Bellator 215: Mitrione vs. Kharitonov - Predictions and Picks

#3 Eduardo Dantas vs. Toby Misech

Despite some recent losses, Eduardo Dantas is still highly dangerous

Just a handful of years ago, many observers were talking about Eduardo Dantas being the best Bantamweight in the world outside of the UFC and dreamed of a fight between him and the likes of Dominick Cruz, Urijah Faber and his fellow Nova Uniao product Renan Barao.

The bloom was knocked off that rose when he was surprisingly KO’d by the unheralded Tyson Nam in 2012, but he’s still been one of the more consistent Bantamweights on Bellator’s roster, only losing 3 times - with one of those losses, to Joe Warren, later being avenged.

‘Dudu’ is coming off two straight losses, but one was to Darrion Caldwell, who’s an excellent fighter in his own right, and the other was to Michael McDonald – a knockout loss in 58 seconds that also resulted in a broken fibula, and to be fair, McDonald has always carried dangerous knockout power. Personally, I think these losses make him any less dangerous – he’s still a very vicious striker who also has top-shelf grappling, and the only time he truly struggles is against top wrestlers.

I personally doubt Hawaii’s Toby Misech will have a lot for the Brazilian. A BJJ blue belt fighting out of BJ Penn’s Nova Uniao branch – an interesting link to Dantas’ own camp – Misech is 10-5 and this fight will be his second in Bellator after he destroyed the overmatched Edward Thommes with strikes in December.

Prior to that though, he lost his fight against Ricky Palacios on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. It’s easy to see why Dana was interested in him – he’s got insanely quick hands and he throws heavy leather – but it’s also easy to see why things didn’t quite work out for him.

Essentially, while he’s incredible on offense, he’s also aggressive to the point of recklessness, and his defense is somewhat lacking – as we saw against Palacios, who was able to counter and corral him to the point where he appeared to be completely out of steam by the third round.

This fight should be a lot of fun as Misech will undoubtedly come out swinging for the fence. Unless he catches Dantas in a rush, however, he’s likely to eat something nasty from the more technically sound Brazilian. It’s not an impossible fight for the Hawaiian as Dantas has been knocked out before, but I can’t see it myself.

The Pick: Dantas via second round submission