What's Next For The Winners And Losers Of Bellator 47?

Overall, Bellator 47 was a solid event in the promotion’s budding relationship with the MTV2 network. Now once again it’s time to ask: what’s next? What does the future hold after both Marlon Sandro and Pat Curran punched their ticket to the finals of the “Summer Series” Featherweight Tournament? Here’s my answer to just that: a new edition of my “What’s Next for the Winners and Losers” series of articles, now featuring Bellator 47.

Next for Neil Grove: With his devastating and fantastic win at Bellator 47 coupled with his previous status as a Bellator tournament finalist, Neil Grove definitely became the favorite to win the next Bellator Heavyweight Tournament. Grove is “forty years young” and has looked pretty incredible in Bellator so far. I think the quality of Bellator’s Heavyweight division has seen some interesting improvements since their first tournament, so Grove will likely face some tough challenges on his way to a rematch with Cole Konrad. But I do think that’s a rematch we should all be both anticipating and expecting.

Next for Chris Horodecki: Bellator’s Lightweight division is very interesting right now. Personally, I think that most of the best fights from Bellator’s fourth season of tournaments came from the Lightweight division. I think this win coupled with Horodecki’s already-established notoriety has definitely earned him a spot in the next Bellator Lightweight Tournament.

Next for Nazareno Malegarie: Currently, Malegarie is 1-2 in Bellator with both losses to eventual Bellator tournament finalists. I think that’s a pretty respectable win/loss record when you consider that Malegarie debuted in Bellator an unbeaten 19-0 and was immediately put up against the best Bellator had to offer. For his next fight, I think Malegarie may take some time off of Bellator and go back to his native Brazil. If he chooses not to, Malegarie will likely fight in a qualifier bout for the next Featherweight tournament. Despite being 1-2 in Bellator overall, I think we definitely haven’t seen the last of the very entertaining Nazareno Malegarie.

Next for Ronnie Mann: The loss to Curran snapped a four-fight win-streak, so some damage was done to Mann’s aura as the unstoppable wrecking machine. Considering he lost to Curran, though, the damage was only slight. I think Mann can still be a force in Bellator, and I definitely think he’ll go far in the next Bellator Featherweight Tournament, making it to at least the semi-finals if not the finals.

Next for Pat Curran/Marlon Sandro: This is going to be one very tough test for both men in the finals of Bellator’s “Summer Series” Featherweight Tournament. I think Pat Curran can beat Marlon Sandro with crisp striking and a strategic ground game, but you have to respect Marlon Sandro’s punching power and his ability to wear down his opponents. There’s a chance that both men could neutralize each other in the same way Curran and Mann neutralized each other, but I think that a shot at the championship plus a big cash incentive will motivate both men to go for the finish. Right now, I think this fight is definitely a toss-up and will come down to which one is able to keep the fight where they like it more often than their opponent.