Issue 161

December 2017

Fernando Gonzalez almost quit fighting when his career was going nowhere... but now he’s got a statement win and a platform to push towards a world title

Fernando Gonzalez

• Bellator welterweight
• Age: 36
• Alias: The Menifee Maniac
• Record: 28-18
• Team: Next Generation

Fernando Gonzalez has done his time. He’s had 41 fights in 13 years as a professional, but he’s never established himself as a major player in mixed martial arts. But that could all be about to change.

His latest victory was his seventh in eight fights for Bellator, and he got his hand raised in a way that made people sit up and take notice. Up against Brennan Ward, one of the organization’s most talented action fighters, he lost the first two rounds but stayed patient and was always dangerous.

Early in the third at Bellator 182, using all the wiles from more than a decade of competing, ‘The Menifee Maniac’ capitalized on Ward’s persistent takedown attempts and snatched a guillotine. Ward’s attempts to escape were futile. It was too tight. Gonzalez had a statement win in Bellator’s marquee division. It’s what he’s been waiting for his entire life.

What were you thinking going into the final round against Brennan Ward? Were you confident you could still snatch the victory?

When I sit back, I like to watch my opponents and see what mistakes they are making and what they are leaving open. From there, I start to take over. This was a lot quicker pace. When you are blitzing like he does, there are a lot of mistakes being made in those exchanges. I knew I would be able to capitalize on that. It’s his style. He likes to move forward and be aggressive. I wanted to tag him up and put him away.

That win catapulted your name into the title picture. How great would it be to get that shot?

Since I joined Bellator, I knew I would one day be champion. I looked at all the guys that were fighting and I knew I could beat them all. Any one of us can beat each other on any given day. What it really boils down to is the mental game. I have the advantage there. I have the experience. I know what I am going to face when I get in there. Once I get that title shot, it’s something I have already dreamed into reality. From there, I will have already fought everybody in the Top 10, so I will be calling out anyone I haven’t fought.

After you’ve seen these dream goals turn into reality, what are you seeing now? Is it multiple titles in different organizations?

I will start looking for other titles in other divisions and maybe even in other organizations. Bellator lets us fight out of there, so maybe I could get a Rizin guy to challenge and defend my belt. That is my goal. That is how you get recognized as one of the best in the world. That’s what I am gearing up for. It’s not just this one belt. I am going to try to clear out this division as quickly as possible as king as soon as they give me that title shot soon. After that, I’ll start calling out other guys. That’s how you become legendary. That’s what I want to be.

Your only loss in Bellator was a controversial split decision to Michael Page. Would you want to run it back with ‘Venom’?

I would definitely want to take that fight. If they offer it to me, I want it to be a five-round fight. In the fourth and fifth he is done. He barely had enough to stay away from me in the third round where he was just running. I don’t see how you win a fight like that. It is what it is. It’s in the history books now. Once I get that shot again, I will put him away.

You said your first Bellator win against Karl Amoussou was “the moment I knew I changed my stars forever.” Why?

For a long time, I was on the backburner. Even now, I’m not being promoted. I knew eventually they were going to be promoting me. It’s been like that at every show I’ve been at. I don’t look the most impressive, but I know how to fight. I give the fans a different style. I am breaking these guys down mentally and physically, and I knew I just needed to get on a big stage at a big show with a full training camp to showcase it. Here I am, 6-1. I think I should be 7-0 with the promotion. I am just going to continue that trend of giving fans great fights. Once I get my belt, I will have even more exciting fights.

How close did you come to retiring?

I am married, and my wife stuck with me through all the hard times. It started to get to the point where we were still struggling. We have our son now and we aren’t making it. We had just enough money to get by. After a while, nobody wanted to fight me because they were looking to get into the big show. They wanted to save their record and didn’t want to take a loss to me. I knew then I was going to lose my family or my dream. I watch Entourage and one of the things they talk about is the lotto winner doesn’t throw away the ticket. I knew what I had, that I could give the fans a great show and make a living off what I do. It was a tough time. It was rough.

What was the moment where you were closest to calling it a career?

I couldn’t find a fight. I was washing cars. That’s not what I wanted to do. It was eating at me. It still does. It still motivates me. I don’t ever want to get back to that point, ever. I go out there and I put my heart into every fight I have. I know now until I decide to retire that Bellator will keep me busy. I couldn’t even afford a ticket to a Bellator event when they came to my hometown. Everything worked out, man. You have to have those lows to appreciate the highs. I work my ass off every single day to never get back to that point again.

Where do you get your resilience from?

With my upbringing. I got into a lot of street fights as a kid. That is something that kind of molds you. It ingrains itself. Getting jumped is never fun. Either you are going to curl up in a ball or you are going to fight back. That’s where I knew my heart existed. When I got into boxing, that deterred a lot of me getting jumped because I got good at fighting. After that, knowing I could take shots from three or four different guys at

once, I knew just one guy wouldn’t stand a chance. There isn’t very much they can do to hurt me or show me anything I haven’t already seen. When it’s one-on-one, it’s going to be a hell of a fight.