In many people’s eyes Ash Griffiths (4-5), booked to fight Aaron ‘The Joker’ Chalmers (3-0) at Bellator 200, is somewhat of a sacrificial lamb. On paper, to be fair, that is just how it appears. Having been unfortunate enough to be on a three fight losing streak Ash Griffiths now exudes the persona of a driven man who does not take kindly to be likened to canon fodder. When I spoke to him, clearly fired up, he’s eager to explain the match up is one he’d previously campaigned for saying, “A while back I was asking for Aaron Chalmers but gave up after seeing him given gimmie fights. He gets everything handed to him, he sounds like he’s on a helium balloon and he gets his eyebrows plucked! What sort of hard-man gets his eyebrows plucked!? If I told my missus I was getting my eyebrows plucked she’d probably stab me!”
Griffiths’ commitment and drive before this match up is one that can be legitimately questioned. Looking back on his performances he’s keen to present a changed attitude and seize an opportunity to redeem his former reputation as a finisher telling me, “My last three fights combined I probably trained five times, but my fights before that I was knocking everyone out winning every title you could win. I’ve won four man tournaments, British and European titles. I’ve had 104 fights in total when you include my boxing bouts and everything.”
Aaron Chalmers, who he’ll face when Bellator pitch up at the SSE Arena on Friday May 25, has caught his disdain for comments he has previously made about him. Chalmers has vowed to put him to sleep. Griffiths thinks it won’t go down the way ‘The Joker’ is planning as he tells me, “That lad couldn’t knock a decent fart out if it didn’t fall out of his arse. The man is a nugget, honestly he’s like a walking tattoo. He’s got a f–kin’ top knot or whatever he has going on. He’s never had to fight for anything in his life. The only thing he’s ever had to fight for is what outfit he’s wearing that night!”
“He’s a f–kin’ clown honestly. He’s had his opponents hand picked and fed to him it’s easy to hit a bag if a bag doesn’t move. It’s easy to fight people who aren’t fighting back. I’ve had twelve weeks to train for this and I’m a different animal compared to my last three fights. Expect the last version of me that you saw knocking people out, he’s going to be in for a shock.”
It’s clear Chalmers is eyeing up big fights on the Bellator roster. He has previously called for Kevin ‘Baby Slice’ Ferguson, much to the annoyance of Griffith, who is keen to assert he will replace Chalmers in any future bout he has his eye on. “When I’ve knocked Chalmers out I’ll knock out that cheese slice or whatever he’s called,” he said. “I’ve got no issue with fighting the pair of them on the same night. I’m confident I can beat this kid anywhere. I can sub him, I can wrestle him I’ve got no issue, my biggest battle in these fights is me.”
“Now Chalmers has to fight a proper fight I’m not there to roll over so he can get to his next opponent, he has to get through me first. All I want is what he is lined up for. Why should he fight Baby Slice. If I beat Chalmers surely that should be my fight.”
One thing that is abundantly clear is that Chalmers does represent the A side in this fight, a point which Griffiths has made peace with but also serves to be an object of his disdain for Chalmers as he explains, “He’s a promoters wet dream let’s be honest. He puts bums on seats but let’s be honest the bums hes putting in there are all gimps. These aren’t going to be regular MMA fans these are only gonna turn up for his fights. It’s great that they are gonna be turning up but they are not watching the proper fights. They are looking at who looks the best, who is the most chiselled ’cause half of them are closet gays anyway.”
Griffith is clearly focused on the task ahead which is to reclaim his reputation for winning decisively or call time on a sport which he loves. The passion, energy and urgency he speaks with underlines the belief he will be raising his hand in victory come fight night. Griffiths relishes the prospect of exposing the holes in Chalmers’ game as he concludes,”He is the hype train at the moment and I wanna be the one to derail him. I’ll put my life savings on myself to win. My career depends on this win, this is make or break for me this. If I lose another fight to this little poser, never mind does my career depend on this, my social life depends on this, I’ll never leave the house again. It’s my fault I’ve messed up along the way but I’m not in that frame of mind anymore. If I lose I’m ready to go out, I’m 28 years old and haven’t even hit my prime.”
Tickets for the event are on sale now at The SSE Arena, Wembley Box Office (0844 815 0815), Ticketmaster.com, ssearena.co.uk and axs.com. Bellator 200 will be broadcast on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and globally on the Bellator Mobile App.