Photo by Alexandre Schneider/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Fighters are scheduled to start chatting today (Weds., Sept. 9) at 1:30 p.m. ET from inside Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Bellator 245: “Davis vs. Machida 2” and Bellator 246: “Archuleta vs. Mix” take place this weekend (Fri., Sept. 11 and Sat. Sept. 12, 2020, respectively) at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Phil Davis (21-5, 1 NC) and Lyoto Machida (26-9) will rematch in Bellator 245’s main event, while Juan Archuleta (24-2) and Patchy Mix (13-0) will crown a new Bantamweight champion in Bellator 246’s headliner.
The fighters are scheduled to participate in what the promotion is calling a “Virtual Media Day” this afternoon (Weds., Sept. 9, 2020), starting at 1:30 p.m. ET. Expected participants include:
Phil Davis (1:30 p.m.) – Bellator Light Heavyweight
Cat Zingano (1:45 p.m.) – Bellator Featherweight
Ed Ruth (2:00 p.m.) – Bellator Middleweight
Raymond Daniels (2:15 p.m.) – Bellator Welterweight
Juan Archuleta (2:30 p.m.) – Bellator Bantamweight
Liz Carmouche (2:45 p.m.) – Bellator Flyweight
Jon Fitch (3:00 p.m.) – Bellator Welterweight
Derek Campos (3:15 p.m.) – Bellator Lightweight
Keoni Diggs (3:30 p.m.) – Bellator Lightweight
Neiman Gracie (3:45 p.m.) – Bellator Welterweight
Patrick Mix (4:00 p.m.) – Bellator Bantamweight
Lyoto Machida (4:15 p.m.) – Bellator Light Heavyweight
Selected news and memorable quotes from the participants will be available below.
Phil Davis: “It’s kind of like, all things are connected. I gotta get through this fight in order to get back to the belt. I’m as motivated for this fight as I am for the next fight because it’s all connected to where I want to be.”
Davis: “In his fight with Chael Sonnen, (Machida) showed a little more technique with range than I had previously seen. He’s definitely an evolved fighter as well.”
Davis: “I train in a silent gym all the time. This I imagine will be very similar to training. Sometimes you have a tough guy that comes in from somewhere else, his guys are coaching him, your guys are coaching you. I imagine it will be like that.”
Davis: “Enough time has taken place that he (Machida) won’t be like that fighter. I’m the same guy with the same skill set, but I’ve improved on that. I expect a lot of the things I might see, mistakes I might find won’t be there.”
Davis: “We stack up well (at 205). We simply have the best fighters in the world.”
Davis: “I’m not exactly sure how much of the same I’m going to get. He’s probably going to get an entirely different looks, not by my choosing, but because that’s just who I am now. I’ve gotten my game to a point where I’m completely confident in everything I’m doing when I step in there, and I’ve improved so much from 2013 to now, and I don’t want to overthink it by going in there and looking at old mistakes.”
Davis: “My stand up has probably received the greatest margin in that time span. I’ve improved on my finishing rate in terms of grappling positions and ground & pound. Everything has increased over the last five to six years.”
Davis: “Machida’s a hard guy to lay a glove on. He really doesn’t get taken down much. He’s very good at getting up. I feel like that more than anything — yes, my confidence did grow. You can do what you can do to anyone in the world, but there’s something about Phil that’s completely different. His skill set is unlike anyone else.”
Cat Zingano: “I got all the coaches figured out, I got the weight situation figured out, it’s been easy and hard in all the right ways.”
Zingano: “(Betting odds) mean nothing to me. There’s no math to be had in MMA. It’s a little bit of luck, a lot of work ethic, I haven’t spent one day thinking I’m a favorite. That’s not how I work.”
Zingano: “I’m really excited to here. I feel refreshed, it’s a great new opportunity. I’m ready to turn it up and be successful. I like the view. As far as the UFC it’s a closed chapter. I’m grateful for the marketing and the opportunity, to have fought and beaten some of the best women in the world, and it prepares me for the next chapter in a way I’m excited about too.”
