Having already defeated the greatest opponent in his life, chronic leukemia, Bellator middleweight Bryan ‘The Beast’ Baker (15-2) is set to make another run at the promotions 185 lb title.
Baker was diagnosed with chronic leukemia back in 2010, a couple of weeks before participating in Bellator’s Season Two Middleweight tournament. ‘The Beast’ lost in the finals to Alexander Shlemenko and has since gone on to put his bout with cancer behind him, as well as go on to win twice more in a Bellator cage.
Tonight Baker is set to participate in the opening quarterfinal bouts of the Bellator Season Five Middleweight Tournament against Jared Hess (11-2-1).
Facing a strong wrestler, Baker told MMAMania.com that he plans on keeping his distance and use his striking “to lead (Hess) into booby traps.”
“I’m expecting a hard fight. He’s a fighter who has a lot of heart. At the same time, I’m expecting a wrestler. That’s what he is and what he’s always been. I believe my striking has surpassed his and I believe that he’s gonna stick to what he’s confident in and he’ll try wrestling. I’m no amateur to wrestling myself. I just had to get my reaction back down with wrestling a little bit. I’ve got some guys helping me out from the Olympic training center in Colorado and my wrestling has been on point. I’m ready to show how my striking is going to lead him into booby traps. That’s what I’m going to set him up for.”
“I just really understand that with striking if you are really trying to knock your opponent out with every punch, they’re gonna be able to drop under it and they’re gonna be able to use your momentum against you. I believe my striking has evolved to where I don’t throw my whole body into it. I’m just gonna stick and move, touch him where I want and chop away before he’s able to actually get a vision of what he’s trying to take down. Everywhere I am in a fight, I have a sense of comfortability. Even if I do get taken down, it’s not a loss. I’ll be like, “Ok, he took me down, but it’s right back to work.” I feel I’m just as good with submissions as I am with my stand-up if not better. Wherever the fight ends up, I keep my comfortability at all points of the fight. “
The Bellator 50 main card kicks off at 9PM EST (6PM PST) on MTV2 and features a four bout televised card.