In the lead up to Bellator 158 an undisclosed injury sustained by Lee Chadwick will mean the Liverpool based fighter will bow out of his scheduled bout with Mike Shipman, in his place will be London based Dominic Clark.
Fighting out of Fight Science Gym Clark was ecstatic as he spoke exclusively to #WHOATV:
“When you get the call from one of the premiere fight promotions in the world you don’t say no. People might say ‘but you haven’t prepared!’ but you never know until you get in the cage how it will play out. I’ve gone from fighting in dingy nightclubs to UCMMA and now Bellator a premiere organisation.”
As Michael Bisping has recently proven, you should never count a fighter out who has had a short fight camp. Clark joins the fight card on a weeks notice but even with seven days to go Clark is adamant that his nickname (Dominator) will be on show.
“I’m still in shape I never get out of shape. There’s not going to be much of a feeling out process I’ll try and dominate early. My style is very aggressive and I’m very rarely a backward fighter. I’m not a point scorer and out of 21 fights I’ve only had one go to decision.”
When reflecting on his opponent Clark is the epitome of respect. It’s clear there will be no war of words, sniping or verbal jabs.
“Michael is a premiere fighter, he is a very decent calibre. Every fighter is a threat and face to face they unearth a whole lot of problems. Game plans go out the window when you get in there. But all the pressure is on Mike he’s had a long camp, he’s sold a lot of tickets alot of people are coming to see him. I’m just going to go out that there and broadcast myself and have some fun. Much respect to Michael for taking the fight in the end we are sportsmen so I hope he’ll bring it.”
Bellator 158 takes place at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday 16th July. Tickets are still on sale.