Bellator 163: “McGeary vs. Davis” comes to Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Nov. 4, 2016. The main event will see light heavyweight champion Liam McGeary make his first title defense in a year against No. 1 contender “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis.
Earlier in the night, a hard hitting welterweight showdown will pit “Barbaric” Derek Anderson against Paul “Semtex” Daley. The formidable Daley’s only loss in six fights was against former champion Douglas Lima at Bellator 158, and four of the five wins in that stretch came by way of knockout.
Anderson has reason to feel confident with back-to-back wins over equally hard hitting and dangerous opponents like Patricky “Pitbull” Freire and Saad Awad. Out of 17 pro fights, his only losses are a split decision to Brent Primus and a submission to Marcin Held.
Derek Anderson recently spoke to MMAmania.com about his chance to knock off a world class welterweight and use the momentum to get that much closer to a No. 1 contender’s spot at lightweight.
“That’s why this fight’s gonna be good. He’s a big name — it’ll be good to get my name out there a little bit more. I’m trying to come up for that title shot at Lightweight. I’m not so concerned about the fame but people better know who I am if they’re going to be fighting me.”
There’s another way Anderson feels a 170 pound fight helps his chances at 155 — avoiding unnecessary down time.
“I think it couldn’t hurt (because) they didn’t really have any Lightweights for me at this time. I wanted to keep fighting, I wanted to stay active, make some money, so they offered me this Welterweight fight. I thought it was perfect — I thought he was a good match up for me.”
On paper at least the numbers suggest it’s a good size match-up. Daley is 5’9″ with a 76″ reach, while Anderson is 6’0″ with a 74″ reach, so he may lose a little range but gains making Daley reach further up to hit the target.
“He’s got the same body styles that I’m used to, and if he wants to wing punches at me that’s not the smart way to go about it because I know how to fight man. He’s gonna be leaving openings and I’m gonna take advantage.”
If it sounds like he’s not afraid of Daley’s power (28 knockouts in MMA, 14 in kickboxing) you’d be right. Anderson’s not currently showing any signs of concern about a potential stand-up war in the Bellator cage.
“Aww, you know, I’ve been hit by a Mack truck before! I’m just making sure I’m as tight and technical as possible. He ain’t gonna be able to catch me. I’m going back to my roots with some Muay Thai, and (I’ve) got a good technical game plan for him, my boxing’s great. I might decide to do something else but anything else we do too I think I’ve got him on. Any ground or anything like that he’s got nothing for me.”
Anderson is also a fan of getting to make an easier weight cut for this fight than some of his battles from the past.
“I’m about 180 to 185 depending on how hard I just worked out the last day. It’s gonna be no problem man. I’m trying to save a little bit of weight on me. Why try to lean out too much? I can save a little bit of weight on me and sweat out about 10 pounds, nine pounds or something like that. Just shoot down to 171 (then) jump back up. I’ll probably jump in the cage about what I’m at right now – like (1)85 or something.”
It’s always a challenge to figure out the ideal weight class to fight at, whether or not you can be stronger at a smaller size, or if that cut to get down will affect your strength. Anderson admits he might just be fond of his power at 170.
“Absolutely, I hope so man! I’m kind of labelled as more of a volume puncher than a power puncher, but I’ve definitely got the power man and I’m looking to display some of that. This fight I think my technique, being nice and tight and fast and technical, that’s more my goal than power. I did want to knock Saad Awad out last time but I don’t care, I’ll take Paul Daley the distance if I need to.”
Anderson has been involved in some very closely contested fights in Bellator over the years, so I wanted to know if it ever gets under his skin if people don’t see the results the same way he and his corner men do.
“I guess tunnel vision’s a good word for it. After the fight’s over if we do go to decision, I’m hardly even waiting to get my hand raised. For me it’s like as if it was pre-fight. We both know who won. Maybe sometimes it’s a little different like the other guy might think he won. When I was on the wrong end of a split decision a little while ago my opponent knew he lost. That’s why it sucks the judges say he won you know?”
That’s how it goes in split decisions — sometimes you win the close ones and sometimes you don’t. Anderson doesn’t want to leave it up to the judges though if it happens to go that way he knows he’ll outpoint Daley.
“I think I’m the better fighter all around. I’m confident anywhere the fight’s going to take place. You know me I always like to strike so we’re going to do that, but there’s no reason not to take him down at least once a round, and I can finish him down there too. There’s plenty of possibilities but I think they’re all my win.”
Daley is known to talk smack before his fights so in closing I asked Anderson if and how he would respond.
“Yeah! A nice punch in the face.”
And there you have it — talk smack and get smacked back. That’s how Derek Anderson rolls on Nov. 4th.
Complete audio of our interview is below and complete Bellator MMA coverage can be found right here on fight night.