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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Matt Erickson

Bellator 288 predictions: Nemkov or Anderson, Freire or Nurmagomedov in Chicago title fights?

Nemkov
vs.
Anderson
Freire
vs.
Nurmagomedov
Khizriev
vs.
Weichel
Fortune
vs.
James
Chokheli
vs.
Faraldo
MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
180-106

Anderson
(57%)

Nurmagomedov
(87%)

Khizriev
(75%)

Fortune
(91%)

Faraldo
(90%)
Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
190-101
2018 Champion

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Khizriev

Fortune

Faraldo
Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
182-109

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Weichel

Fortune

Faraldo
Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
182-109

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Khizriev

Fortune

Faraldo
Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
179-112

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Weichel

Fortune

Faraldo
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
178-113
2014 Champion

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Khizriev

Fortune

Faraldo
Matt Erickson
@MMAjunkieMatt
176-115

Anderson

Freire

Khizriev

Fortune

Faraldo
Simon Samano
@SJSamano
175-116

Anderson

Freire

Khizriev

Fortune

Faraldo
Nolan King
@mma_kings
170-121

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Weichel

Fortune

Faraldo
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
169-122
2017 Champion

Anderson

Freire

Weichel

Fortune

Faraldo
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
157-134

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Khizriev

Fortune

Faraldo
Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
142-149

Anderson

Nurmagomedov

Khizriev

Fortune

Faraldo

Bellator makes its return to Chicago this week with a pair of title fights leading the card in the “Windy City.”

Bellator 288 takes place Friday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov (15-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) puts his title on the line against Corey Anderson (16-5 MMA, 3-0 BMMA). The fight is a rematch from an April title fight that ended in a no contest after an accidental clash of heads left Nemkov with too deep of a cut to continue. The fight also is the $1 million final of Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament. Anderson was the underdog in the first fight, but now is a -230 favorite at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Nemkov is +175. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Anderson as one of three unanimous picks at 11-0.

In the co-feature, lightweight champion Patricky Freire (24-10 MMA, 15-8 BMMA) puts his belt up for the first time when he takes on the unbeaten Usman Nurmagomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA). Usman is the biggest favorite on the main card at a whopping -750, but he’s not a unanimous pick. Three of our staff members are taking “Pitbull” Freire in what would be a major upset.

Also on the main card, Timur Khizriev (11-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) meets Daniel Weichel (42-13 MMA, 11-5 BMMA) in a featherweight bout. Khizriev is a big -320 favorite at the betting window, but he has just a 7-4 picks lead.

Tyrell Fortune (12-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) is one of our three unanimous picks in his heavyweight bout against Chicago native Daniel James (13-6-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Fortune is a 3-1 favorite in the fight.

And to open the main card, Roman Faraldo (8-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) is our third unanimous pick at 11-0 in his welterweight bout against Levan Chokheli (10-2 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) – even though he’s the smallest main card favorite at about 2-1.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Anderson (57 percent), Nurmagomedov (87 percent), Khizriev (75 percent), Fortune (91 percent) and Faraldo (90 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 288.

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