Rory MacDonald, Jon Fitch and Veta Arteaga are all in huge fights this weekend. The trio spoke to The Telegraph on the eve of Bellator 220 at the SAP Center in San Jose. MacDonald defends the Bellator welterweight crown against renowned wrestler Fitch. No easy task for the Canadian. Three years they were overlapping in the UFC, but within the Bellator fight league they finally touch ’em up.
“He’s going to be one of the better wrestlers I’ve ever faced, so it’s going to be interesting,” MacDonald of Canada told The Telegraph. “I never got a fight offer for Jon in the UFC, we didn’t meet up until now. I was on my own path, growing as a fighter and developing in the UFC. Camp’s gone really good.”
Of Fitch, there is only respect. “I think Jon has a lot of strengths. He’s durable, he’s ready to fight hard every time he’s in there. Obviously his strength is wrestling and his control. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t punch hard, he’s a grimey fighter. As far as what I want to prove, I want to go out there and dominate. I want to show my championship level.”
Victory would put MacDonald on the Madison Square Garden card on Friday, June 14. Six weeks hence. It would be against Neiman Gracie. “I definitely would like to be on the MSG card. It would be perfect. I wouldn’t mind that at all. It would be cool, but nothing more than that. I don’t go crazy about certain venues, but to fight in New York City would be pretty cool,” added MacDonald. My instinct is that MacDonald, pretty much at his peak, will have too much speed and movement, and will defeat Fitch, a hometown boy, and now in his 40s, from range.
MacDonald: Paul Daley fought smart against MVP but I would like to fight Venom Page
MacDonald also gave his view on the much-criticised Michael Venom Page – Paul Daley quarter-final of the Bellator welterweight tournament a month ago in Connecticut. No criticism from Rory, though. “I thought Paul was fighting smart. He wasn’t rushing in and he knew MVP was a good counter fighter. He waits for you to take the first step and bite on his baits so he can counter you. “Paul was smart, was patient and utilised his wrestling, but he just didn’t have that top game skill to hold onto what he was doing. But he was doing very well and it was a very close fight. I thought MVP won on the cards, but it was right down to it.”
MVP now moves on to fight Douglas Lima, against whom MacDonald took the 170lb crown last year in Los Angeles.
“I definitely favour Lima to win, but I would never count out MVP. He’s just so dynamic and explosive. He can land one thing on you so fast that the show’s over. You can’t count out a guy like that. MVP is a fight I’d like. He’s in this tournament for a reason, he’s one of the best we’ve got in Bellator.”
Jon Fitch: I think it’s going to be a blood and guts scrap, a battle of attrition with Rory MacDonald
Fitch, meanwhile, is enjoying the last phase in a long career. “It’s a big fight, but I’m focusing on the fun. I’m focusing on the fun again. I’ve had a great career, had great fights and I’m in a position to do more great things. I’m just enjoying this and taking it in. The clock’s ticking, I don’t have forever to fight. Everybody comes to than end eventually, but I’m happy to keep plugging away one fight at a time. This is a chance to fight for another belt in another major organisation.”
Famously, Fitch reverted to veganism for a time, revealing that it was no cake walk. “Vegan was a disaster. I started researching and I was looking for a way to break through. I was struggling at the end of fights and the UFC weren’t giving me the fights I thought I should have. I needed something, an edge and thought his vegan thing could be it,” he disclosed.
“The early benefits I felt from it stemmed from stopping the consumption of processed food. It made me feel better and my energy levels spiked, so I thought I was on to something. But then as I had been off the processed foods, my body started shrinking down and I started getting injured. It wasn’t working. I switched to a weekday vegan thing where I’d eat meat at the weekend. But it was still not what I needed. I got back to normal meat consumption, but whole foods. That was a better fit.”
“In 2016 my World Series of fighting title fight I worked with a nutritionist called Manny. He was an ex body builder and worked with Olympic champions. I started switching to the bodybuilding life. I’ve been on that since then and am on it year round so my weight stays in a good position. I’ve been lifting like a martial artist not a body builder since 2013 which was a huge thing for me to prevent injuries and keep your weight up. Those things together have put me in a much better spot. Organic and eating a lot more meat. The only sugar I get is whiskey and wine.”
Fitch is prepped and ready for the fight. “I think it’s going to be a blood and guts scrap, a battle of attrition. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I’d beat him.” Should be a fascinating fight.
Veta Arteaga promises Mexican-style war in women’s flyweight title fight with champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane
Veta Arteaga faces Ilima-Lei Macfarlane in what promises to be a thriller in the Hawaiian’s third defence of the Bellator women’s flyweight crown. She is promising war, and there is the evidence from her entire career that Arteaga brings all she has in every performance. Her pursuit was once so much gentler.
“I worked at a head-start. I was a family educator. Head-start is a non profit organisation and I worked with infants and pre-natal moms,” the renowned brawler explained to The Telegraph. “I have that soft side to me but I also have that fire in me. It’s a balance. I actually go back to visit. I miss my coworkers and environment.”
“It was sweet, after my last fight I told them I won and they said they knew because they had watched. Before I even had the title shot, they said I have to come back and bring the belt to show off. This is my time, I’m ready to bring it home for me and for everybody that’s been a part of team Veta.”
Macfarlane has proven to be a brave, resilient, improving champion. “Oh, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s definitely going to be my night and I’m ready to go out there and perform,” explained Arteaga.
“My brother Freddie also fights and he’s the one who introduced me to the sport. I would go be a spectator and I thought I should try it. That’s exactly what happened. I went and tried it and fell in love with it and now here I am fighting for the belt.”
“I’m definitely a confident person. I do fight like I want to give it my all. My passion for the sport brings my aggression out. I love this sport. I love the work, the mental preparation and physical preparation. So that’s what you see in the fight.”
“It’s interesting how your body can shape over time. When I started this it was as a hobby and I wasn’t in the best shape, but now here I am, 31, in the best shape of my life. I’m excited. This is the best I’ve ever felt mentally and physically.”
It is also a time when the sport, as well as society, carries a resonance for female fighters. “I feel like a lot of those emotions play their part and women can be a little more emotionally than men. But it works in your favour. When to be patient and pick your shots and when to be aggressive, so I feel it works in my favour to be a female fighter.”
Style-wise, the fight is fascinating. How will Macfarlane fare against an all-action, never say die striker ? “That’s like my style, Mexican toe to toe. I love going to toe to toe and I know I don’t have to, but this is a fight so why not?”
“I think it’s the reaction, either you’re going to fight or fly. You can fly away from your problem or you will stand and fight. I have that in me, it’s in my blood.”
“I realised that I am a pure fighter when I went with my brother,” explained Veta. “My brother is the one who hits me the most and the hardest. He does it out of love or tough love… maybe he’s getting me back from when we were younger. He mentally prepares me for it. If I can take a hit from him, handle it and fire back and fire back well, then I can handle anyone.”
This Article First Appeared On The Telegraph