LOS ANGELES – Bellator has a big weekend ahead.
The promotion is hosting one of its biggest events of the year, Bellator 286. The card takes place Saturday at Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif.
Ahead of the action, Bellator president Scott Coker spoke to the media about an array of topics pertaining to the card. These include Patricio Freire’s title defense against Adam Borics, A.J. McKee’s move up to 155 pounds, a potential title shot to be earned for Aaron Pico, Spike Carlyle missing weight, and much more.
Check out Coker’s thoughts on all things Bellator 286 below.
Patricio Freire vs. Adam Borics
“I’ve never seen (Adam Borics) this pumped up. He’s excited and he’s a killer. This guy can fight. I’m telling you. The size difference, you know, ‘Pitbull’ has dealt with that before. This is going to be an interesting, tactical fight and I don’t want to make a prediction, but this is going to be a tactical strategy of who can get inside and take this fight to the opponent. Both these guys are amazing, and I wish them both luck, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”
A.J. McKee's lightweight debut
“Part of it was Adam Borics has been waiting in the wings for his shot and we thought, ‘Why don’t we just give him a beat’ and then A.J. is like, ‘I really don’t want to fight at 45 unless I’m fighting ‘Pitbull.’ So I think he’s fighting at a weight he’s comfortable at.
“We announced our tournament earlier this week. Next year, we’ll have an 155-pound tournament, and depending on how A.J. looks and performs at 55, he might want to come in that tournament and see how he does. But as a fan, I would love to see that trilogy fight happen at some point. So maybe next year he’ll be extremely busy. We’ll keep him fighting and he could do both. He could fight in the tournament and fight ‘Pitbull’ and finish that trilogy.”
Aaron Pico's potential title shot
“Listen, Aaron is someone we signed, I tried to sign him at 17, and we couldn’t do it, so we signed him at 18-years-old. We’ve been working with him six, seven years now, and we’ve been waiting for him to get to this point and get this opportunity. If he looks good, and he wins and advances forward, I think he should be in line for a title or top two or top three at that point. So let’s see what happens, but it’s going to depend on his performance.”
Spike Carlyle misses weight, goes off on weigh-in process
“I know that he was over 0.6 pounds. I haven’t talked to him, but I will talk to my team and figure out what happened. At the end of the day, it’s the fighter’s job to make the weight. I think that it’s something that we need to figure out because it’s a big fight. It’s a big fight for A.J. (McKee). It’s the first time he’s moving up, and like I said, if you’re a professional at this level, there’s no reason a fighter should be missing weight.”
Juan Archuleta vs. Enrique Barzola
“Barzola is a tough kid. He’s no joke. He’s going to be in Juan’s face. He’s going to be chasing him, and he’s going to be trying to knock him out and submit him, and put the grind on him because that’s what Barzola does.
“When I met Barzola, I really didn’t even know who he was. It was Javier Mendez and I sitting down, and he said, ‘I want you to meet my fighter who’s training with me now.’ He said, ‘I think you guys should sign him.’ I said, ‘Ok, what’s he like?’ And he said, ‘This guy can do it. Let me tell you. He’s in AKA now. He’s training with Khabib and Usman (Nurmagomedov), and he’s just in that group of killers in AKA.’ And he’s just been getting better and better every performance, even the one he lost to Magomed (Magomedov). He was looking pretty good until he got finished. At the end of the day, he’s going to be somebody who’s going to be a force to be reckoned with, and I hope Juan (Archuleta) took him seriously.”
The full Bellator 286 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime 10 p.m. ET)
- Champ Patricio Freire vs. Adam Borics – for featherweight title
- Spike Carlyle vs. A.J. McKee
- Jeremy Kennedy vs. Aaron Pico
- Juan Archuleta vs. Enrique Barzola – 141-pound contract weight fight
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie 7 p.m. ET)
- Nick Browne vs. Islam Mamedov
- Vladimir Tokov vs. Jay Jay Wilson
- Khadzhimurat Bestaev vs. Khalid Murtazaliev
- Sumiko Inaba vs. Nadine Mandiau
- Weber Almeida vs. Ryan Lilley
- Dominic Clark vs. Lance Gibson
- Mike Hamel vs. Max Rohskopf
- Cee Jay Hamilton vs. Richard Palencia
- Keoni Diggs (155.6) vs. Ricardo Seixas (156)
- Miguel Peimbert (131.8) vs. Bobby Seronio III (136)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 286.
