Predictions! Bellator 283 Main Card Preview, Quick Picks

Bellator 283: “Lima vs. Jackson” will go down tomorrow night (Fri., July 22, 2022) from inside Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. Headlining the event will be a Welterweight showdown between Douglas Lima and Jason Jackson. In the co-main event, Sidney Outlaw battles Tofiq Musayev in a Lightweight affair.

MMAmania.com will deliver coverage of Bellator 283 on Showtime right here. To check out the latest Bellator MMA-related news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive right here.

Douglas Lima vs. Jason Jackson

Lima is in the midst of a horrid three-fight losing streak which saw him come up short in his bid to win the Middleweight title against Gegard Mousasi, lose his Welterweight strap to Yaroslav Amosov, and failed to go two-for-two against Michael Page. Now, the hard-hitting Brazilian will attempt to get back on track against Jackson, an “Ass-Kicking Machine” who has won five straight against some formidable competition such as Neiman Gracie, Benson Henderson, and Paul Daley, among others. When Amosov is ready to return to action, he will take part in a title-unification bout against the interim champion, Logan Storley, which means that the winner of Lima (No. 3) and Jackson (No. 4) will have a legit case for a shot at the title. Should Amosov — who is fighting for Ukraine at the moment in its war against Russia — be out a bit longer, then it makes sense to put Lima or Jackson against Storley. As far as the matchup itself, Jackson may have the edge in power but Lima can crack, too, and has a Brazilian jiu-jitsu advantage. On an interesting side note, Jackson has a knockout win over Dhiego Lima, Douglas’ brother, so “The Phenom” has a bit more added motivation for the win.

Final prediction: Lima via unanimous decision

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Sidney Outlaw vs. Tofiq Musayev

Outlaw was originally set to headline the event in a Lightweight title fight against division champion, Patrick Pitbull. After the champ bowed out with an injury, Musayev stepped in to fill the void for what is now a three-round title eliminator fight. Interestingly, Musayev has a win over Pitbull under the RIZIN banner, so he has the confidence going for him. But he has to get through Outlaw, first. Outlaw worked his way up to the No. 1 spot by going 3-1 inside the Bellator cage with his lone loss coming against former poster boy for the promotion, Michael Chandler. His last win came against Myles Jury, submitting him at Bellator 261 with an air-tight rear-naked choke. Musayev, meanwhile, lost his 155-pound strap a RIZIN 28 to Roberto de Souza, prompting his move over to Bellator. Prior to the loss, Musayev was on a terrorizing 14-fight win streak, making him one of the best Lightweights in the world. What makes Musayev so dangerous is his pace and output with a tendency to swarm his opponents. Outlaw might be a tad bit quicker, must Musayev’s overall toolbox is a bit more loaded.

Final Prediction: Musayev via unanimous decision

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Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Chris Gonzalez

If you like wrestling, then this is the fight for you. Nurmagomedov and Gonzalez are two of the best grapplers in the 155-pound weight class and have utilized their skills very well to get to where they are. While Gonzalez is not ranked at the moment, he is 6-1 under the Bellator banner with dominant wins over the likes of Roger Huerta and Saad Awad, whom he knocked at Bellator 273. Being a traditional Greco-Roman wrestler, Gonzalez is tough to deal with in that department, but as we have seen in the past anyone with the last name Nurmagoemdov isn’t exactly a novice in that area. Nurmagomedov has stormed his way to the No. 3 spot at Lightweight by going 3-0 inside the Bellator cage, 14-0 overall in his MMA career. While a great grappler, the man knows how to finish the job, earning 12 stoppage victories (four submissions, eight KO/TKO). This is an even matchup though Nurmagomedov gets the edge when it comes to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. This will all come down to who can impose their wrestling skills. And that is very, very tight. A win for either man will do wonders for their position in the 155-pound division.

Final prediction: Nurmagomedov via spit-decision

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Lorenz Larkin vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov

Larkin has quietly gone on a six-fight win streak and is currently ranked at No. 6 in the Middleweight division. This fight against Merkhamov, however, will take place in the Welterweight division so it won’t do much for his ranking at 185 pounds. Berkhamov, meanwhile, is undefeated at 14-0 and made his successful Bellator debut by submitting Jaleel Willis at Bellator 268 in Oct. 2021, his ninth submission win. Against Larkin, he has a big opportunity to up his cred Stateside after completing the majority of his career in Russia. Larkin will obviously try to keep the fight standing because, believe it or not, “Monsoon” has yet to score a submission win in his 13-year career. That’s because he has relied heavily on his hands to get the job done for him, which is what he will need to do against Berkhamov, because once it hits the ground it is his world.

Final prediction: Berkhamov via third-round submission

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Davion Franklin vs. Marcelo Golm

In Heavyweight action, Davion Franklin and Marcelo Golm will kick things off on the main card. Franklin is undefeated at 5-0 with all of those victories coming under the Bellator banner, three via first-round knockout. Golm has the experience edge over Franklin because he has competed inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon, though he only managed to rack up a 1-3 record during his stint before receiving his walking papers. Since then, he has gone 3-0 including 1-0 for Bellator, scoring a first-round knockout win over Billy Swanson at Bellator 265 in his debut. Franklin has the knockout power advantage, though Golm isn’t a novice when it comes to trading bombs because he has seven KO/TKO wins on his resume. Neither man is exactly crisp with the striking but they do hit like Mack Trucks once they connect, so don’t expect this one to go the distance.

Final Prediction: Franklin via first-round TKO

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MMAmania.com will deliver coverage of Bellator 283 tomorrow evening on Showtime right here. To check out the latest Bellator MMA-related news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive news archive right here.