Bellator Bantamweight Champ Zach Makovsky
When you are the champion of one promotion the world’s top promotions, it is inevitable that you will get asked how you might match up against champions from rival organizations.
For Bellator bantamweight champ Zach ‘Fun Size’ Makovsky (14-2), who defends his title this Friday (April 13, 2012) versus Eduardo Dantas, he isn’t ready to sing his own praises just yet but matched up versus UFC champ Dominick Cruz, he feels he’s got a “pretty good chance” of beating ‘The Dominator.’
Makovskky is a former NCAA Division I wrestler who has used his skills to become the first Bellator bantamweight champion by winning the inaugural tournament back in October 2010. Since then he has gone on to win two more times in non-title fights, making this fight in Atlantic City at Bellator 65 his first title defense.
Speaking on The Verbal Submission show at MMAMania.com, Makovsky offers his thoughts on how he’d match up versus Cruz, training with the likes of Frankie Edgar and Eddie Alvarez, plus a lot more. So be sure to hit the link to read the entire interview, or press PLAY to listen to the podcast.
Gerry Rodriguez: The champion of the UFC, Dominick Cruz, is a pretty big dude. How do you think you would match up with him?
Zach Makovsky: I don’t know. It’s hard to say. He’s obviously I think the best guy out there right now. He’s been beating everyone and beating everyone pretty handily. He continues to improve in all areas. His fight against Demetrious Johnson was different in that he had to focus more on his ground game which looked very good. There’s really not many holes in his game. I think someone who can take him down and control him there is gonna give him problems but it seems every time he’s taken down, he pops up pretty quick. I don’t know how I’d do. I think I have a skillset where if I take him down and keep him there, I’d have a pretty good chance.
Ben Thapa: When you did train with Eddie Alvarez and so on, is there something you noticed that they’re particularly good at that you need to catch up to or were you almost there and they were just more established?
Zach Makovsky: There’s definitely things that Frankie Edgar and Eddie are better than me at but it plays into their style too. If they’re good at some things, that’s more how they fight and how they approach their fight. Like Eddie is much better than me at stepping in and landing solid shots in combinations but he also gets hit more than me so it’s kind of a trade-off where I’m trying to pick up stuff from them but not like steal it outright. I want to figure out how to work it into my style. I really think Frankie’s movements and takedowns are awesome and when Eddie steps in to hit you, that’s good too but I’m trying to figure out how to work that in from my style. I’m always trying to learn from everybody I see.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): When you close your eyes and picture victory against Dantas, what do you see?
Zach Makovsky: I see a tough fight especially in the first two rounds. I think I’m gonna slowly wear him out and control the fight. I think he’s gonna be really hard to finish. If I had to guess, maybe a unanimous decision but I think maybe a late finish with a submission in the fourth round.