(photo by Cathlin Daley via TheFightNerd.com)
Former UFC welterweight, and now Bellator fighter, Ben “Killa B” Saunders (10-3-2) has taken the past seven months to work on his wrestling since his dismissal from the top promotion following two straight losses. Saunders is noted as an excellent striker but his Achilles heel is his wrestling, bouts with Jon Fitch and Dennis Hallman exposed the crack in his fight game that if you take Saunders down you can beat him on the mat.
Both fights against Fitch and Hallman were unanimous decision losses, the first two defeats suffered by “Killa B” that had been left in the judges hands.
This past Saturday, Saunders took his second fight since his departure from the UFC, winning for a second straight time and leaving the decision out of the judges hands. The fighter earned a third round TKO win against Korean born Matt Lee at Bellator 39. Saunders opened up several bloody gashes on Lee’s head forcing the doctor to step in and end the bout.
His participation in Bellator’s next welterweight tournament is almost assured, but his ability to defend against noted wrestlers like Ben Askren will determine his success or failure in Season Five.
“If I fight [Askren], I guess we’ll see where my wrestling’s at. It really comes down to basic fundamentals, just like anything. Striking, jiu-jitsu, whatever. As long as you have basic fundamentals and you’re good at it, you can nullify what they’re trying to do.”
“I’ve been working with my teammate Ralph Acosta nonstop and he’s probably one of the most technical wrestlers I’ve ever seen and worked with. Visually, and from a third-person view, the passion he has for wrestling is the passion I have for Jeet Kune Do. It’s been a great combination.”
“A crazy statistic is apparently I have been ranked as high as No. 8 or 9 on the UFC roster of best takedown defense,” he said. “That’s kind of ironic. But at the end of the day, I’ve fought some of the best in the world in guys like Jon Fitch. He does what he did to me to everybody.”
HT: ESPN.com