...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Daniel Weichel wasn't the original option to face Bellator Featherweight Champ Patricio "Pitbull" Freire this week at Bellator 138. Despite winning a tournament and beating former Champ Pat Curran in February, the 30-year-old German competitor was passed over for Georgi Karakhanyan, leaving him as the odd man out.
While he could have been discouraged by the call made by Bellator brass, Weichel says he instead always envisioned a summer title fight coming his way no matter the initial booking, and was prepared to fight anyone else he may have needed to fight to set that up. Turns out Weichel was a bit prescient, and didn't even need another bout, as Karakhanyan went down to an injury, bringing him into the fight Friday night in St. Louis.
"I feel very excited now that this opportunity has been given to me," Weichel told MMATorch in a recent interview ahead of Friday's card on Spike. "But, I wasn't... many people asked me if I was disappointed that Georgi [Karakhanyan] got the fight [initially], but I don't know, I just felt like I knew something like this was going to happen, and that I [was] going to fight for the title somehow in the summer.
"When I signed with Bellator and after I won the tournament, I said I'm willing to fight anybody in the division. Bellator's featherweight division is very strong, in my opinion it's the strongest division in Bellator. There's many great fighters out there, and I want to be the Champion so I have to beat anybody out there. That was my mentality and it still is, so it's just what's happening.
"Absolutely [I'm at my peak]," he continued when asked where he felt into the fight. "I feel very good right now. I feel like I have the perfect team with me; the best coaches, the best training partners, and I feel I'm doing the right things that improve my style, that improve my strength in everything. I feel better than ever, best shape of my life, and I can't wait to fight in St. Louis and grab that belt."
Weichel's been on a tear since entering the Bellator cage, and it culminated in a good, solid performance against Curran earlier this year. Though he sees Freire as a complete, well-rounded, and very good Champion, he believes he'll be able to force some mistakes of which he can take advantage come Friday night.
"He's complete. He's a complete fighter, and it's just how I good I put my things together," Weichel said. "When I mix things up well and I put my gameplan on the table, I think then it's when he will open up some holes in his game. So I need to get him to [make] some mistakes and I can do my gameplan correctly.
"I just have to be myself. Even from the last fight it's just been four months, but I improved a lot. I feel a complete different fighter right now, and I feel that I'm ready to beat him everywhere, striking and on the ground. If I see the opening, I will go for it, and I will finish the fight wherever it is."
This fight is serving as the co-main event Friday night under the Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock bout, but while the Champ isn't happy about that fact, Weichel thinks it's going to be a positive thing overall for him, as he hopes to convert some of those tuning in for that bout into Daniel Weichel fans.
"Kimbo and Shamrock is entertaining," he said without hesitation. "Maybe not everybody likes this fight, but everybody wants to watch this fight. Everybody.
"I feel great being on that card. I think it will have a little more attention in the U.S., and help me be a little more popular there."
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
