Introduction
Saturday, May 27th, Beazilian light heavyweight prospect Rodolfo Bellato will be in action for LFA, where he will be looking continue his winning ways against Acacio dos Santos. He will be looking for another win, as Bellato looks to continue to his winning ways and eventually score a contract with the UFC. He represents Team Nogueira, a respected camp in MMA. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths
Power Game: Bellato is a big, powerful light heavyweight that is well-rounded. On the feet, he has serious knockout power when he’s able to land clean on his opponents. Four of his wins come by way of knockout, including his most recent win where he kneed and punched Mateus Messaros into oblivion. His mat striking is also dangerous. On the mat, he’s also powerful. He uses technique and muscle to outgrapple opponents and he’s finished multiple opponents on the mat with diverse techniques as well.
Physicality: Bellato is a physical specimen, as mentioned before. That makes him tough to take down, tough to outgrapple and hard to deal with in the clinch. His physicality is also shown when he’s being aggressive in the cage and moving on opponents. He is difficult to move around in clinching positions and hard to maneuver on the mat because of that physical presence.
Needs Improvement
Striking Defense: While Bellato has two losses on his record, they are both to Vitor Petrino. In both of those fights, his striking defense was exploited by Petrino, especially when he got into exchanges. His chin was too exposed and he got careless getting into those brawls. In his most recent loss to Petrino on the Contender Series, he showed more success in those exchanges, but ultimately, his striking defense was cut through again, as Petrino downed him with strikes.
Outlook
UFC Midcarder: Bellato has shown to be a strong fighter, especially in a light heavyweight division in need of talent. There is no shame in his losses to Petrino, who has shown to be legit. Bellato has otherwise looked very strong in the cage and has a future with the UFC. There are definite matchups he can win there, and if he continues to improve, he’s a guy that could exceed expectations on the UFC roster.
MMA Intel 