Bellator 296 predictions: Mousasi or Edwards, Barnaoui or Primus in Paris?

	Mousasi vs. Edwards	Barnaoui vs. Primus	Lima vs. Van Steenis	Gouti vs. Mousah
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 66-49	Mousasi (77%)	Barnaoui (56%)	Lima (60%)	Gouti (67%)
Matt Erickson @MattE 75-40	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Lima	Mousah
Simon Samano @SJSamano 73-42	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Van Steenis	Mousah
Nolan King @mma_kings 71-44	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Van Steenis	Mousah
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 70-45	Mousasi	Primus	Lima	Mousah
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 70-45	Mousasi	Primus	Van Steenis	Mousah
Mike Bohn @MikeBohn 68-47 2014 Champion	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Lima	Mousah
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway -65-50 2018, 2022 Champion	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Lima	Gouti
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 65-50	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Van Steenis	Mousah
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 63-52	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Van Steenis	Gouti
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 62-53	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Lima	Mousah
Brian Garcia @thegoze 62-53 2017 Champion	Mousasi	Barnaoui	Lima	Mousah

Bellator is back in the “City of Light” for the third time with a key tournament fight and an ex-champ at the top of the bill.

Bellator 296 takes place Friday at Accor Arena in Paris. 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, former middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (49-8-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) will fight for the first time since he lost his title when he takes on Fabian Edwards (11-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA), the brother of UFC welterweight champ Leon Edwards.

Mousasi is a -260 favorite in the fight, and he’s a near-unanimous pick from our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers. They have it as a blowout for the former champ, Mousasi, at 10-1.

In the co-feature, Mansour Barnaoui (20-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) takes on former lightweight champ Brent Primus (11-3 MMA, 9-3 BMMA) in a quarterfinal fight in Bellator’s lightweight grand prix. Barnaoui is a moderate favorite at -360 and has a big 9-2 lead in the picks.

Also on the main card, former welterweight champion Douglas Lima (32-11 MMA, 14-7 BMMA) takes on Costello van Steenis (14-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) in a middleweight bout. Van Steenis is a slight favorite at -160, but it’s Lima with a narrow 6-5 edge in the picks.

And to open the main card, Thibault Gouti (16-6 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) meets Kane Mousah (14-4 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) at lightweight. Gouti is a slight favorite at -140, but it’s Mousah in a blowout at 9-2.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Mousasi (77 percent), Barnaoui (56 percent), Lima (60 percent) and Gouti (67 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 296.