Bellator 274: Gracie vs. Storley Best Bets (Archive)
To celebrate VIACOMCBS becoming named Paramount, the Paramount-owned fighting organization Bellator MMA returns this weekend with Bellator 274.
Let’s go ahead and break down the Bellator odds for the main event bout between Neiman Gracie and Logan Storley.
Neiman Gracie vs. Logan Storley
Bellator Welterweight Event Bout
Saturday, February 19, 2022 – 09:05 PM EST at Mohegan Sun Arena
Betting Preview
The card is headlined by the next generation of Gracie violence artists, Neiman Gracie returning to the Bellator cage as he faces off against a man with a name that suits a 1980’s American League outfielder, Logan Storley.
Storley is 1-1 in his last two, with both fights leading to a split decision. While he was able to get the judges on his side in his August 2021 fight against Dante Schiro, leaving things up to the judges and not being able to steal all three scorecards by at least a two-three point margin is not great when you’re facing a Gracie.
VIDEO PICKS: Watch BMR's Free Expert Sports Betting Picks of the Day
BUT, things are not great in Gracieland when it comes to going the distance, as Neiman is a 1-2 all-time fighter when it is left up to the judges, dropping fights to Rory MacDonald inside Madison Square Garden and Jason Jackson in April of 2021, both by unanimous decisions.
Betting Analysis
So if this fight goes the distance, who the hell knows what is gonna happen, cause at this point you’re spinning a roulette wheel and just hoping your number gets called. This is why, when looking at this fight, I don’t know if you can actually pick a winner.
Can you see Gracie having the edge? Yeah, he’s a Gracie and until he loses 90000 fights in a row, that name will give him as much mileage as he needs to survive in MMA.
I’m suggesting you take under 4 ½ rounds. Why? Well, all but three of Storley’s eight fights in Bellator have gone the distance. Plus when he’s unable to secure finishes in a majority of his fights against talent you would not consider the same value as Gracie, a former semi-finalist in the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix/Welterweight title contender.
Gracie has taken on significantly more high-level opponents than Storley and also has finished every opponent sans Jackson and MacDonald since joining Bellator in 2015.
Bellator Prediction
If you’re looking for a safe betting pick this weekend, take a chance on a Gracie at -145 and the under 4 ½ rounds (-140) via BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review). You can feel that this fight will be weird and wonky.
But with all of that prologue we’ve set up here and knowing that Gracie wants back in the title picture, it is hard to see this as not a setup fight to feed the Content Machine and have a card with a prominent “name” on the headline.
Bellator Parlay Picks
- Bellator 274 Pick: Neiman Gracie to Win ML (-145)
- Bellator 274 Pick: Under 4 ½ rounds
Bellator 274 Best Bet: Two-Legged Parlay (+190) at BetOnline
Think I’m wrong? Are you a Sakuraba-level Gracie hunter? Let me know in the comments or bother me on Twitter @Mryanconsulting. If you send me a Sakuraba gif I will follow you or at least acknowledge you as a human being and someone worthy of a pinwheel hat of joy.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.