Alessio Sakara v Kent Kauppinen
The Bellator show rolls on to Italy for 211 which takes place at the RDS Stadium in Genoa on December 1; it brings the curtain up on what will be an action-packed month for followers of Mixed Martial Arts. Armchair fans can follow the best bouts from the Main Card courtesy of DAZN and, for a change, it’ll be a decent time for those watching in the UK. We’re checking out the best tips for Alessio Sakara v Kent Kauppinen.
Alessio Sakara v Kent Kauppinen headlines the night at light heavyweight; there’s certainly a strong argument to be made for that turning into a battle that won’t trouble the scoring judges. The headliner is supported by a talent-laden undercard, with the current bill promising Hesdy Gerges v Domingos Barros at heavyweight; Kiefer Crosbie v Orlando D’Ambrosio welterweight; Alen Amedovski v Ibrahim Mane middleweight and Luca Vitali v Luka Jelcic from the lightweight division.
The Preliminary Card throws together Andrea Fusi v Walter Pugliesi and Georgino Pietrini v Nemanja Milakovic. Both bouts will take place inside the welterweight limit earlier in the night and there’s something to keep followers of Kickboxing entertained, although we plan on paying more attention to the MMA list.
Bookies Do Their Bit
With lovers of MMA catered for, all major bookmakers have done their bit to ensure followers of sports betting are looked after with a number of the bigger fights covered. There’s something for everyone on the night, with a flood of competitively priced markets chalked up on the board; these include fight winner, allowing you to pick a side and back your warrior with hard cash.
If you’d prefer to be a bit bolder in your approach, the method of victory market gives players the chance to aim for a higher return. Decide on which fighter you think will win the bout and how they will do it – submission, points or KO/TKO. A bigger risk, of course, but the rewards are worth shooting for and, if doing research into the form of both involved, you’ll often be on the right path.
As always, we like to help. We understand punters don’t always have the time to spent pouring over facts and figures before making a bet. We hate to see our readers part with their hard-earned cash easily, so have brought in our team of MMA and sports betting experts to help guide you to a win over the bookies. It’s certainly a good time of year to earn a bit of extra cash with December always tough on the pocket.
What You Should Know About Alessio Sakara
Alessio Sakara is a 37-year-old MMA fighter from Rome; he will step into the arena with the backing of the local crowd on fight night and many expect that to make a real difference when things get interesting. Legionarius has experience competing in both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions and has found plenty of joy in each.
Fighting out of his base in Miami, Florida he is a former professional boxer. He has amassed a record of eight wins against one defeat in the squared-circle before making the move into the octagon. Since then he has been equally impressive, winning 20 of 34 starts. 14 of his victories have come by way of knockout, two by submission and four on points.
Of his dozen losses, there’s five by KO, three submission and three decision. His card also shows two no contests – illegal move and injury to blame.
The former UFC competitor has suffered from a lack of consistency in recent times. His last 10 bouts are made up of four wins, five defeats and one no contest. He seems to be moving in the right direction again, however, and has won four of his five most recent goes. This includes a victory last time, beating Jamie Sloane by TKO in Bellator 203 in July of his year, calling on his years of boxing experience to deliver a first round stoppage. An approach we can expect to see from him again and despite being capable enough on the mat, he’s far more comfortable relying on his stand-up game.
Big Punching Sakara is Always Dangerous
Interestingly, of Alessio Sakara’s last nine bouts, none have called upon the scoring judges to settle things. Each fight has finished comfortably inside the distance, resulting in an early win or premature defeat. Each of his last four victories have been the result of a sustained punching attack; that’s certainly something that will occupy the thinking of opponent Kent Kauppinen
The Italian is no spring chicken, that cannot be ignored. However, there can be absolutely no doubt he still holds the power to trouble anyone if he is able to get a clean shot away. That’s why so many of his wins have come in the first couple of rounds.
If you intent to back Sakara for the win we advise you should do it in the method of victory market, taking the KO/TKO. The stats would suggest that’s a worthwhile investment.
Kent an English Rose with a Thorny Side
Kent Kauppinen travels from his base in Wiltshire, England with confidence on side and reason to believe he will upset the home crowd and take the win back across the channel. The Spartans Gym representative is a natural middleweight fighter, standing 6ft tall with a record of 10 wins against four losses.
Of his positives, followers have noted eight coming by way of knockout with two by submission. This is a man who has never called upon the judges to do him a favour. He has also been knocked out himself once, suffering two submission reverses and one decision defeat.
Those numbers will grab the attention of fight fans who will know it all means one thing – this will be all out war as two heavy handed, well-matched fighters go on the front foot from the buzzer. If that’s something you are interested in, we’d say get yourself settled on the sofa nice and early as this could be finished in a flash.
Can’t part them? Well, we wouldn’t blame you for taking up position on the fence. Back the fight not to go the distance and you will be paid out regardless of who wins, as long as we don’t hear the final bell. If you see something we don’t and expect it to last the duration, back yes and you’ll be paid no matter who wins, as long as it’s on points. In such a close bout we expect a fair share of interest on that.
Poor Recent Form
Despite a strong star to his career, Kent appears to have gone off the boil of late and he has lost each of his last two. He suffered an armbar submission when in with Fabian Edwards on BAMMA 34 back in the spring and that brought an end to what was a strong run of wins.
He returned to action quickly, in an attempt to make a quickfire return to winning ways; however, that plan blew up in his face when losing to Walter Gahadza on Bellator 200 in May. He was beaten by a brutal looking rear naked chokehold in round two on the undercard of Carvalho v Mousasi.
A hat-trick of losses would put a serious dent in his chances, ensuring we don’t see any gambles taken early; however, we do fancy another loss and will be backing Sakara by KO/TKO. Follow our thinking and enjoy what will be a thriller.