There’s a shiny golden belt on the line at Bellator 134 on Friday, February 27, and light heavyweight title challenger Liam McGeary will have his chance to earn it.
And while this typically represents a special moment in the life of a professional mixed martial artist, McGeary remains completely unfazed by the challenge and the opportunity ahead.
The 9-0 English standout won Bellator‘s 2014 Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament to seal his shot at champion Emanuel Newton’s throne, and now that his time has come, he’s taking everything in stride, remaining calm and collected before he takes the cage at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
“A belt is just a belt,” McGeary told Bleacher Report. “It’s just another fight. I’m going to go out and do my work.”
At 6’6″ with an 81-inch reach, McGeary certainly looks the part of a dominant 205-pound fighter. He’s lanky and effective—both standing and on the ground—and he’s split his career victories between knockouts and submissions, earning five of the former and four of the latter.
Only once has he gone to the third round, and that came in his professional debut in May of 2010. His third pro scrap went to the second round, but besides those two instances, no opponent has seen the second frame against him.
Despite this remarkable run, McGeary feels no pressure, not even when he sees the glint of the belt just ahead.
“I don’t really have to get mentally prepared for a fight,” McGeary said. “If somebody were to square off with me, I’d pretty much fight them there and then…I just go out there and have fun. Whatever happens happens. If I catch something, I catch something.”
His verbal nonchalance is not echoed by his actions.
Under the Bellator banner, McGeary is a perfect 6-0, and his three-fight run to win the 2014 Summer Series tournament lasted just over seven minutes…total.
While he’s decimated all comers inside the Bellator cage, Newton is a different animal. The 31-year-old light heavyweight champion is 25-7-1, and he’s only been finished three times in those seven defeats, twice via submission and once via TKO.
Like McGeary, Newton is currently enjoying a particularly impressive stretch of excellence, winning his past seven fights and cementing himself as the clear-cut king in Bellator‘s 205-pound class.
But a lanky Englishman with sledgehammer fists and brilliant submissions is coming, and that man believes he’s the one to send Newton crashing back down the light heavyweight mountain.
“He’s never fought a fighter like me before,” McGeary said. “He’s never fought anyone who’s going to bring the nastiness and the ferocity that I bring. He’s brought out a side of me that I didn’t even know was there. It’s pure nastiness. Yeah…He’s in for a tough night.”
For McGeary, the significance of his Bellator 134 matchup is perhaps a bit overblown in the eyes of the fans and media around the world. There’s a belt on the line, sure. There will be thousands of fans in attendance. He’s fighting to remain undefeated.
Ultimately, though, he’s stepping into the cage to do something he loves. He’s known he was a fighter since his days spent scrapping on the streets, in schools and anywhere else where somebody felt ripe for a challenge, and no amount of fame or attention will change that mindset.
“When you can stand and fight with 30 people and still, with a broken wrist, still put your middle finger up as you’re walking away from fighting them all, then you know you can fight,” McGeary said. “I just learned how to do my thing, get my tools, get my talent, and then bring that over here.”
Right now, as fighters cut weight and prepare themselves for the mental and physical battle ahead, McGeary is a special kind of relaxed. He’s naturally just five pounds or less over the 205-pound limit, and cutting weight is a total non-factor for him.
“I just eat and play with my little remote control car in the snow, thanks to my coach,” McGeary said. “I just have fun with it, really.”
When the lights go down in Connecticut on Friday evening for Bellator 134, you can expect McGeary to continue having fun doing what he does best.
His playground awaits, and the whole school is gathered around to watch the two baddest dudes in class throw down.
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