It was a little less than 18 months ago that Ben Saunders stepped up to the plate to try and help bail the UFC out of a serious problem. UFC 111 was set to go off in just a few days when word came down that Saunders’ teammate at American Top Team, Thiago Alves, had been declared unfit to fight due to some abnormalities that had shown up during a brain scan.
UFC 111 was an important card for the organization as it was being held in New Jersey, right outside New York City, which the UFC has been unable to infiltrate to this date. Alves was scheduled to face fellow top contender Jon Fitch in a welterweight showdown and rematch that could possibly determine who would face the winner of the card’s main event.
The UFC Welterweight Champion was putting his title on the line against the charismatic Dan Hardy, and a convincing win by either Fitch or Alves could land them the winner and another shot at the championship. Now Fitch was left without an opponent, Alves career was in jeopardy and the UFC was about to lose one of its main card fights. In steps Saunders with a move that was sure to make UFC President Dana White proud.
Saunders forgot his bout with Jake Ellenberger in order to face Fitch in a fight that he would be considered a heavy underdog, but he showed balls and initiative, something White would surely appreciate. Unfortunately Saunders lost via unanimous decision, but one would think he would have built up some goodwill within the UFC.
Saunders followed up that loss with another unanimous decision loss to Dennis Hallman at UFC 117, which by the way is where Fitch and Alves finally met once again after having their fight canceled on two separate occasions. Not long after that loss to Hallman, Saunders received his release from the UFC in a move that somewhat shocked people. Yes, it was his second loss in a row, but shouldn’t he be given a little slack for the Fitch loss?
Now Saunders is set to take on Chris Cineros in the Bellator welterweight tournament which begins this Saturday night. Having no regrets and feeling no ill will towards the UFC, Saunders is happy to be fighting again and is excited for the opportunity that Bellator has provided him. Now it’s time for him to show the world what type of fighter he can be and what the UFC is possibly missing out on. He also has an interesting take on the whole tournament format.
“To be honest with you the way I look at the tournament it seems to be a more structured Ultimate Fighter,” Saunders explained to Bleacher Report. “The biggest difference is that TUF was spread out over 6-8 weeks while Bellator plays out over a span of three months. Also, the level of fighters who participate on The Ultimate Fighter aren’t the same caliber of the Bellator fighters.
“I really like the fact that there is an opportunity offered where I could possibly fight three times in as many months. That’s damn near impossible in this day and age of Mixed Martial Arts. You’re lucky if you get three fights a year with the UFC, just due to the size and talent their rosters hold.”
With other fighters like Dan Hornbuckle and Douglas Lima, who are also trained by American Top Team, Saunders has to be considered one of the favorites going into the tournament. Although Cineros doesn’t carry a big name, “Killa-B” realizes he is certainly capable of carrying a mighty big stick.
“I really don’t know much about him other than he has some pro boxing and pro kickboxing in his background,” Saunders said. “I believe his MMA record is 11-3, he fights out of Hawaii so you know he’s coming to fight. I’ve heard he has a lot of heart and a lot of passion, but for me I train for anyone and everyone, I try and improve my whole game when preparing for a fight.”
Saunders looks at the talent-laden roster that comprises the welterweight tournament and sees a mixed bag of talented fighters. While he likes to feel confident, he knows not to take anything too seriously. Even though some people have picked him to win, he learned a long time ago not to let the positive get him too high or the negative get him too low.
“Some people have chosen me, others have picked Hornbuckle and then there is Douglas Lima who is also the MFC champion,” explained Saunders. “The “Handler and Lima are teammates of mine and we all decided that if we had to fight we would do it and shake hands afterwards, this is what we get paid to do.
“At the end of the day I would hope that I would win, but do it without injuring either fighter. That would make it not worthwhile; I would never want to hurt any other fighter especially a teammate. We punch each other in the face everyday we might as well get paid to do it.”
As witnessed in his last two UFC fights, it was very evident that Saunders’ main Achilles Heel was his wrestling. Fitch took him down at will, and Hallman didn’t seem to have very many problems either. American Top Team has taken the initiative to recruit top-flight wrestlers to their camp with the hopes of not only developing some great fighters, but also to help their own fighters strengthen themselves in that department.
“The second I got back from the loss to Hallman I was back in camp working on my wrestling,” Saunders said matter-of-factly. “I always felt like I had a good base for wrestling, but never had to utilize it all that much. So when it came time to recall the training and put it into a real life situation I was unable to do it. I became overaggressive and put myself into some bad positions against some high level wrestlers.”
The big news recently has been the UFC jumping over to Fox, FX and Fuel which now leaves Spike TV without an MMA partner. The casual fan more than likely thinks of Spike when they think of MMA so it would make sense to see Bellator make the move to Spike and leave MTV2, which like Spike, is owned by Viacom.
“Right now the only thing I have heard is that they are both owned by Viacom and that some Spike TV officials have been showing up at our events,” said Saunders. “It would seem like the smart move to take Bellator over to Spike. We could then be offered in HD as well as become available to so many more households. For the fighters it would mean more money especially in sponsorship dollars. It would be a win-win all the way around.”
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