Tired of Fights Falling Through, Saunders Turned to Bellator
Sherdog.com Staff Apr 1, 2011
Ben
Saunders signed with
Bellator for the money.
He doesn’t hide that fact. After the UFC dismissed him following an August 2010 loss to Dennis Hallman, Saunders had planned on collecting some wins in smaller events, sharpening his skills and working his way back to the Octagon.
The freelance fight circuit wasn’t accommodating, however.
“When you’re not in a real promotion, fights come and go like crazy,” Saunders (Pictured) said recently on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “I got to experience that first hand, whether it be people not wanting to fight me or take the risk.”
“It was a very, very frustrating situation,” Saunders said. “We’re talking like four or five fights that came and went. It hit the point where I was like … ‘I can’t deal with this anymore.’ As much as I want to be in the big show and want to just fight for the love of fighting and fight to make it back [to the UFC] in particular, it came down to, I gave up everything to do this 100 percent for a living. I don’t really have another job. I got to pay the bills, and Bellator seemed like the best option.”
Saunders debuts Saturday in Bellator against Matt Lee in a non-tournament bout. Initially he thought he might have a spot in this season’s welterweight tournament, but with the field filling up, Bellator asked if he was interested in taking a pair of single bouts and competing in another tournament this fall.
“They worked with me,” Saunders said. “We came up with a good contract, and I’m very happy. Bottom line, I’m just excited to fight. It’s been a year since I’ve been on a live televised card. I’m just excited and anxious to show everybody my improvement.”
Unless Saunders falls flat against Lee and his next opponent, he fully expects to be in Bellator’s next welterweight tournament.
“Bellator’s welterweight division is without a doubt stacked,” he said. “They’ve got real, real talent in that division. I got my hands full with five fights potentially lined up for this year.”
Saunders is planning on five fights and five wins. Although a return to the UFC is his ultimate goal, he wants to improve under the Bellator banner and see how the promotion advances in the meantime.
“I still feel I’m pretty young,” Saunders said. “I still am hoping that I got at least minimum 10 years left in my career. That’s a long time. [I’m going to] take a year to just gain some experience, gain some additional exposure, make the money that I know I need and then take it from there. Who really knows? If Bellator blows up and they actually are able to start paying big money to top competition, it might be just phenomenal for the sport and we’ll see what happens.”
Listen to the full interview (beginning at 47:05).
Reader comments are active below. Chime in with an opinion or thought by signing in with your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo! account.
He doesn’t hide that fact. After the UFC dismissed him following an August 2010 loss to Dennis Hallman, Saunders had planned on collecting some wins in smaller events, sharpening his skills and working his way back to the Octagon.
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“When you’re not in a real promotion, fights come and go like crazy,” Saunders (Pictured) said recently on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “I got to experience that first hand, whether it be people not wanting to fight me or take the risk.”
Saunders explained that he agreed to several fights only to have
them fall through one after the other. For some bouts he had
already been through training camp. For others he had already cut
weight.
“It was a very, very frustrating situation,” Saunders said. “We’re talking like four or five fights that came and went. It hit the point where I was like … ‘I can’t deal with this anymore.’ As much as I want to be in the big show and want to just fight for the love of fighting and fight to make it back [to the UFC] in particular, it came down to, I gave up everything to do this 100 percent for a living. I don’t really have another job. I got to pay the bills, and Bellator seemed like the best option.”
Saunders debuts Saturday in Bellator against Matt Lee in a non-tournament bout. Initially he thought he might have a spot in this season’s welterweight tournament, but with the field filling up, Bellator asked if he was interested in taking a pair of single bouts and competing in another tournament this fall.
“They worked with me,” Saunders said. “We came up with a good contract, and I’m very happy. Bottom line, I’m just excited to fight. It’s been a year since I’ve been on a live televised card. I’m just excited and anxious to show everybody my improvement.”
Unless Saunders falls flat against Lee and his next opponent, he fully expects to be in Bellator’s next welterweight tournament.
“Bellator’s welterweight division is without a doubt stacked,” he said. “They’ve got real, real talent in that division. I got my hands full with five fights potentially lined up for this year.”
Saunders is planning on five fights and five wins. Although a return to the UFC is his ultimate goal, he wants to improve under the Bellator banner and see how the promotion advances in the meantime.
“I still feel I’m pretty young,” Saunders said. “I still am hoping that I got at least minimum 10 years left in my career. That’s a long time. [I’m going to] take a year to just gain some experience, gain some additional exposure, make the money that I know I need and then take it from there. Who really knows? If Bellator blows up and they actually are able to start paying big money to top competition, it might be just phenomenal for the sport and we’ll see what happens.”
Listen to the full interview (beginning at 47:05).
Reader comments are active below. Chime in with an opinion or thought by signing in with your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo! account.
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