After a rough stretch, Blair Tugman got back on track last year at Bellator 123 and he will be looking for his second straight victory next Friday night when he meets Marvin Maldonado on the preliminary card of Bellator 134.
Tugman (6-5) scored a decision victory at Bellator 123 against Brandon Fleming and the victory snapped a two fight losing streak.
The victory over Fleming was his first victory since 2010 when he defeated Todd Sweeney and while he was the underdog in the fight, he was able to implement his gameplan and walk away with the victory.
“I think I did pretty well,” Tugman told The MMA Report. “I implemented my gameplan and I knew Brandon was a tough kid coming in. Young, 23-year-old champion of Reality Fighting. I know on the polls, they were not giving me much of a chance. I was a pretty big underdog but I knew if I fought my fight and do what I do, I would get my hand raised at the end. I thought it went pretty well.”
Coming into the fight with Fleming, Tugman admitted that he was heading in the wrong direction with the defeats prior to the fight and felt his back was against the wall.
“I knew coming in that it would be a tough one and to get my hand raised against him would be a step in the right direction. I had been moving in the wrong direction there coming off of two losses. I felt my back was up against the wall a little bit with the last fight. My training and everything has been more focused for getting prepared for my fight.”
Prior to his fight at Bellator 123, he did change up his training a little bit as he continued to train at his home base. The shakeup in his training came in the form of heading to California to train at Team Alpha Male.
“I stayed with my same team and training camp, Ultimate MMA out of North Haven under Andrew Calandrelli but I did make a trip out to California prior to the fight and trained with Team Alpha Male,” Tugman said. “I got to roll around with T.J. Dillashaw, got to roll around with [Joseph] Benavidez, and did quite while being out there. It gave me a ton of confidence going into that fight knowing that I was able to hold my own against some of the world’s best. I thought I went in there with a ton of confidence.”
He will look to score his second win in a row next Friday night when he meets Maldonado on the preliminary card of Bellator 134. He wants to make a statement in this fight with getting a finish and knows he just needs to implement his gameplan to walk away with the victory.
“I try to go into every fight focused on what I am going to do. I am always aware of some key things that I see from these guys that I am fighting. You are able to scout guys online with videos and things like that. There are a few things I saw in Marvin. He just fought in Reality Fighting to Lopez and lost a decision. Marvin is a tough kid. He is a tough kid and he keeps coming at you. He throws a lot of head kicks and he is a lefty. I just have to be aware of that and implement my gameplan. Just focus doing what I do again and hopefully come out with another win.”