This July 25th in Temecula, California, Bellator 122 returns, marking the first show for the organization with Scott Coker at the helm. The card is the finale of the company’s abbreviated summer schedule, and features mainly fights that were made by the previous organization under Bjorn Rebney.
The main event of the card sees welterweight stand out Andrey Koreshkov clashing with undefeated Adam McDonough. Koreshkov is perhaps the organization’s brightest in house prospect, as his 8-1 record under the Bellator flag attests. His only loss is to former welterweight champion Ben Askren, who has since moved on to another organization and ceded the spot of top dog to the explosive Russian, who has done nothing but sink his claws into the top spot. This is the finals of the welterweight tourney, and McDonough is 3-0 under the Bellator flag including two tournament wins, but he is going to find himself a wide underdog when the line gets posted for this one.
Another match featuring a tested Bellator fighter features Brett Cooper taking on undefeated Brandon Halsey in a Middleweight bout. This is the finals of Bellator’s Middleweight tournament as both men won earlier fights to get here. Overall, Halsey is a bull who is a perfect 6-0 in MMA. Cooper is 20-9 overall and brings a wide experience advantage to the bout. The competition level he has is also head and shoulders above that of Halsey in terms of seasoning and talent, as he has gone the distance with Middleweight titlist Alexander Shlemenko and is coming off a KO win over UFC veteran Kendall Grove. Look for Cooper to open a slight favorite to Halsey, though this one could go either way.
In the throwback or ‘classic’ match-ups department, UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Karo Parisyan square off in a bout that is sure to get everyone’s MMA nostalgia meter up. To say that both mens best days are behind them is an understatement, as both men were at their peaks roughly a decade ago. It is past time to write off Parisyan as a top tallnt, as he was never able to re-capture top form after a bout with substance abuse, and it is still a toss up as to whether he will be focused or not for this fight. If Parisyan is correctly focused on this match, he should win, as Baroni’s MMA preparation never evolved much beyond that of caveman.
