Bellator 148: “Daley vs. Uhrich” comes to the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., this Friday night (Jan. 29, 2016). The featured fight on Spike TV that night sees “The Stunner” Andy Uhrich taking on “Semtex” Paul Daley in the main event.
Daley (37-13-2) is on a roll of late, having won four fights in a row, never having tasted defeat inside the Bellator cage dating all the way back to 2012. His last win was a crushing technical knockout of Dennis Olson at Bellator 140 in Uncasville.
That record is a tough mountain for any Welterweight to climb, but former Bellator Fight Master competitor Andy Uhrich is up to the challenge. He rebounded from a knockout loss at Bellator 120 to go on a three-fight win streak, notably beating Bellator veteran “Super Duper” Bobby Cooper in Titan FC last March.
MMAmania.com recently spoke with Uhrich about the challenge ahead facing Daley in Bellator 148’s main event live on Spike TV, and why it has been almost a full year since we last saw him in the cage.
“I actually wanted to fight five times last year, and I had everything set up to fight five times. I fought in February, then I fought short notice in March. I had another fight set up at the end of May, to fight again at 185 so I didn’t have to make another weight cut. It fell through. I had another fight lined up July 3rd, training was going good, and come to the week of the fight the guy I was supposed to fight backed out due to injury. It was real sketchy, him backing out that late, because he’d been known to back out of fights a lot … and he actually called me out to fight.”
The bottom line is “The Stunner” kept missing out on matches because of fighters withdrawing or promoters leaving MMA altogether. Uhrich was understandably pleased when Bellator MMA came calling and put him back in their mix.
“I guess when I posted that I wanted to fight five times that God had different plans for me that year. It might have been just to train and get ready for this, because I got called to fight in August for a short notice fight for Bellator, and once I got the call to fight Paul Daley I thought, ‘Maybe I (got) held out and didn’t fight five times for a reason.’ It worked out for the best.”
Uhrich is well aware of Daley’s record and reputation as a striker, but isn’t letting his name or being in the marquee match this weekend affect his approach to the fight that night on Spike.
“I’m super stoked. I feel like nine years in the making has brought me to this point in my career. I’m just doing everything I can to come out there and put on a show for Bellator, put on a show for my fans, and let everybody know who Andy ‘The Stunner’ Uhrich is. (I’ll) make Paul Daley earn my respect, and same vice versa … I’ll earn his.”
Speaking of who “The Stunner” is, Uhrich talked a little bit about how he got that name. And even though he’s a professional wrestling fan it didn’t come from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“My older brother gave it to me as an amateur. I fought a few guys around here, top level amateurs, one guy had been training for six years and was undefeated. Another guy was undefeated and was a brown belt and had been training for 10 years. The way I looked at it was ONE I wasn’t getting paid to fight because I was fighting as an amateur, TWO if I lost it wouldn’t matter, and THREE if these guys have been training so long why aren’t they pro? I was beating guys I wasn’t supposed to beat and my brother said, ‘Man you’re stunning these guys! We need to name you ‘The Stunner.'”
It’s no coincidence that’s exactly what Uhrich wants to do to Semtex on Friday night. Stun him and stun the world.
“I’m going in there and I’m gonna push the pace, and make sure that he don’t get his timing in to where he can start feeling comfortable throwing them big left hooks and big straight rights. Stuff like that where he can sit on the outside and counter me and hit me with those big bombs. I’ve got to stay in his face, stay at good angles. I gotta keep the pace turned up on him.”
Uhrich knows he’s the underdog going into the fight but given the recent history of upsets in MMA he feels there’s no reason to doubt he can accomplish the same thing.
“I have nothing to lose. I’m going in there with everybody saying I have no chance so I’m gonna go in there and shock the world and come out on top. He’s gonna have a lot worse time after the fight if he loses than if I would lose. If he wins he can talk his s–t and try to get a title fight or get his rematch with Josh Koscheck. If I beat him I can come in and reestablish myself in Bellator and up on the next level of Bellator (above) where I fought before.”
“The Stunner” Andy Uhrich is ready to upset Paul Daley’s long-term plans, and hopes fight fans are ready for it, too.
Complete audio of our interview is below and complete Bellator MMA coverage can be found right here on fight night.