Bellator 264 predictions: Is anyone picking John Salter over Gegard Mousasi?

Bellator is back in Connecticut this week, and the middleweight title is on the line.

Bellator 264 takes place Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. 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, middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (47-7-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) puts his title up against challenger John Salter (18-4 MMA, 8-1 BMMA). Mousasi is fighting for the first time since he recaptured the 185-pound title in October 2020 against Douglas Lima, and all 13 of our editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers are picking him to defend the belt.

In the co-feature, Sabah Homasi (15-9 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) takes on former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov (23-4 MMA, 13-4 BMMA). Our staff members are picking the ex-champ by a wide margin at 12-1.

Also on the main card, Magomed Magomedov (18-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) is a runaway pick in his bantamweight fight against Raufeon Stots (16-1 MMA, 4-0 BMMA). Magomedov has a 10-3 lead in the picks.

Our most contentious fight is at heavyweight between Everett Cummings (15-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) and Davion Franklin (3-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA). The top five pickers in our standings all like Franklin. But the lower eight all are going with Cummings.

And to open the main card, Khadzhi Bestaev (10-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) takes on Ty Gwerder (5-2 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) in a middleweight bout. Hawaii’s Gwerder has a sizable 9-4 edge in the picks from our staff members.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Mousasi (82 percent), Koreshkov (85 percent), Magomedov (76 percent), Cummings (51 percent) and Bestaev(64 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.