Bellator 139's Joe Schilling: 'You can win by fighting like a straight-up vagina'

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Wild

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Bellator middleweight Joe Schilling admits his split-decision loss to Rafael Carvalho in April at Bellator 136 still eats at him. He believes he won the fight, but he’s doing his best to look at the positive ahead of his return to action this Friday at Bellator 139.

Schilling is perhaps best known as an elite kickboxer. His MMA career is still in its infancy; he has just six pro fights, two of which have come in the past eight months.

The 31-year-old is the first to point out his flaws and admit he still has lots to learn in the sport. There have been growing pains, though, such as allowing a striking-based fighter like Carvalho to use grappling and neutralize his offense enough to convince two of three judges to award him the win.

Schilling said he worked diligently on his grappling prior to his encounter with Carvalho. However, he’s now aware he must do even more to ensure he can keep the fight standing.

“Finally I’ve come to the realization that it doesn’t matter if they match me up with a striker, a grappler or whatever it is – the guys are going to try to take me down,” Schilling told MMAjunkie. “Apparently in this sport, you can win by fighting like a straight-up vagina. I think Rafael Carvalho should never get another fight in the U.S. The fight was matched between two exciting strikers. It was a co-main event because we had two exciting fighters, and you have one guy that fought completely like a pu-sy and made it a boring fight for all the fans.”

Although Schilling was frustrated by Carvalho’s chosen tactics, he’s said he deserves his share of blame for how the fight played out. Schilling said it’s his responsibility to prevent opponents from dragging the fight to the floor and keeping it there. That’s why he made a change to his preparation ahead of Bellator 139.

Schilling traveled from California to Florida to train at American Top Team, where he’s worked extensively on grappling with the likes of Muhammed Lawal in order to avoid a future repeat of the Carvalho bout.

“Ultimately it’s my fault; these guys shouldn’t be able to hold me against the fence for that long, shouldn’t be able to hold me down, and just lay on top of me,” Schilling said. “It’s my job to get up, and I understand that. That’s why I’ve been working my ass off to get as good as I can at wrestling, jiu-jitsu and takedown defense.

“With the exception of Melvin Manhoef, I don’t think there’s anyone on this planet that will stand with me. Not because I’m that good, but just because it would be a stupid thing to do. Until I show my wrestling has some improvement, that’s going to be the go-to for everyone. I’m working really hard to stop it. We’re making good strides.”

Despite the loss in his previous bout, Schilling (2-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) believes he has momentum ahead of his Bellator 139 fight against Hisaki Kato (4-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). The 185-pound bout airs on the Spike TV-televised main card following prelims on MMAjunkie at Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan.

He said that momentum stems from the fact that, for the first time since his original MMA stint in 2008, he will compete in back-to-back MMA fights. The combat-sports vet has alternated with kickboxing matches over the past year, which he previously stated had begun to take a physical toll.

Schilling said the Carvalho loss was somewhat of a refresher, though. It forced him to focus on weaknesses in his game and what he must do to fill the holes.

“After the last fight I just wanted to get right back in there as soon as possible; Bellator offered me this one, and it’s great to have two back-to-back fights in the same sport,” Schilling said. “It is getting kind of difficult to jump back and forth between kickboxing and MMA. There are a lot of things I have to work on, and having two fight camps in a row, it’s really good.

“The experience of coming to American Top Team has been really motivating. I don’t feel very rundown, so it’s good. We’ll see how that goes after a couple more fights, but for now, I was really motivated by that last fight. I’m not proud of that performance at all, and I don’t think I lost that fight. Overall, like I said, it’s my job to stop them from fighting me like that.”

Schilling will jump back to kickboxing later this year when he participates in the recently announced “Bellator 141: Dynamite” event on Sept. 19, which features a combination of Bellator MMA fights and GLORY kickboxing matches.

LINK to full story: Bellator 139’s Joe Schilling: ‘You can win by fighting like a straight-up vagina’ | MMAjunkie
 

NakMuay

First 100
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Jan 14, 2015
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“Ultimately it’s my fault; these guys shouldn’t be able to hold me against the fence for that long, shouldn’t be able to hold me down, and just lay on top of me,” Schilling said. “It’s my job to get up, and I understand that. That’s why I’ve been working my ass off to get as good as I can at wrestling, jiu-jitsu and takedown defense.

Great attitude. Would love to seem him make some waves in MMA
 

Ministry of Silly Walks

came in like a wrecking ball
First 100
Amateur Fighter
Jan 15, 2015
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Great attitude. Would love to seem him make some waves in MMA
he should be able to. he's so good at striking, that he can do just enough to keep those skills were they are, and work hard on grappling. he seems like a good dude, so i hope he becomes a world beater.
 

ECC170

Monster's 11,ATM 2,Parlay Challenge,Hero GP Champ
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Jan 23, 2015
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Hope he turns out like Hunt...subpar record in MMA to start..improves dramatically..then Utilizes his superb stand up game to get in the top 10 eventually...
 

Wild

Zi Nazi
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Dec 31, 2014
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I hope he does improve his TDD because he is one of the most exciting stand up fighters in MMA.