Daniel Weichel entered Bellator at the beginning of last year and was one of eight men placed into the season ten featherweight tournament.
He won the tournament with victories over Scott Cleve, Matt Bessette, and Desmond Green. At the time he won the tournament, the promotion was under a different regime and winning a tournament guaranteed a title shot.
However, that title shot has not taken place for Weichel and he will meet former Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran in the co-main event of Bellator 133 next Friday night at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
This will mark the first fight for Weichel since defeating Green by submission to win the tournament and the German fighter feels he is a much better fighter now that when he defeated Green. He has improved on all of his skills and believes he will prove to the Bellator executives next week that he deserves a shot at the Bellator 145 pound title.
“I think with my next performance, I will prove that I deserve this title shot,” Weichel told The MMA Report. “I think I will make it clear when I fight Pat Curran with my performance.”
The last time we saw Curran in the cage was at Bellator 123 and he lost the Bellator title to Patricio Pitbull by unanimous decision. It was his second defeat in his last three fights and Weichel understands how talented of a opponent Curran is.
“Pat is a complete, well-rounded fighter. He is one of the best featherweights in the world. I respect all of his skills. We have not seen too much of his ground game in his last fights. I will not underestimate. I think he has a tight game all over but I feel I have the right tools to beat him and I’m confident that I will do that.”
While the long term goal for Weichel is to become a world champion, his eyes are set on the task that is ahead of him, which is Curran. He is expecting a tough fight with the former champion and in some shape, he will find a way to get his hand raised as the winner.
“Pat and I are very complete MMA fighters,” Weichel said. “This fight can go anywhere. I think this fight will be a war. I think best prepared for the fight and I will get my hand raised somehow. I will put the pressure and I will not let him have time to breathe. I will take my chance when I see it.”