The Bellator debut of Fernando Gonzalez took place ten months ago and the California based fighter has scored three straight wins in the promotion.
He will be looking for his fourth straight win tomorrow night as he will meet fellow California based fighter Curtis Millender on the main card of Bellator 137 coming from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California.
Gonzalez (23-13) has scored wins over Karl Amoussou, Karo Parisyan, and Marius Zaromskis in the Bellator cage. Following the win over Zaromskis in January, the feeling was that Gonzalez could be placed in a big welterweight bout. However, he received an opponent that lost his Bellator debut in February and was this fight offer disappointing for “The Menifee Maniac?”
“I made a statement before that I will take on pretty much anyone in the welterweight division until I get that title shot,” Gonzalez told The MMA Report. “I do not mind fighting anyone. If he is going to sign a contract that says he can beat me, that is all the motivation I need to get in there and perform well.”
Millender lost his Bellator debut against Brennan Ward in February and it was his first professional defeat. Gonzalez has watched that fighter countless times in preparation for his fight tomorrow night and he feels his experience will be a key factor in the outcome.
“He is a very long fighter. He looks to like a kickboxer. I did not see to much,” Gonzalez explained. “He did get pressured pretty quick, but he is fast. He has a lot of speed. I think it being his debut fight and on a big stage that he did fight on, played a big factor in his fight. I think he is going to come out a lot stronger on this one and I planned for that. I trained by butt off to fight the best Curtis Millender.”
A win over Millender would likely put Gonzalez right in the mix in the Bellator welterweight title picture. In this sport, it’s not always about the win. Sometimes it’s about how you get that win. For Gonzalez, does he feel that he needs to have an impressive win to show the Bellator executives that he should be right there in line for a title shot?
“You are always trying to get that impressive win but for me the way it’s been playing out, it’s been good. I think I showed that in the Parisyan fight when I stopped him early. Obviously, I showed I could go the distance as well with Amoussou and Zaromskis. My last fight was a tough fight. I was very happy. I trained my butt off knowing he was going to come out aggressive and ready to fight. I planned well for Zaromskis and I think I am trying to follow up the same way. I do not try to rush anything. If the win or knockout is there, I am going to go for it. The longer I am in that ring, the more comfortable I am going to be. If it goes the distance, it goes the distance.”
While Gonzalez does not have a clear prediction on the fight, he just plans to go out and win. If the knockout is there, he will take it. If he has to work for a decision victory, he is fine with that as well.
“I am really focused on what I am going to do to my opponent. Like I said, there is a lot of things I saw in his game that I can exploit. He is still fairly young in the sport. I think my experience will play a big factor in a lot of the fights that I will be fighting. I have pretty much seen a lot of the things that I am going to see in that cage. I have just trained my butt off and do whatever I can. Whatever happens on that night, is going to happen. All I know is that it’s going to be a great show and a great fight.”