Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Bellator 227 takes place tomorrow night (Fri., Sept. 27, 2019) at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, featuring a Lightweight showdown between Benson Henderson (27-8) against Myles Jury (17-4) in the tape-delayed main event broadcast (watch here).
Jury was once a successful 155-pound Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitor, keeping a perfect (15-0) professional mixed martial arts (MMA) record intact from his Octagon debut until he knocked out Takanori Gomi in Japan back in Sept. 2014. Then, the wheels fell off the “Fury” wagon. Indeed, Fury would go 2-4 over the next five years of his career, which was neither a frequency of fights or percentage of wins that made UFC keep him around.
Henderson would be a fool to take Jury lightly, though. And since both men are former employees of the same company, they could easily have crossed paths before now. With three straight wins, Henderson is quickly earning his way back into title contention; however, a loss to Jury would derail that hype train and give the Bellator MMA debutant instant credibility.
MMAmania.com recently spoke with Jury about starting anew in Bellator MMA and how he doesn’t hold any grudge with UFC over how he was treated while there.
“I feel like UFC’s got its agenda, and that’s kind of the vibe (there), they do what they want. I knew the rules getting into this game. I’ve just got to stay focused on myself, so I can’t really sit back and bitch about anything like that. I think moving forward a couple good performances puts me right back in a big, great picture.”
The frame around that picture is Henderson’s current win streak, so to get in the picture Jury will have to break it. Despite overlapping UFC careers, their paths never crossed … until now.
“When I was just getting into UFC, Benson was at his height in UFC, and (the) timing never worked out. He was on his way out, I was coming off a layoff, so timing-wise we never got to scrap. The timing’s working perfect now because Friday in Dublin we’re going to go out and get after it.”
Jury is used to traveling all around the world for fights, going as far as Japan for his aforementioned fight with Gomi, but Dublin is still a long way to go for his Bellator debut.
“As a fighter it’s part of the job so whatever I’ve got to do I’ll do it. With it being in Dublin (though) I think that’s just a great adventure. I’ve never been there before. I’m looking forward to going to Dublin and meeting that crowd and meeting those fans and having that experience you know? On top of that it’s a big opportunity, a main event in Bellator, how cool is that? I’m grateful for the opportunity and looking to go out there Friday and take advantage of it.”
Almost 50 percent of Fury’s wins (eight of 17) have come via knockout; therefore, he’s aware that the expectations of fans in Dublin and watching around the world will be high.
“I feel like each fight it’s a new day, it’s a new fight, it’s a new challenge man. I’m just focused right now on Henderson and you know the fans can just expect me to put in that work. I worked my butt off to prepare myself for this fight, and do my best out there on fight night man. When I do my best man it’s a beautiful display of striking, grappling, a great pace and a finish — that’s always the ultimate goal.”
The biggest challenge may be Henderson’s tendency to draw out fights and outpoint his opponents on the scorecards. He finds ways to turn a foe’s assets into deficits.
“That’s one way of looking at it as far as Benson’s style, but honestly at this point in my career I’m just focused on myself. When I prepare properly like I have, and I go out there and have fun and let it all hang out, the good performances come. I feel like stylistically I match up well with anybody and with Ben I’m just looking to take advantage of the striking and the grappling.”
Jury’s insistence that he’s not looking to “the past or the future” left me wondering if in the present he could see himself fighting Patricio “Pitbull” Freire for the 155-pound title.
“As far as my career, I do have goals. My career goal is to be a world champion. You know I really only have two goals left and one’s to be a world champion, and the other one is just to make as much money as I can while I’m still fighting, you know? The world championship is the one I haven’t gotten, and I think with a win over Benson that puts me right next in line for the title shot.”
That’s not just Jury’s evaluation of himself, but his personal evaluation of Henderson as well.
“Honestly, that’s just the truth because I think Benson’s the No. 1 contender right now. You look at his fights, his pedigree, his long list of who he’s fought, who he’s beat, (so) a win over him puts me right in title contention.”
So if a win between Henderson and Jury creates a new challenger for the “champ-champ” Freire, what does Jury think of “Pitbull” as a potential opponent?
“Pitbull’s tough man! He’s beaten good guys, he’s good all around, but he’s just tough man. I think that’s one of his best qualities. The fight game’s crazy. I really did not expect him beating Chandler at all, but then he goes out there and catches him with that overhand. I think he’s good, but I definitely think he’s beatable.”
That’s the kind of confidence that comes from starting your career out 15-0 the way Myles Jury did, but at the 3Arena in Dublin on Friday, he has to start all over again with Benson Henderson.
Complete audio of our interview is embedded above, and complete coverage of Bellator 227/Bellator Dublin resides here at MMA Mania all week long.
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