Logan Storley picked up a solid win on Friday at Bellator 204, improving to 9-0. Yet it’s a win that nearly didn’t happen following a first round foul, a moment Storley discussed post-fight.
Sioux Falls, SD — Bellator welterweight standout and rising prospect Logan Storley came out with a big win over A.J. Matthews at Bellator 204 on Friday. Yet it was a win that nearly didn’t happen. With Storley in full control over Matthews in the first round, things suddenly went sideways. That’s because Storley landed an accidental illegal knee on Matthews while the latter was grounded.
It was a moment that lesser fighters might have used as a way out of a bad situation. Matthews was on the wrong end of a beatdown in that first round. Yet Matthews proved what a tough competitor he is, staying in the fight and continuing on into the second round.
‘Storm’ discussed that moment post-fight, saying that “I thought I was going for the shoulder, and it hit the head. So I’ve got to give him credit for continuing the fight. That took a lot of courage to get back up there.”
Storley admitted that he wasn’t sure whether Matthews would continue, though he was less worried about losing a point for the foul, given he saw the first frame as a 10-8 round. He was certainly happy with his performance early, saying “I felt very confident in the way I went out there and competed and followed game plan and did everything that we spent the last eight weeks in training camp getting ready to do.”
On the knee, he noted that “I thought I hit the shoulder. I’d landed some big punches, got him hurt, and then, if you watch my other fights, working with Robbie Lawler, we always go front head, throwing knees, even knees to the body, and I guess it glanced up and hit his head.”
With the welterweight grand prix set to get underway next month, and Storley’s name left out of the tournament, what’s next has become an interesting question for the wrestler. Time off is first and foremost on his mind. “I’ve fought twice now in four months. So I want a little second to relax and kind of see how this thing is going to play out,” he said.
“I think the tournament is going to take a while, so I’m trying to figure out what’s going on,” he added moments later.
On whether or not he’s proven he could step in as an alternate, Storley said that “I’m a top eight guy, I knew that before, but I was already in fight camp getting ready for this one. But I know I’m a top eight guy. I believe I’m the best in the world and that nobody can handle that wrestling and ground n’ pound.”
Storley is going to require a solid step up in competition next. But with so many welterweights tied up in the grand prix, it’s going to be interesting to see who Bellator pairs him up against.
View the full Bellator 204 post-fight press scrum with Logan Storley above!
