bellator announced his return.

“Once central Ukraine got liberated, and the city I’m from, once that area became free of Russians, I started to kind of feel like I was getting a lot of pressure from my family and from my friends and loved ones,” Amosov told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “They said, ‘Listen, our immediate area is liberated. It’s free. It’s time for you to return to fighting and use your notoriety and your platform to be the voice of what’s going on here, as opposed to boots on the ground. It wasn’t an easy decision. There was a lot of pressure from my family, from my friends. But eventually, I decided that’s what I was going to do.”

Amosov seems focused on his fighting career again. Detractors may say he’s distracted from the war on Ukraine. But on the positive, it could also make him fight harder as he’s representing a greater cause. He already defeated Storley before and can do so again in this Bellator 291 betting preview.

As for Storley, he’s been active since suffering his first professional loss. He has gone 3-0 in Bellator with wins over Neiman Gracie and Michael Page. While two of his three wins came via split decisions, Storley has built up momentum for this rematch. He’s slated to lose on the Bellator odds but he’s already won as an underdog against Gracie.

The key for Storley will be to keep the fight standing where he can outwork Amosov. As the more active fighter, Storley may have an edge the longer the fight goes. But the American is fighting not just a man but an inspired one. It will take everything he has to wrestle the title from the undefeated Ukrainian.

Irish Fighters Face (Mostly) Favorable Matchups

The rest of the Bellator 291 betting preview features an Irish-laden card. Nine of the remaining 17 fights have an Irish fighter and seven feature them with favored odds. From Darragh Kelly (-900), tied as the event’s second-largest favorite to Karl Moore (-150), Ireland’s native children are expected to whoop ass.

Kelly fights Dorval Jordan (+550), a 2-2 fighter out of France. Jordan makes his Bellator debut with his only wins coming against a debutant and an 0-3 fighter. Brian Moore (-410) is the next largest favorite followed by Ciaran Clarke (-375).

Moore looks for consecutive victories as he takes on another newcomer in Italian Luca Iovine (+310). As for Clarke, he is unbeaten (6-0) in all of his pro fights in Bellator. Leonardo Sinis (+275) is a Greek journeyman who is on a two-fight winning streak.

Former title challenger Peter Queally (-160) is also in action against Bryce Logan (+130). Both Queally and Logan are on losing skids so this bout may as well be for their jobs in the promotion. Queally has fought harder competition but two of his three losses in Bellator came when he was the favorite.

Sinead Kavanagh (-265) is also the only Irish female fighter on the schedule. She took out fellow Irishwoman Leah McCourt in her last outing and must now turn back karateka Janay Harding (+205). A win from Kavanagh may just get her back in the title picture.

As for the two underdogs, Richie Smullen (+210) has the unenviable task of facing Piotr Niedzielski (-280). The Polish fighter last defeated Pedro Carvalho, who is in the co-main event, and Charlie Ward (+165), who’s fought in Bellator vs UFC, takes on Englishman Mike Shipman (-210). Despite being the favorite, Shipman has won just one of his last four fights.