Curtis Millender predicts second-round finish at Bellator 243 before testing free agency

Curtis Millender is hoping to prove his worth with a statement win on Aug. 7.

Millender (18-5 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) faces fellow ex-UFC fighter Sabah Homasi at Bellator 243 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

After suffering back-to-back losses to Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Belal Muhammad in 2019, Millender was cut from the UFC. He returned to Bellator in January and scored a unanimous decision win over Moses Murrietta. It means Millender has won 10 of his past 12 fights and, with Homasi being the final fight on his contract, he’s looking to explore free agency.

“The ultimate goal is to be best in the world and back to being the prizefighter side of me, I don’t have that much time left in the sport so I gotta get it where I can,” Millender told MMA Junkie. “So my services are for the highest bidder. Wherever I’m gonna be taken care of and I’m gonna be able to provide for who I need to provide for – whoever is gonna help me get that compensation – that’s where I’m gonna be.”

He takes on American Top Team’s Homasi (13-8 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), who’s finished 11 of his 13 pro wins and is coming off a 17-second knockout of Micah Terrill at Bellator 225 last August.

But Millender says Homasi hasn’t faced the caliber of opponents that he has, so he expects to finish him on the night.

“I’m watching the guys he’s fought. … Those fights that he’s winning aren’t impressive guys,” Millender said. “They’re not guys on the same level that he’s losing to. I’ve beat, and I’ve lost to, high-level guys and I don’t feel that’s the same with him. Just his style, it’s a checkers kinda style. He’s coming straight forward, I want to get to the other side of the board so I can be king. That’s his style. I gotta force his ass to play chess. I’m going to force everybody to play chess with me.”

Millender said he expects to secure the win without the assistance of the judges, and predicts a stoppage victory mid-way through the fight.

“A second-round finish,” he said. “Either he doesn’t get up from getting dropped with a punch or a kick or he starts to get up and I catch him with a choke on his way up. Either way, it’s gonna be chess.”