Zingano: “It’s a great new chapter. Something I’m very excited about, something I’m motivated by. It’s a whole new fresh start. I feel every way I need to feel for me to come out and be successful.”
Zingano: “(Bellator) has been so mellow and supportive. They just want to treat you so good and enjoy your experience. I’m experiencing this stress free, very comfortable week this week. There was a whole new energy that made me feel very healthy.”
Zingano: “I used to fight at 125 and I was gigantic. I think I nearly died a couple of times trying to make that weight. It made more sense to go up because I was a really big Bantamweight. At a certain point it got tricky on my body to get down to 135. It kind of made sense for what I want, and work on what it takes to be a good and strong Featherweight. It’s less stress on my body, what your endocrine system does each time.”
Zingano: “I feel like a rebirth almost. I’m getting treated in a way I really appreciate. I just feel like this is going to be a great chapter. I’ve done completely out of the box stuff, standardized stuff as well, and I feel like I’ve checked all the boxes. I’m being taken care of in ways that motivate me to be my best at this. Even the hard practices are good and necessary things. I feel great on all levels on the changes that come into being in Bellator.”
Ed Ruth: “It wasn’t frustrating at all. If anything I was happy with the time I got to reflect on the match, to take everything into the gym and just work on myself.”
Ruth: “If anything I think (the pandemic) helped it a lot more. I get a lot more one on one time with my coaches. There was always a problem with too many people in the gym. I feel like now it’s more focused on the people you want in the gym and you’re getting everything that you need.”
Ruth: “A lot of the guys on the Penn State team are animals. They’re just hard workers, they’re go getters. They know the sky’s the limit.”
Ruth: “We’re both knockout artists, that’s cool, but I’ve been around a little bit longer than him and I think I’ve got him on the experience factor.”
Ruth: “I’ve taken up playing the guitar. I heard someone playing the guitar one day and I picked it up and started doing it. It made me realize I was a creative person and had more creativity in me. I’m about two months deep. I’m still learning the frets and scales. When I get latched onto something it’s hard to pull me away.”
Ruth: “From the Amasov loss I learned that there’s wrestling that’s applicable in MMA and wrestling that doesn’t work at all. When I go out there and I’m fighting I realize you can slip a lot more, you can’t really go for an ankle pick. Your move set is more limited just from the stand up alone. Knowing when to NOT to do something and when to do something.”
Ruth: “The whole world of MMA is very similar to wrestling, the weight cutting, the grind. It brings a brotherhood, a camaraderie with you and your teammates, because it’s so hard to do and yet it’s just you against one other person, you imposing your will, determining whether you win or not. I don’t know if people get how crazy that is. You both have expectations, you both have goals, and you’re challenging each other in the cage. It’s so personal, it’s so singular. It’s just me and that guy.”
Ruth: “Every time I step in the cage it’s a same thing. There’s another guy there and I have to beat him, whether it’s prelims or the main card. Eventually I’ll be back in that main event spotlight.”
Raymond Daniels: “I’d like to present something to Bellator. Being that I’m a Welterweight kickboxing champion, and that Douglas Lima is a Welterweight MMA champion, I’d like to put something at risk. I believe iron sharpens iron. I’d like to show that I’m willing to take that risk and put my title up against his.”
Daniels: “I try to tell fighters coming up to never believe in their own hype. When I was younger I was caught up, I was an undefeated kickboxer, knocking people out with things they’d never seen before. When I went into that first experience I had zero training in wrestling, jiu-jitsu, muay thai. I was just a sports martial art competitor that enjoyed competing. I thought you should always be able to compete against the best of the best in any rule set. It was a very humbling experience but I wouldn’t take anything back. Yes that (first MMA) experience didn’t go my way, but because of that experience, now I’m able to give people highlights at 40 years old because I was able to learn from those experiences and continue to evolve.”
Daniels: “That’s why I go out and perform the way I perform, and fight the way I fight, to go out and inspire people. I’m honored to be able to fight on 9/11.”
