Kelly Anundson will enter the Bellator cage for the fourth time tonight and will have the opportunity to leave the cage with a win over highly-touted prospect in Liam McGeary, as the winner of Bellator’s latest light heavyweight tournament and as a top contender for the 205 pound championship.
The common tie between Anundson’s appearance tonight at Bellator at 124 and his other three outings is that he’ll enter the cage as the underdog, which is something that the 30-year-old doesn’t understand.
“Everyone sees me as an underdog. I don’t really know why. I train at the best camp in the world and I know what I’m capable of,” said the American Top Team product. “Maybe it’s just because I’m not out there banging with everybody, but I’m a little bit smarter than that.”
While several pundits, bettors and fans are counting Anundson out of the fight, he’s confident in his ability to overcome McGeary.
“Don’t expect me to lose because I know what his weaknesses are, and my strengths are his weaknesses,” said Anundson. “I can go out there and box. I’m a former golden gloves champion. I just don’t see any reason to take any unnecessary punishment when I can take a guy down and not even get punched.”
Although Anundson can concede that McGeary is a talented fighter, the hype surrounding McGeary perplexes him. When looking at McGeary’s resume, Anundson isn’t impressed, especially considered that level of fighters that Anundson, himself, has faced.
“Liam McGeary is a tough guy, but he hasn’t fought the same level of guys that I’ve fought. His first fight in the tournament, he fought a turd. His second fight, he was a tough guy from Eastern Europe, but he wasn’t a world beater. And then this guy before that was 6-0, but he was a middleweight,” said Anundson. “I beat Phillipe Lins, who’s a tough guy – it wasn’t a long fight, but I was dominating him from the beginning. Rodney Wallace is a super-tough guy who’s fought great competition from all around the world.”
When the two fighters meet inside the Bellator cage, Anundson expects his wrestling to play a major role in the bout.
“He’s not going to be able to stop my takedowns. I’ve wrestled my entire life. He’s never had a competitive wrestling match in his life,” said Anundson. “Unless he catches me with a big punch and knocks me out, I just can’t see how he’s going to win this fight.”