Bellator 146: Josh Neer, Midwest Grit & Headline Heart.
11/17/2015
Josh “The Dentist” Neer. It’s a name which over the past 12 years in the MMA landscape game has come to embody the epitome of Midwest hard work, grit, and determination. As a fighter with over 50 pro Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights and hailing from Des Moines, Neer (36-14-1) is renowned for his crowd pleasing style which can always be counted on to leave the fans in attendance satisfied with the price of admission. Whether its fighting in front of a roaring UFC crowd of 10,0000 spectators or a regional show of 1000, the number of fans in attendance matters not to Josh. As a blue collar guy who takes pride in his work inside the cage, Neer just wants to put on exciting fights for the fans and can always be counted on to make sure for better or worse his opponent leaves knowing they were in a fight and not wanting a rematch. For his 52nd pro MMA fight, Josh Neer makes his return from a year long layoff to the Bellator cage at Bellator 146 in Thackerville, Oklahoma where he will take on Brazilian veteran Andre Santos (37-10).
For Neer, much has changed in the Bellator MMA welterweight picture since he has been away. Newly minted stars in “Irish” Brennan Ward (12-3) and Michael “Venom” Page (9-0) have each rattled off 3 wins in a row and look poised to contend for the welterweight title in 2016. For Neer however, as a UFC veteran holding wins over Melvin Guillard, Joe Stevenson, Din Thomas, and Duane Ludwig, he remains unimpressed. After all, this is a fighter who has shared the cage and held his own with the likes of Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, and Eddie Alvarez among others.
“My last opponent was supposed to be Brennan Ward, and he got knocked out a month before I was supposed to fight him. I mean I don’t really care. I would fight either one of those guys [Brennan Ward or Michael Venom Page]. I don’t think they have beaten anyone good so I’m not too impressed by them that is for damn sure.”
Neer’s most recent loss to Paul Bradley at Bellator 129 snapped a 3 fight win streak, but he walked away from the fight determined to improve his strength so that defeats of this nature would not transpire again.
“It was a learning experience you know. One thing I took from that [Bradley] fight is the way that people beat me is they basically just take me down and hold me down and win a decision. Over the past year, I have started lifting a lot, and I got into lifting and getting stronger and more athletic and everything. I have been really working on that over the past year."
“I hate going into a fight where it’s like you have to have a game plan of defending the takedown or getting up from bottom, whatever it is you know. I like to go in there and fight guys that are going to fight me. That’s the type of fights that are exciting for the fans, and that is the type of fights I want to be in.”
Josh Neer (Photo Credit: Bellator MMA)
When the cage door closes and Neer and Andre Santos throw down on Friday night, Josh uses the drive and motivation his young daughter Jaycee provides to push him to his physical limits. He couples that with motivation with his distinct distaste for losing which also proves helpful in the cage:
“I think my thing is I just hate to lose you know. So, I don’t really do anything. I just go in there, and I don’t want to lose and that is what is going to drive me you know. It always helps when you train really hard and then you know you can go the whole way and go through whatever difficulties you have in the fight.”
As far as his opponent Santos goes, Neer hasn’t spent a whole lot of time doing recon on his opponent but certainly expects an exciting outcome on fight night:
“I haven’t really watched his videos. I did watch the Paul Daley fight when it happened, but I haven’t went over it. I’ve just heard that he is well rounded and he is scrappy and brings a good game to the fight. He is Brazilian so he is probably pretty good on the ground. I don’t know about his wrestling. I think its going to be a good, exciting fight."
With a win on Friday, Neer hopes to kick of a 2016 run in the Bellator welterweight division where after a long and storied career he hopes to put on exciting fights and continue to evolve as a martial artist.
“I think then [2003] I was just more excited to try to get to the UFC. That was my hope back then. So I was trying to beat all the up and comers and clean out of the guys in the Midwest. Right now, I’m just trying to get exciting fights and put on a show for the fans pretty much.”
“I’ve always tried to be as well rounded of a fighter as I can be. When I first started out I was just a pure wrestler and so basically when I started out I just focused on standup and jiu jitsu. I mean you have to be good at everything. I have been focused on wrestling and weight lifting and everything this past year. I think as far as a martial artist you gotta focus on all the disciplines.”
“My philosophy is I go harder probably than most people do. I think that is the way you have to train if you are going to be a top fighter you know. I think every now and then you should go light, but I just don’t believe in sparring 20%. I feel like that is a waste of time. When I get in there, I train hard and I train like I am getting ready for a fight.”
It’s a philosophy and work ethic Neer hopes will allow him to hoist championship gold before he transitions into a future role as a fight promoter in the Midwest.
“I match make for MCC, Midwest Cage Championships. Its here in Des Moines [Iowa]. Yea, so I do promoting fights too. I’m trying to do that right now you know. Fight less. And I’m making money through promoting right now so I’m trying to get out as soon as possible.”
“I mean obviously when I started I wanted to be world champion so that’s still my goal. I would love to win a world title you know.”
With a win at Bellator 146, look for Neer to spend some quality time with his daughter and then quickly put the win behind him as he gets back in the gym to improve his skills and focus on his next opponent.
“I celebrate a win by getting that paycheck. I switch gears right away really. After my fight, I am looking forward to the next fight. I try to get right back into training and get ready for the next fight.”
