For long time fans of the Bellator product, A.J. Matthews is a familiar name. He initially joined the promotion in 2011 and ended up being a member of Team Couture during the only season of Fight Master.
Before entering the world of mixed martial arts, Matthews was a Division II soccer player and a car ticket ended up causing the San Diego native to take a professional mixed martial arts bout in Arizona.
“The whole time that I was playing soccer, I just wanted to fight at that point,” Matthews told The MMA Report. “When I was in college, the reason I took my first fight was because I got a ticket on my car registration and I did not pay that. I got a $500 fine from the court and that same day, someone told me that I could fight in Arizona for $500. I said ‘let’s do it,’ so I got cleared by the NCAA and they started letting me fight.”
Matthews (7-3, 3-2 Bellator) will be stepping into the cage for his eleventh fight next Friday night at Bellator 141 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. With having ten professional fights already, how does Matthews view his career to this point?
“I think that I am a disappointment if I were to be honest with myself,” Matthews explained. “I guess that is kind of how I feel. But really, the way I look at it right now is that I am 1-0 at 185 pounds in Bellator with a knockout. That is my record in my mind and that is the person that is going into the cage is an undefeated middleweight with a knockout. So I am scary.”
His Bellator middleweight debut came last year when he defeated Kyle Bolt at Bellator 131 and will look to improve to 2-0 in the Bellator middleweight division when he faces Emiliano Sordi, who he believes is a well-rounded fighter.
“I think he is probably dangerous everywhere. It’s tough to tell how good his jiu-jitsu is because Bubba McDaniel kind of just gave him that guillotine and they did not have any exchanges or anything like that on the ground,” he said. “He has been kickboxing for a long time. I expect he is going to be well-rounded but I think he is too slow and not dynamic enough for me.”
Why is Sordi “too slow and not dynamic” enough for Matthews? Simply put, he is not fast enough.
“Because I am fast. I have been a high level athlete my whole life and the way that I am training right now, my body feels right,” Matthews stated. “I am treating everything as if — I’m already dead man. This could be the last fight that I ever have and I am dedicating myself to it. He is not going to have anything for me. I am training with a lot of really good guys and you can ask anybody how the fight is going to go really.”
To watch the fight between Matthews and Sordi, fans will need to watch the Bellator 141 preliminary card stream on Spike.com. According to Matthews, you want to watch this fight because he is going to make Sordi re-think his choice of being a fighter.
“Every time I go into the cage, I am going to make the other person re-think their life choice. I am going to go in — I am a samurai right now. I am already dead so. I am going to pull the trigger. There is no waiting. I will fight him anywhere and he is done.”