Issue 178
May 2019
TALE OF THE TAPE
Bellator MMA Featherweight
Age: 24
Record: 13-0-0
Team: Body Shop Fitness
Bellator Hawaii was a very special event. There is so much more to this than just an MMA event. What are your thoughts on Bellator saluting the troops and supporting our military as well?
I’m honored to be a part of it. Being The Mercenary, I am a big gun fanatic myself. I love guns. I am The Mercenary, you know? I sign contracts and I take people out. It’s like what they do. I fight for my family and they fight for their families. It’s an honor to be able to go over there and fight for the troops.
What drew you to guns? Do you go out on the range or do you go target shooting?
I just like them. I have guns in the house. I do like going to the range. A few of my dad’s ex-teammates, they just retired, they used to have guns. Guys like Brett Cooper and that generation of guys, those guys were ex-military, my step-brother is in the military. I have always had family in the military. I just like guns. From the first time picking one up and shooting it, I just had an eye. That and all the games I played as a kid, Call of Duty. I’m not good at any sports games. FIFA soccer, UFC, I’m not good at any of it, but shooting games? Let’s do it!
You finished Daniel Crawford with an anaconda choke in the first round at Bellator Hawaii. What are your takeaways from that fight?
I thank him for taking the fight. It’s just another stepping stone for me. I stay focused and grind and keep moving forward. I saw it as a first round submission or a second round knockout even before the fight. I guess I was right. I am always looking for a finish. I am all about the stats and that’s where I am at. I’m at 13-0 with ten finishes.
Still sitting here undefeated, what is your favorite fight from your own career?
I would say Brian Moore in Ireland. There was just a lot going on in that fight, behind the scenes and in front of the scenes, too. I fought James Gallagher’s teammate, who I felt was the better teammate. I went to Ireland and fought him on his home turf. My dad didn’t want me to fight. He didn’t feel I was ready for that fight. I didn’t really train for that fight. I just had a lot going on in my life at the time. With me being a fighter, I signed the contract already, I told my dad I was going to fight. We went out there and we fought and it was a fight. I knew it was going to be a fight. I knew he wasn’t going to stop. He was going to stay in my face and be nitty and gritty and that’s how it was. I broke after the first round but I was in there. I had to dig deep and give it everything I had.
I sat on that stool after the second round. It’s crazy I didn’t hear anything my dad said. I didn’t hear anything Slice said. I was in my own head thinking about life and everything. I was thinking to myself ‘Look, dude, this is what you are here for. It’s one-one right now. You are in his hometown. You are down. Go finish this fight. Bite down and give it all you got and fight or you are going to lose. It’s going to be you or him right now.’ I went out there and bit down and hit him with a jab/ cross and it stuck him. I had a whole new adrenaline rush. I hopped on his neck, sunk in the rear naked choke and got the finish. That was a great feeling to have that fight and be able to achieve that, to overcome that fear of knowing I have nothing left in the tank. I still came through. It was just a great feeling. I never want to feel that again though and that’s why I am fighting the way I am now. I thank Brian Moore every day for that fight.
That’s an incredible story. What is the first thing you remember hearing from your dad after you got out of your own head that night?
I don’t even remember, honestly. I was so fatigued that I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember getting my hand raised. After the fight I know I went to the
back and I just laid down. I was like ‘Slice, that was the worst feeling ever.’ On the trip home I ended up crying. I was crying. I felt like I lost the fight. It was a very emotional time in my life and a very emotional fight. I was crying because I didn’t feel like I won the fight. I broke. As a fighter, to break, to know you are broken, you never want to feel that. I feel like I need to feel that in order to get it together. I was ultimately glad it happened. I pushed through and my next fight with Justin Lawrence, that was the good task at hand. It was a great achievement to beat a former UFC fighter that I watched as a child. It was a great name and a great stat to put on my record.
That has to be such a special thing to truly know that you can fight through that level of adversity, it has to be a next-level type of confidence, yes?
It’s confidence but I have always had that confidence and that is what is scary. My dad has always told me that hard work beats talent. I am talented and gifted. I am just now figuring out how to do things and what to do. I am putting things together on my own now. That is what is phenomenal. It’s inevitable. It’s just going to take time and really learning and growing. I am grinding and working hard.
What was the biggest area of growth for you in 2018?
I would say being talented and putting in the work now. I didn’t quite figure it out until this past year. The fight in Ireland with Brian Moore showed me what I had, the heart to fight in a hard fight. The Justin Lawrence fight showed me, OK, you can fight and go but my heart wasn’t there. I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t want it. That’s why I was hitting and just backing off. I was tired of hitting him. It was just about going in there and getting him out of there. Now it’s putting all of that together. It’s having all of those mixed emotions of wanting to train, of wanting to do what I need to do. I have never had my dad tell me that I need to chill out. My dad is telling me that now. He is telling me to take a break now. I’m like, ‘Just one more set!’ He’s like, ‘No, chill out.’ Dang. It’s never been that way, so I know that 2019 is going to be a phenomenal year. I am going to take not one but two titles. Maybe I will even go up to 170 and do a super-super fight. I am looking to be the Floyd (Mayweather) of MMA. For me to go to 170 and put all of my accolades on the line, it’s going to be a lot. I am looking forward to going to get this 145 pound belt. It is going to be a birthday present from Bellator.
We see the various tournaments in Bellator at the moment. How open would you be to competing in a tournament in your weight class, whoever that may be?
I am ready. It would be fun. It’s a lot of attention but we will see how things go. I wouldn’t do it at 145 because of (Aaron) Pico, man, that’s like my brother. That’s not going to fly for me. That’s not going to fly for him. I have already made that clear. If anyone ever tries to pull that I’m retiring. Fighting ain’t worth losing a friend to me. That’s just how I feel. That’s respect and loyalty.
Speaking of the title Patrício Pitbull said he feels you deserve the next title shot. How do you feel hearing that?
Yeah he wants that sauce. He wants to go salsa dance with a little spicy mango sauce up there. I’m going to sweeten it up for him. I’m ready. Let’s bring him to L.A. I haven’t fought on my home turf for my friends and family to be here to support me at home. I think it would be really nice to come home and put on a show for everyone and fight for a belt. That’s what everyone has waited three long years for. I would sell out any arena here for sure.
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