A.J. “The Mercenary” Matthews looks to down Fedor’s protégé at Rizin.
12/27/2015
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A.J. "The Mercenary" Matthews (Photo Credit: Bellator MMA)
As Bellator middleweight
A.J. “The Mercenary” Matthews (8-3) makes his way to the Rizin ring on December 29th against Russia’s
Anatoly Tokov (21-1), he has his marching orders. As a man who views himself as a modern day hired gun, he knows the details of his latest assignment: derail the accent of an opponent labeled “Fedor’s protégé” and raise the Bellator banner to new global heights in victory. You see, Matthews is one of four Bellator fighters taking part in the 2015 Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix where the most skilled MMA fighters in the world (outside the UFC) are competing to see who the best is. At stake will be promotional pride and bragging rights as Bellator, BAMMA, KSW, Bushido, Jungle Fight, and Desert Force all look to reign supreme and display dominance. The ultimate vision of this cooperative effort between fight promotions in Tokyo (as envisioned by former PRIDE founder and current Rizin mastermind Nobuyuki Sakakibara) is to lay the groundwork for what will eventually morph into MMA as an Olympic sport in the future.
It's a concept Matthews is strongly in favor of and supports as a fighter:
“I think its beautiful man. For me, because I’m a soccer player it’s kind of like the Champions League. Everyone in the world, they get a shot at someone else from somewhere else in the world. I think that is great. Otherwise, I would probably never fight a guy like Tokov, and maybe he would never fight outside of Russia.”
Standing in front of Matthews on fight night will be Anatoly Tokov, the heir apparent of Russian MMA to the great Fedor Emelianenko who is headlining the card. Considered one of the greatest MMA heavyweights of all time, Fedor’s return and participation at Rizin included stipulations that several young Russian fighters must also be added to the Rizin fight card, one of which was Tokov. For Fedor, bringing glory and honor to Russia at Rizin is of the utmost importance, and Matthews’ opponent looks to carry the torch for Russian MMA into the future. With a record of 21-1 and riding a 14 fight win streak over the last three years, Tokov regularly trains with Fedor, and one can’t help but feel the Alexander Nevsky Club fighter is looking for a showcase win over a tough American to raise his international profile.
There happens to be one problem with that approach however: A.J. Matthews has a say in the Rizin ring on fight night. Riding the momentum of a two fight Bellator win streak since moving from welterweight to middleweight, Matthews has overcome bouts with shoulder surgery, sobriety, and ring rust to ultimately hit his current performance peak under Kickboxing Coach Ed Buckley. It’s a level of performance which left Matthews’ last opponent
Emilliano Sordi sitting on his stool after 1 round at Bellator 141 and having no desire to answer the bell for round 2.
“When I came back as a middleweight, I got a kickboxing coach: Ed Buckley. My game, my technique, my output, my belief has all changed and grown. I think I owe a lot to coach Ed. He’s worked with some of the best guys. He was the striking coach for [Team Quest]. He’s worked with Dan [Henderson], Krzyssztof [Soszynski], and all those guys you know. I just happened to be another fighter in his stable and right how he is pretty concentrated on me.”
For this training camp, Matthews took an old school approach which included training jiu-jitsu out of a garage the same way he started his MMA career with his older brother Ian many years ago. Regular trips down to Alliance MMA (as has been the case over the last five years) continued to occur where Matthews mixed it up with the best middleweights and light heavyweights in the world in preparation for this fight:
“Like I said, I still go down to Team Alliance. I almost use that more as a measuring stick and as camaraderie. Team Alliance, I always get the same thing out of that [training]. It is a reminder that you are a fighter, and these guys look up to you or accept you or you’re up here. That’s some of the best guys in the world.”
When asked to give an assessment of Tokov as an opponent, Matthews stated the following:
“I honestly think he is good everywhere. Strengths: maybe being well versed, well-rounded. Weaknesses: I mean I am going to have to find out, but he looks slow to me.”
“I’m extremely excited to fight somebody that may be better than me. I’ve always been a competitor. I’ve always wanted to compete at the highest level. I know that I am as good as anybody. This is a great opportunity for me. It’s really exciting and doesn’t get any better than this.”
One rule change Matthews, a former Cal State L.A. collegiate soccer player, is looking forward to utilizing at Rizin (which isn’t available under Bellator rules) is the addition of soccer kicks to grounded opponents:
“I’ll tell you what, if [Tokov] in on his back or on his hands and knees… if his head is anywhere near volley, half volley, [or] penalty shot I’ll take it. If it’s not there, I will kick it when he is straight up too.”
With a victory at Rizin, Matthews has his 2016 goals laid out before him, and he knows exactly what he wants next in Bellator:
“I want to be active. I don’t think there has been a year I have fought 3 times. I want to fight 4 times. I just want to be active and enjoy the process, enjoy the journey. I want to fight. The only reason a fighter lives it to fight; the only reason I fight is to win.”
“I want a top guy. I want to fight the best guys. I want
[Alessio] Sakara. I’ve looked up to his style since he was in the UFC. Now that he is out, I want to fight him. It would be cool if [Bellator] could set that up. I’d say give me Alessio Sakara in Italy. We can fight at middleweight or 205 [pounds]. If that doesn’t work out or even if it does, let’s set up a middleweight tournament. Call Joey Beltran. Call Kendall Grove. Brandon Halsey. Whoever. Let’s do that on that Houston card.”
Win or lose, don’t expect to see Matthews looking backwards. His eyes are firmly focused on his future and achieving his full potential in the Bellator middleweight division.
“As my friend
Nick “The Ghost” Gonzalez told me, the only fight that matters is the next one. If I dwell on a win, it’s like I am living in the past. I’m happy but, there is so much more going on. There is so many other guys that I need to fight and things that I need to do.”
Yet, for now, “The Mercenary” remains focused on the latest name on his hit list: Anatoly Tokov.
Best of luck A.J. and thank you for your time. Thanks also to Bellator’s C.J. Tuttle and Danny Brener.
Fighter Insight:
A.J. Matthews on
mental preparation for the fight: “I spend a lot of time visualizing. I’ll imagine what the warm-up room will look like, and then when they say ‘Matthews, you’re up next’. And then walking out onto the ramp, if there is going to be fire and big screams, then walk into the ring. Bright, bright, white ring. White ropes. White everything. And that’s what I am imagining and visualizing. Once I am in there in that setting, I will be cool. It’s all good. Because in the past, that is when I have had a hard time controlling my nerves at that point when they say ‘Matthews you’re up next.’
