Friday night will mark the third time that Emanuel Newton will defend the unified Bellator light heavyweight title when he is challenged by 2014 Summer Series light heavyweight tournament winner Liam McGeary in the main event of Bellator 134.
Newton (25-7-1) enters this fight on a seven fight winning streak and this is tied with Dave Jansen for the longest active winning streak in Bellator.
He will be looking for his ninth win in the Bellator cage when he meets McGeary at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday and for Newton, he does not feel this is the toughest test of this career.
“I really do not think Liam is the toughest fight of my career,” Newton told The MMA Report. “I do not see where he is much better than me any place else. The only thing I see about Liam is obviously his range. He does have finishes on the feet and on the ground. He is a very well-rounded fighter. I am not taking anything away from the man but he has never fought anybody like me. I think when it comes down to it, I will be the better fighter that night because I have more experience. I land more in orthodox and I do not quit. I know I will get a victory on Friday night.”
One of the aspects that McGeary brings to the cage is his size. Daniel Cormier brought McGeary into his camp to get him ready for Jon Jones due to this size. Did Newton bring in different training partners for this camp to prepare for this?
“I did not bring in anybody different, but one of my main training partners is Cheick Kongo,” Newton explained. “If I can deal with Cheick’s strength and Cheick’s size, then I do not see Liam being able to overpower me. Like I said, I have never been overpowered by any of my opponents. That is just the way it is. So strength wise, speed wise, scrambling wise, and movement wise, I am going to be in front and that is what is going to give me the victory.”
A dangerous aspect that McGeary brings into the cage is submissions. Kelly Anundson found this out in the Summer Series light heavyweight tournament final when McGeary won by inverted triangle choke submission.
“That is definitely one of his main weapons as he enjoys being on his back,” Newton said about the submission game of McGeary. “If I do [get submitted] in training, I will never get submitted by a big guy. It will always be a short, stocker guy with the really tight — and the smaller guys too. Like 55’ers be catching me from time to time. It just goes to show that size does not always matter, especially against Liam. He has a tight triangle. He has a tight armbar but because he is so long, he has more space that I am able to work in. For me and him fighting me, his blessing will become his curse.”
As Newton has prepared for this fight, he has come up with an interesting note in comparing his last opponent, Linton Vassell to McGeary.
“The last guy I fought was Linton. This guys name is Liam. Kind of the same. Linton was on a nine straight winning streak. Liam is 9-0 and they are both bigger guys. Linton was 6’4 or something like that and Liam is 6’6. They are both British. So it’s just like those are kind of omens for me. Also, the last time Liam and Jesse Juarez fought on the same card, I knocked out [King] Mo with a spinning back fist in Utah. So once again, omens. I follow my omens. I connect to them. I believe in them and that is why I will have a spectacular victory on Friday night.”
While Juarez is no longer on this card after being pulled from the event when his opponent was elevated to another fight, could Newton be planning another spinning back fist knockout?
“You never know. I am going out here and planning on finishing the man,” Newton said. “It could be a spinning back fight. It could be a submission. It could be an overhand right. It could be a 360 wheel kick. It could be a lot of things that I have been visualizing and seeing in my head. Maybe you guys will get another spinning back fist. You will just have to wait and see.”