When Will Brooks and Marcin Held stand eye to eye in the center of the Bellator cage November 6th prior to their fight in the St. Louis, not only will a clash between two of the most highly skilled lightweight fighters on the Bellator roster ensure, but also present will be the distinct cultural juxtaposition and approach to fighting between the two men. One the one side of the cage will stand Brooks, a supremely confident American fighter who carries a “me against the world mentality” which has propelled him to championship gold. On the side of the cage will stand Held, a 23 year old Polish contender who has rattled of 6 straight wins in the Bellator cage and established himself as a leg lock submission ace who can end fights in a moment’s notice. Where Brooks’ self-belief is a key component to his success, Held’s success to date may lie in his ability to assess a threat before him and be realistic with himself in how he can use his particular set of skills to best neutralize that threat:
“I’m not really confident. It is another fight. I know we are both an extremely hard opponent. I know his style. I was watching a lot of his fight. But I was training really hard. I think I am good prepared so I will do everything in my power to win this fight. I know it will be a hard fight. I never before fight confident or sure I will win this fight. I know a lot of things that can happen during the fight. MMA is a hard sport so you can’t be confident too much.”
For Marcin Held, a defeat of Will Brooks and claiming the Bellator lightweight title at Bellator 145 would mean not only attaining a crowning personal achievement, but also establishing history for the nation of Poland and its people:
“It would be good because we have a UFC belt in Poland; we don’t have a Bellator belt yet in Poland. So it would be really nice to be first Polish guy who would have Bellator belt in Poland. I really try to do this. I know it will not be easy, but I will try to win this fight.”
Champion: Will Brook (Photo Credit: Bellator MMA)
Standing in the way of Polish history on Novemebr 6th however may be another Brooks. This Brooks is the unborn child of Will and his fiancé which has driven him to be more hungry and ferocious than ever before when he steps into the Bellator cage to face Held:
“I feel like I am a different person. My attitude is different; I’m really understanding the real importance of life you know. At first, when I first got the title I was real excited about being a champ of an organization. You know, fighting these fights and holding that position as a champion. But day one of finding I have my first child on the way, it just changed my whole entire mindset. It changed my approach to the way I train to the approach to how I carry myself at home with people in my everyday life. It’s changed how I am going to approach this fight you know. The fact I am not fighting for myself anymore. I’m not fighting just for my fiancé or just to pay our bills. I’m fighting for my princess. I’m fighting to protect her future and give her the opportunities that I didn’t have as a child to accomplish every goal that she sets for herself. And it’s my job to make sure she has every opportunity to do what she wants in life. That’s where I am at now. So, going into this fight it’s definitely a different mindset for me.”
For Held, the challenge of going into a 5 round championship fight instead of the standard 3 round Bellator fight mandated he adjust his approach to his training camp in Poland for this fight against Brooks:
“It is completely different. It is better. I did a lot of cardio. It will be very important. We will see how it will work. It will be my first fight in this event with Brooks. He has easier situation because he has a few fights 5 rounds so it will be a big deal for me. But, I think I am good prepared for it.”
The two additional championship rounds for this fight have also caused Held to rethink his current submission strategy by which he has finished 12 of his 21 victories to date:
“Maybe I will be able to finish the fight earlier so that would be the best option (laughing). Before when I got the submission I put a lot of energy on this. Now, I am trying to be smart and if submission doesn’t work I let them go, and I am trying to get position and try another time. I think I am good prepared for the 5 rounds. We have a game plan. We have a plan for Will Brooks, and we will see.”
Marcin Held. (Photo Credit: @MarcinHeld Twitter)
As for Brooks, he has his own plan to deal with Held’s tricky submission game:
“I think he [Held] is very one dimensional. I think he’s a leg lock guy, and he invests a lot of his time into that. If he decides he wants to try after I defend his leg locks and beat him up and punch him in the face and hurt him. If he decides he want to try to roll to something else I’ll just continue to beat him up. I don’t think he has put his mindset into being an overall MMA fighter like I have, and that what I continue to do so I’m just going to go out there and do my thing and see what happens.”
Rest is here:
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