Daniels: “A lot of people ask me that question. I had to do extra stuff with the doctors and medical because I’m 40, but I come from a different background than the typical MMA person. I come from it as a martial artist and I believe martial arts is the fountain of youth. Teaching keeps me very young and energetic because I’m working with tomorrow’s future. I may be a late bloomer (in MMA) but I always arrive on time. I’ve always risen to the top in whatever organization I compete with. When I was in GLORY I fought my way to the top and came up short because my eye got cut. I rose to the top in Bellator Kickboxing. These guys may be younger than me, but with my experience, I’m always faster than all of them.”
Daniels: “It’s amazing having a life partner that shares in my passion. She knows that I’m not able to break my diet. She’s there to help me get my supplements and pads and everything together. People are able to see me blossom like this because of her. Physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally in my love life it’s amazing. People are able to see me truly balanced. When your mind body and soul are all one you can do things like the 720.”
Juan Archuleta: “I think I’ve fought more at Bantamweight than I have at 145, but yeah it’s an opportunity to keep growing. I fight at 145, 135, 155. It doesn’t matter I just want to fight the best fighter that are out there.”
Archuleta: “135 is quite a challenge. You have to be a lot more strict with your training, rigorous with your diet. It brings out something different in you. It brings your focus in. It’s a different aura. It’s brought back a new fire in me.”
Archuleta: “Going through this journey in life is crazy. You go through the highest highs and the lowest lows. Going on all these different journeys, seeing all these different countries, then boom you have financial gain. Fighting for a world title, losing it, and then having it again. Experiencing that, going through that type of journey, you appreciate it more.”
Archuleta: “We put a lot of hard work (into Kingdom), to make it as authentic as possible, something people can truly related to. I fight out of Navy Street to this day. That’s why you’ll still hear me introduced as fighting out of Navy Street, Venice Beach, California. Joe Stevenson, a man of great ideas, he said ‘If it’s okay with you let Juan fight out of Navy Street for the rest of his career.’ They wrote me in as a character. So when Joe Stevenson was on The Ultimate Fighter, I stepped in as a consultant on the show. At the end they tell Ryan ‘Are you going to Bellator or UFC?’ And I was on that fence. I was in King of the Cage, and (in the show) it was called King Beast. Obviously I went the Bellator route, but it was cool to see that transpire and happen.”
Archuleta: “I wanted to be a champion in Bellator, represent in Bellator, and they had a lot of hype behind them when I came out as a free agent. Michael Chandler, they gave him a platform. Eddie Alvarez, they gave him a platform. You have to try to use the platform and become a household name.”
Archuleta: “I believe Scott Coker said if Horiguchi’s ready to go he gets the first title shot. I’m not a promoter, I’m not a matchmaker, obviously they went with Patchy Mix and myself. Obviously it could have been Pettis. I do see him as next in contention (after this fight) if Horiguchi’s not ready.”
Liz Carmouche: “When the new ownership took over (UFC) a lot of things didn’t really make sense to me. After my fight with Valentina, I kept asking for a fight, saying I was ready but not really getting phone calls back. That’s not really right. I was out doing a media tour for them and PR at a hospital when I got the word, so that was weird, but not really surprising because of the changes in the organization.”
Carmouche: “I’m expecting the same. It’s two veterans going in there. She’s been fighting just as long as I have with just as much experience. This is not a new platform. We can go out there and really demonstrate what we’re capable of doing. I’m always prepared for any opponent. Once we get into fight camp it’s just making those little tweaks for an opponent.”
Carmouche: “Ilima (Macfarlane) if she fought Valentina (Shevchenko), Ilima has a super unorthodox style I don’t think she’d be prepared for.”
Carmouche: “It’s refreshing just to be booked for a fight. A lot of the people I knew at Strikeforce transferred over to Bellator, so it’s a lot of people I already knew really well. Now I get to fight for them and I’m just really excited to do that.”
Jon Fitch: “I would just like it to operate it as a sport. No other sport do promoters control shots at a title. Me coming back has a lot to do with COVID and a lockdown. I’m healthy, I’m able to compete, Neiman’s an interesting guy, he’s super tough. A lot of people are locked down at home, they’re hurting, so I thought it would be nice to give them 15 minutes of carnage to escape from all the madness right now.”
