Bellator heavyweight prospect Steve Mowry made the most of his last-minute promotion to the Bellator 249 main card on Thursday.
The towering 6″8 fighter improved to 8-0 with his finish of Shawn Teed, an opponent who wore gold outside the promotion, and who had shared the cage with the likes of Juan Adams, Chris Daukaus, and Azunna Anyanwu.
Last-minute can be taken quite literally when it comes to Mowry being bumped up to the main card at the event. Co-headliner Patricky Pitbull fell ill just as things were getting underway. Mowry found out moments prior to making the walk for his preliminary bout that he would actually be fighting Teed later in the night.
With more eyes on him — something Mowry had to compartmentalize as it all went down — he certainly made the most of things. And post-fight, he had a message for Bellator President Scott Coker and matchmaker Rich Chou.
I said ‘let’s do it again soon,'” said Mowry, who admits that while his shin was bothering him after the fight, “I haven’t been fighting as often as I’d like.” His belief, Mowry added, is that competing more often “really is the gateway to the big improvement that you see.”
Despite his desire to return soon, and a couple of cards with vacancies coming up in November, Mowry didn’t call anyone out post-fight. Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, the heavyweight explained that “I’m not a name guy. I don’t say names, I don’t bully, I don’t name call.” He’ll simply try to finish anybody he’s put in the cage with, he added. As for getting off the prelims, “if there was going to be a time to do it, it was today. Shawn Teed was a champion in a promotion before this. He was a really accomplished fighter. I think they made a good signing when they picked him up.”
Not only would Mowry not call out any names, he wouldn’t call out a number, or reveal whether he thought a veteran could be next. “We’ll see what happens here, I’m just trying to beat people up and get paid for it.”
While Mowry doesn’t want to commit to anything, Bellator President Scott Coker later told Cageside Press that he believes Mowry is ready to level up in terms of competition. “I thought he did well. He seemed very calm, was controlling the pace, threw some good shots. It’s definitely time. The answer is yes,” Coker stated. Acknowledging that shin issue that Mowry had mentioned earlier, he added “as soon as he’s healed up, we’ll get him back in the cage.”
Watch the full Bellator 249 post-fight press scrum with Steve Mowry above.
