Marcelo Golm will look for the finish against Daniel James at Bellator 293.
Bellator 293 headliner Marcelo Golm is ready to make up for the time lost. Paired up against Daniel James for Friday night’s event, the Brazilian wants to put on an impressive striking performance and hopefully emerge from it unscathed.
In an interview with Combate, Golm felt at ease enough to share his gameplan, which may come as no surprise. A knockout artist, Marcelo intends to keep the fight on the feet and score a stoppage. Though the Brazilian knows his opponent also has heavy hands, he believes has the technical edge over James on the feet.
“He’ a big guy. Big and strong. He likes to box, he can grapple. He’s a brawler, he’s going to try to make it a brawl, but I’m not afraid. I have my weapons to beat him on the feet. I like striking and and that’s how I intend to fight him. He’s a dangerous guy, I respect his hands. Technically, though, I’m much better than him. The fight is staying on the feet,”
Having fought twice in 2022 and once in 2021, Golm intends to be a more active athlete this year. Since Marcelo is not injured and has no weight cutting issues, the Brazilian wants to seize this positive moment in his career and fight as frequently as possible from now on.
“If I can have three or four fights this year, it will be wonderful for me. I haven’t been able to fight a lot lately. I was healthy, I wasn’t injured or anything. I’ll be on their back this year though. I want to fight three or four times a year. I’m doing well, I have no weight issues, which is something different. If I’m healthy, I can fight every month.”
Currently on a four-fight winning streak, Golm (10-3) scored wins over DJ Linderman, Brandon Hebert, Billy Swanson and Davion Franklin, all stoppages. The 30-year-old’s most recent loss happened in the last fight of his UFC stint, when he got knocked out by Sergei Pavlovich, in April 2019.
Now, Golm is expected to take on James at Bellator 293’s main event, on March 31, in Temecula, California. The co-main event is scheduled to be headlined by a women’s featherweight bout between UFC veteran Cat Zingano and Leah McCourt.