Fitch: “You know, the extra money from another fight is nice, but I think it’s good to show your kids you have interests, you work hard, you struggle through adversity, it’s good for them to see it. I want them to see me do the work. Things break down, things fall apart, but you don’t quit.”
Fitch: “It was difficult to get much out of the Rory fight with Neiman because he was being very conservative out there. I want a barn burner.”
Fitch: “At my age, I want to fight big fights, the Gracie fight during lockdown is a big fight, and the title. That’s the appeal. Unless I’m getting more money I want to fight for the title.”
Fitch: “Resistance training, strength training is the fountain of youth. I eat a lot of natural foods, stay away from processed foods, stay in shape year round. My grandmother is 95 years old and she’s a ball of energy. Things that move don’t age as fast. Turn off the Netflix and do something physical.”
Fitch: “I never force anything. I never look to get the takedown. If a guy opens up and the takedown comes easy, then that’s where it goes. I have to be strong and react appropriately to the opportunities that come around. As long as my mind is working right I’m always going to make the right choices. If he makes it easy to get a takedown I’ll do that. If he makes it easy to jab and stay at distance I’ll do that too.”
Derek Campos: “To be honest I would still love to compete against Roger Huerta, and I’d like to stay at 155 pounds. I don’t feel as comfortable at 145. I just feel fresh. I feel like I have more power at 155. I’ve always fought at 155 my whole career so if I can keep that going, that’s the plan. If they re-book that, I would love that.”
Campos: “I’ve been able to focus more on hitting the strength training hard and pack on some muscle. I feel more energized from it. I’m looking forward to getting in there and showcasing what power I can bring. I may not be the biggest (at) 155 but I feel like I’m able to push the pace.”
Campos: “When you’re undefeated, you’ve got pressure to keep that ‘oh.’ I’m just looking to go out there and put on a spectacular show and just completely dominate him.”
Campos: “If a deal was to be worked for another bout at 145, if they needed me against a game opponent, if it was a good bout for me to take sure I’d drop back down. Going forward (though) two, three, four more years I’d like to compete at 155. I can’t say never at 145, we’ll see what happens at the future, but for now it’s 155 and to go after the title.”
Campos: “I’m looking to go in there and show the rest of the division that I’ve evolved, my game has changed, I’m still improving and I’m not done yet.”
Keoni Diggs: “I’m just going to go out there, do my job, and win. Everybody knows his name but when I win everybody will know mine.”
Diggs: “Regardless of the promotion, Lightweight is the most dense as far as the level of fighters and level of competition. We’re all pretty much normal average sized human beings so we get the most deep in that Lightweight class.”
Diggs: “For now I’m probably just going to stay here at Lightweight. I’ve thought about going down to (1)45 but as of right now no. I’ll just stay here and continue to win fights. I don’t get too far off into the future or anything like that. I just live in the now.”
Neiman Gracie: “I think it’s pretty special for me. I’ve been watching (Jon) for a long time. I knew I was going to fight him eventually. The first or second fight I had he was the main event of the card. He was already at the top. It took a few years for us to meet each other but he couldn’t be better. This is the best time for me to face him.”
Gracie: “Actually (the pandemic) made it a better experience, because I had a gym just for me. So I had the camp just for myself, and everything was focused on me, and I think I’m in one of the best shapes mentally, physically and spiritually in my career.”
Gracie: “I was supposed to fight in December and a week before I broke my hand. I was really ready for that fight. That injury took a little while to heal, then they scheduled me to fight in June and all this (pandemic) madness started happening. I wanted to come back earlier but it is what it is.”
Gracie: “(The loss to Rory) was a little setback. That hurt because I didn’t get the belt. So if I lose any other fight it wouldn’t be as bad as losing a title fight, but I got over it pretty quick thanks to my jiu-jitsu days. I won a lot and I lost a lot (in jiu-jitsu) so I knew how to get back.”
Gracie: “If Bellator puts up an interim belt, I’ll do it. It’s not what I want but it is what it is.”
