While all of the talk about today’s Bellator 136 card is about the main event, the fight that could steal the show is on the preliminary card as Saad Awad will look for his third straight win against Rob Sinclair.
Since suffering a decision defeat to current lightweight champion Will Brooks, Awad (17-6) has won back to back fights and is coming off a decision win against Sergio Rios at Bellator 127.
It’s a high probability that Awad and Sinclair will have a tremendous and exciting fight due to their fighting styles. However, when Awad’s name is mentioned, people discuss his rivalry with Brooks. Does this bother Awad that people are taking about the rivalry with Brooks and not his fight?
“It’s part of the sport,” Awad told The MMA Report. “People are going to focus in on whatever is embedded in their memory. It’s all good. We are on the prelims. There is not a lot of hype behind it and I know that we are going to go out there and put on a great show. After this show, there is going to be a lot of talk about it.”
The lightweight division is one of the deeper divisions in Bellator, but any fighter in the division is a couple of wins away from a title shot. With that being said, does Awad feel that he needs to make a statement to show the executives at Bellator that he should be in the conversation for a title shot?
“I never really go out there with my head saying I am going to make a statement,” he said. “I go out there and fight they want I know how to fight, which is to scrap. Usually when I do that, I put on really good fights. I am going to take this fight like I have taken my last fights, go out there and scrap and hopefully it turns out the way it should unless this dude tries to grab me and hold me against the fence for three rounds. I am definitely not going to let that happen. We all saw that happen three fights ago when I fought Brooks and it turned out to be one of the most boring fights you have ever watched. If it’s up to me, it’s definitely going to be a banger and I am definitely going to put on a show.”
The trilogy bout with Brooks may happen at some point, but Awad is not worried about that. His mind is on the task at hand, which is Rob Sinclair. He plans to score his third straight victory tonight and explained why he will get the victory.
“Because I have put too much time into this. I put in too much hard work and I am not going to let this slip away. Not again.”