Bellator Heavyweight Final: Grove vs Konrad Oct. 14

Bellator 33 will be the place where a new champion will be crowned, come October 14.

Neil Grove, a one-time UFC heavyweight fighter, stormed through Bellator with a commanding debut against veteran Eddie Sanchez, a well traveled fighter who at one time looked to be a possible contender in the UFC’s heavyweight division before he dropped two in a row in the promotion.

In the Sanchez fight, Grove took control early when he dropped “The Manic Hispanic” right away with a strong lead jab, before following up with punches in bunches on the feet and on the ground. Eventually, the bout was waived off within 92 seconds inside of the first round. He followed up the performance with a win over Alexey Oleinik in the tournament’s semi-final (which earned him a bid into the finals)–the win came in just 45 seconds inside of the first round. The South African native has now clocked in just over 2 minutes of ring time since his inception into Bellator. His next opponent, Cole Konrad, is a different exception.

Prior to his entry into Bellator’s heavyweight tournament, Cole, a two-time NCAA champion, had competed within the promotion twice. Those two bouts, much like his tournament battles thus far, have all gone to uninspired decisions.

While his wrestling pedigree is virtually unmatched in the heavyweight circuit in mixed martial arts, he has not quite been able to turn the corner and become a finisher. Granted, since his inception into Bellator he has faced higher level competition, and Grove on October 14. will be his toughest challenge to date. While his striking is left wanting, nobody has been able to match his suffocating grappling that has left many, or at least 4 in Bellator, and most recently Damian Grabowski, re-thinking their approach to fighting a skilled wrestler.

Grove vs Konrad, though, is the match up that everyone has wanted to see, and proves to be a true heavyweight final of 265 pound goliath’s who will vie for the promotions first ever heavyweight title.

So, mma peeps, who do you think takes this match up? Is Neil Groves stand up more impressive than Konrad’s wrestling? Sound off in the comments section below.