Gracie: “MMA is not jiu-jitsu. MMA is not wrestling. MMA is not boxing. If you’re really good at wrestling, it doesn’t mean your wrestling will be good in MMA. Now I consider myself a MMA fighter, so I’m ready to take down wrestlers, fight any grappling fight that comes to me, and box any boxer in MMA.”
Gracie: “I want to prove that I am the best Welterweight in the world, and the best in the world, and prove that I deserve to have that world championship on my record.”
Patrick Mix: “I don’t think (Juan) has any weak parts of his game. I just think I’m better than him everywhere.”
Mix: “I don’t necessarily just call myself a grappler. I guess they just named me that because I finish people on the ground. I don’t need to prove myself because he’s known as a striker. I think I’m the better striker anyway. I plan on dragging him to hell. It doesn’t matter if we stand for 25 minutes or I drag him to the ground in the first minute.”
Mix: “When I win on Saturday night I’d like to defend it in 2020 and keep the ball rolling. I want to put this guy away and get back out there you know what I mean? I want to stay active.”
Mix: “I re-signed with Bellator after my fight last October in Mohegan Sun, and then I got the opportunity to go to Rizin. With my win in Rizin I definitely thought I was worthy of a title shot. The other names might be a little more known to the casual fans, but the hardcore fans know who’s putting in work. Ali Abdelaziz worked everything out for me, he got me this title shot, I’m very thankful for that. I feel it was well deserved.”
Mix: “It doesn’t feel like anything different than any other fight. It just feels like even smaller because there’s no crowd, there’s no hype. My last fight I fought in front of 43,000 people, there were a thousand people at the weigh ins. I don’t feel any added pressure. It’s a walk in the park for me. It’s easier. COVID championships, that’s what we’re calling it.”
Mix: “It’s been a real sad time this year man 2020, it’s depressing to see. I’m a big fan of Kobe. I was in California watching the Cyborg fight that weekend when it all kind of happened. Same with Chad (Chadwick Boseman). I was going to come out with a Wakanda flag but I couldn’t get it delivered here in time. It’s very sad and I’m hoping to get a little Wakanda action when I win, just like after the Ricky Bandejas fight.”
Mix: “I’m willing to defend the belt against anyone that Bellator puts against me. I’m going to be the guy that has the target on his back. There’s a long list of guys who are very valid for that title shot. If Sergio wants it I’d entertain that but if Kyoji wants it I’d entertain that. Now we’re getting the opportunity to fight for it but either one of those two first.”
Lyoto Machida: “That’s my purpose here in Bellator to float in both classes, 185 and 205. Bellator they gave me the opportunity to fight in both classes.”
Machida: “UFC, the 205 class now because Jon Jones is out, the last contender was Dominick (Reyes), our division (in Bellator) is so warm now. 205 is very hot now.”
Machida: “Since I signed with Bellator, I put that in my mind (to fight at both), and now I can see that 205 has more challenges, more opportunities in my career. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the future.”
Machida: “I have no problem cutting weight, but at 205 I don’t need to cut much weight. At 185 I have to be more strict with my diet but I haven’t seen any problem with that.”
Machida: “To be honest I don’t think like that. Once I think too much about that I’m going to put pressure on my back. Main event or first fight, a fight is a fight. There’s more hype for a main event but I try not to think about that. I just give my best and enjoy the fight.”
Machida: “Everybody knows that karate is my background but once you’re a martial artist you never stop learning. My main two is karate and stand-up game, and always I try to improve this game because I like the striking game.”
Machida: “I never had any sense of revenge in who I already fought, so actually it’s hard to answer the question. I appreciate so many different fighters. There is no one that I see as an opponent. I see like as a fan as well.”
Machida: “I don’t have a set time limit in my mind. I don’t want to just be a champion in the cage but a champion as a person. Maybe one or two more years, but you never know.”
Machida: “I don’t want to say I’m proud of myself, because that’s too much, but I did what I had to do. MMA didn’t have a karate representative, so I’m the first one pretty much, but I like it when the karate guys now come up to me for advice or for a hug. I’m very proud to be a karate guy and to represent my flag.”
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