Mike Richman Says He's Still Looking For Finishes In His fights
Posted by Joseph Lee on 03.07.2013
He'll get a chance tonight...
In an interview with MMA Junkie, Mike Richman (14-2 MMA, 3-1 BFC) said that while he will continue to look for the knockout in his fights, he'll do so cautiously. He added that he learned his lesson after his KO loss to Season 7 featherweight tournament winner Shabulat Shamhalaev. He will face Alexandre "Popo" Bezerra (15-2 MMA, 7-1 BFC) at Bellator 92 tonight. The event takes place at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The main card airs on Spike TV after preliminary fights on Spike.com.
On his loss to Shamhalaev: "Before I fought him, I had two highlight-reel finishes, and I didn't care about anything but knocking his f---ing head off. I just learned to be more patient and respectful of the dude's background, even if not many people know about him yet."
On his revised strategy: "The first time, I could feel the expectations to win the tournament, and the expectations that every time you go in there, you see this highlight reel. I'm still going to go in there and get highlight-reel finishes, I'm just going to be more patient about it."
On Shamhalaev vs Pat Curran at Bellator 95: "I think [Shamhalaev] has a good chance against Curran. If Pat fights like the way he fought against Patricio (Freire), that's a dangerous fight. If Pat fights a different style, like shoots in an grapples more, clinches more and takes him down, yeah, he could beat Shahbulat. But if he sits in the pocket and he dances around, I think Shahbulat could put him away."
