Bellator 294: Johnson vs Sowma Betting Analysis and Prediction

In the first of two Bellator MMA events this weekend in Hawaii, there is an exciting heavyweight bout with some interesting betting lines. Tim Johnson will be meeting Said Sowman in the co-main event slot of Friday’s Bellator 294 event.

Read along for a look into this heavyweight matchup, including an official Johnson vs Sowma prediction, before you submit your betting slate this weekend. 

Tim Johnson vs Said Sowma

Location of the fight: Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Date and Time: April 21, 2023. 10 PM ET

How to Watch: Showtime

Johnson suffered a first-round TKO loss to Linton Vassell almost exactly a year ago this weekend–in April of 2022. Sowma is coming off a split decision loss to Gokhan Saricam in August.

Johnson is a 38-year-old heavyweight with a 15-9 record in professional MMA. He has accumulated 11 finishes, including 8 KOs. He’s a big Southpaw with a wrestling background and some power in his hands. 

He trains at Xtreme Couture, coming from being a 2-time NCAA D2 All-American wrestler at Minnesota State-Moorhead.

Sowma is an 8-4 MMA fighter in the heavyweight division. He was born in the country of Suriname and currently fights out of Coconut Creek, Florida. The training partners he drills with at American Top Team are some of the best a fighter can have in this sport.

He is the former Titan FC heavyweight champion, along with recently earning his purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Sowma is a natural-born athlete, swimming competitively at Indian River State College. 

No injuries have been reported to Bellator or the Hawaii Athletic Commission. 

Before figuring out the best possible Johnson vs Sowma prediction, let’s take a look at the available betting lines for this next MMA fight. 

MMA odds have Sowma as the slight -190 betting favorite over the veteran this weekend. The over/under is set at 2.5 rounds as well. 

The most interesting betting line is Sowma winning by TKO/KO at +175. If you are already too good at making simple MMA predictions, you can try to get lucky and take a method of victory prop bet for a lot better odds. 

When talking about the Johnson vs Sowma prediction, it’s tough to find everything needed to make the most confident pick. Both of these men are not very popular, and they don’t have much talent compared to the best.

Johnson has experience in the UFC, and Sowma is a former champion at a smaller promotion. The athletic advantage clearly goes to Sowma; he moves better, has more power, and is just going to be in better shape on Saturday night. 

The best bet is going to be the Sowma moneyline. It has decent value, and this fight is too big of a toss-up to confidently go with a method of victory prop bet. 

Johnson has been knocked out five times in his career, and at age 38, it doesn’t seem likely he will be able to take many clean shots from Sowma. Sowma has for sure been drilling a lot of positions on the ground and will be dangerous enough off his back to keep Johnson’s wrestling at bay.

Don’t be surprised if it looks like Johnson just wasn’t prepared for this fight. He is getting old, and he might not be getting the proper training needed to compete at this level nowadays.

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