Best of luck at Bellator 146 Josh, and thank you for your time.
11/17/2015
Josh “The Dentist” Neer. It’s a name which over the past 12 years in the MMA landscape game has come to embody the epitome of Midwest hard work, grit, and determination. As a fighter with over 50 pro Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights and hailing from Des Moines, Neer (36-14-1) is renowned for his crowd pleasing style which can always be counted on to leave the fans in attendance satisfied with the price of admission. Whether its fighting in front of a roaring UFC crowd of 10,0000 spectators or a regional show of 1000, the number of fans in attendance matters not to Josh. As a blue collar guy who takes pride in his work inside the cage, Neer just wants to put on exciting fights for the fans and can always be counted on to make sure for better or worse his opponent leaves knowing they were in a fight and not wanting a rematch. For his 52nd pro MMA fight, Josh Neer makes his return from a year long layoff to the Bellator cage at Bellator 146 in Thackerville, Oklahoma where he will take on Brazilian veteran Andre Santos (37-10).
For Neer, much has changed in the Bellator MMA welterweight picture since he has been away. Newly minted stars in “Irish” Brennan Ward (12-3) and Michael “Venom” Page (9-0) have each rattled off 3 wins in a row and look poised to contend for the welterweight title in 2016. For Neer however, as a UFC veteran holding wins over Melvin Guillard, Joe Stevenson, Din Thomas, and Duane Ludwig, he remains unimpressed. After all, this is a fighter who has shared the cage and held his own with the likes of Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, and Eddie Alvarez among others.
“My last opponent was supposed to be Brennan Ward, and he got knocked out a month before I was supposed to fight him. I mean I don’t really care. I would fight either one of those guys [Brennan Ward or Michael Venom Page]. I don’t think they have beaten anyone good so I’m not too impressed by them that is for damn sure.”
Neer’s most recent loss to Paul Bradley at Bellator 129 snapped a 3 fight win streak, but he walked away from the fight determined to improve his strength so that defeats of this nature would not transpire again.
“It was a learning experience you know. One thing I took from that [Bradley] fight is the way that people beat me is they basically just take me down and hold me down and win a decision. Over the past year, I have started lifting a lot, and I got into lifting and getting stronger and more athletic and everything. I have been really working on that over the past year."
“I hate going into a fight where it’s like you have to have a game plan of defending the takedown or getting up from bottom, whatever it is you know. I like to go in there and fight guys that are going to fight me. That’s the type of fights that are exciting for the fans, and that is the type of fights I want to be in.”
Josh Neer (Photo Credit: Bellator MMA)
When the cage door closes and Neer and Andre Santos throw down on Friday night, Josh uses the drive and motivation his young daughter Jaycee provides to push him to his physical limits. He couples that with motivation with his distinct distaste for losing which also proves helpful in the cage:
“I think my thing is I just hate to lose you know. So, I don’t really do anything. I just go in there, and I don’t want to lose and that is what is going to drive me you know. It always helps when you train really hard and then you know you can go the whole way and go through whatever difficulties you have in the fight.”
As far as his opponent Santos goes, Neer hasn’t spent a whole lot of time doing recon on his opponent but certainly expects an exciting outcome on fight night:
“I haven’t really watched his videos. I did watch the Paul Daley fight when it happened, but I haven’t went over it. I’ve just heard that he is well rounded and he is scrappy and brings a good game to the fight. He is Brazilian so he is probably pretty good on the ground. I don’t know about his wrestling. I think its going to be a good, exciting fight."
With a win on Friday, Neer hopes to kick of a 2016 run in the Bellator welterweight division where after a long and storied career he hopes to put on exciting fights and continue to evolve as a martial artist.
“I think then [2003] I was just more excited to try to get to the UFC. That was my hope back then. So I was trying to beat all the up and comers and clean out of the guys in the Midwest. Right now, I’m just trying to get exciting fights and put on a show for the fans pretty much.”
“I’ve always tried to be as well rounded of a fighter as I can be. When I first started out I was just a pure wrestler and so basically when I started out I just focused on standup and jiu jitsu. I mean you have to be good at everything. I have been focused on wrestling and weight lifting and everything this past year. I think as far as a martial artist you gotta focus on all the disciplines.”
“My philosophy is I go harder probably than most people do. I think that is the way you have to train if you are going to be a top fighter you know. I think every now and then you should go light, but I just don’t believe in sparring 20%. I feel like that is a waste of time. When I get in there, I train hard and I train like I am getting ready for a fight.”
It’s a philosophy and work ethic Neer hopes will allow him to hoist championship gold before he transitions into a future role as a fight promoter in the Midwest.
“I match make for MCC, Midwest Cage Championships. Its here in Des Moines [Iowa]. Yea, so I do promoting fights too. I’m trying to do that right now you know. Fight less. And I’m making money through promoting right now so I’m trying to get out as soon as possible.”
“I mean obviously when I started I wanted to be world champion so that’s still my goal. I would love to win a world title you know.”
With a win at Bellator 146, look for Neer to spend some quality time with his daughter and then quickly put the win behind him as he gets back in the gym to improve his skills and focus on his next opponent.
“I celebrate a win by getting that paycheck. I switch gears right away really. After my fight, I am looking forward to the next fight. I try to get right back into training and get ready for the next fight.”
Best of luck at Bellator 146 Josh, and thank you for your time.