The opening fight tonight of the Bellator 141 main card on Spike TV will be a heavyweight bout as Lorenzo Hood makes his Bellator debut against Raphael Butler.
Hood (9-2) was signed by Bellator earlier this year and he enters the promotion with three straight victories. The signing of Hood got the attention of many people in the mixed martial arts community since all of Hood’s fights have ended in the first round and all of his victories have come by TKO/KO.
When you see the record of Hood, you may wonder why he decided that Bellator was the right promotion for him following his win against Joshua Anderson at Maxx FC 25 last year. Well the answer to that question is fairly simple.
“For me, what it had to do with was growing up kind of less fortunate,” Hood explained to The MMA Report. “I didn’t have much money. There are a lot of people out there that don’t have the money to order a UFC pay-per-view, UFC Fight Pass, and these other things. Being on Spike TV and allowing the world to see me for free was a big sway in pushing me to sign with Bellator because it just meant a lot for the people I know — people you can’t order pay-per-views can watch me. Be able to watch my work and understand that I came from the same place they are at. Not being able to watch pay-per-views or have cable or things like that.”
Hood will look for his fourth win in a row tonight when he faces Butler, who will be stepping into the Bellator cage for the seventh time tonight. A cliché you hear in the fight game all the time is, “styles make fights” and Hood believes this is a “tremendous” fight for him.
“Honestly, I feel like every fight is a tremendous fight for me. I am a kickboxer and all of my fights have been finishes in the first round by strikes,” Hood stated. “I feel like whether I am fighter a wrestler, boxer, or jiu jitsu guy. I feel like the fight is somewhat in my favor. I train hard enough in all of my disciplines that I feel like I am never really out of the fight or a guy has an advantage on me. Obviously, Raphael an extended boxing prowess. But I feel like what he has experience in boxing, I have in kickboxing. The fight is going to be a good fight for the fans to see. Obviously, fans want to see guys stand and bang it out, and I think that is what you are going to see.”
With this being the Bellator debut of Hood, you may think that he is looking to prove something tonight to not only the Bellator executives, but the entire mixed martial arts community. However, that is not the case.
“I am not looking to prove anything. I think that when I go out there and fight — when you watch me fight and the things I am able to do in this fight, I think that will be enough than to worry about proving anything,” Hood stated. “In terms of this, I have proven to myself and to the people around the world to be at one of the best organizations in the world to fight on live TV. When I go into the cage now, it’s about going in there, clocking in, and taking care of business.”