Bellator: Newcastle - Predictions and Picks

#4 Terry Brazier vs. Chris Bungard

Terry Brazier is a physical specimen at 155lbs

The reigning BAMMA Welterweight and Lightweight champion, Brazier is making his Bellator debut here coming off 9 straight wins. In fact, he hasn’t lost a fight since 2015, a pretty impressive streak. A physical specimen, Brazier appears to be a stronger grappler than he is a striker; not that his stand-up is bad at all, more than he just appears to be somewhat hittable to me. On the ground, though he’s clearly an incredibly powerful man, particularly at 155lbs. His win over Rhys McKee, for instance, showed him to be a huge, strong Lightweight.

Bungard meanwhile appears to be a smaller 155lber, but he’s clearly an offensively-minded fighter. Coming in with a record of 11-4, the Scotsman’s footage shows a flashy – but somewhat sloppy - striker who’s more adept to using an excellent submission array to take out his opponents. ‘The Bad Guy’ is clearly a talented fighter, and Bellator have done well to put this fight together as it could be argued both men are among the best Lightweights in Europe.

I suspect we’ll see a grappling-based affair then, with the stand-up exchanges likely being pretty brief and probably involving Bungard throwing wild strikes and Brazier looking to close the distance. On the ground, it should come down to whether Bungard can attack the larger man with submissions without giving up too many strong positions and taking too many ground strikes.

I’m going with Brazier here as I think his size will be enough to allow him to control the fight, but I wouldn’t be shocked with a somewhat controversial decision based on Brazier gaining top position only to have to defend a lot of submission attempts.

The Pick: Brazier via split decision