Ty Gwerder got exactly what he asked for following his last fight.
After defeating George Tokkos last month, Gwerder (5-1) said he wanted a quick turnaround, and a chance to work his way up the ladder in Bellator’s middleweight division.
And so he finds himself at Bellator 250, roughly six weeks later, paired up with an undefeated prospect in Dalton Rosta.
“I’m stoked to be back. I couldn’t have asked for a quicker turnaround,” Gwerder told Cageside Press during this week’s Bellator 250 media day. “I was fortunate that I put on a show and they asked me to come back right away, and I got what asked for. Regardless of how well I performed in and how I felt like after the fight, being that I asked for it, I wasn’t about to turn it down.”
Rosta is a hulk of an opponent nicknamed “Hercules” for good reason. A lifelong martial artist, the 3-0 fighter had a solid amateur run, and has finished all three of his fights in Bellator so far. He recently dropped down from 205lbs. But despite the power Rosta possesses, Gwerder has prepared like it’s any other fight.
“As far as preparing for this fight, I didn’t change anything. I am a strong believer in that as long as I lead the dance, it’s gonna be my fight,” the Hawaiian native told us. “He’s gonna have to try to apply his game plan against me. As long as I keep doing what I’m doing, I don’t see this fight really going wrong.” Of course, Gwerder admits that Rosta “is definitely probably the strongest and the most explosive and athletic guy that’s been in front of me.”
But the weight cut to 185lbs “really makes a little bit of a difference,” he added, “because [Rosta] gets tired quick, and I think I’ll use that to my advantage.”
The simple game plan, of course, would be to just drag Dalton Rosta into deep waters and drown him. Let the athlete with the better gas tank win. Gwerder, however, isn’t a fan of that idea. “I’m not even looking at take him on into deep waters. I want to beat him when he’s really good,” he countered. “To me, I want to beat guys when they’re at the peak of their performance, and not when they’re starting to drown in that 15 minutes. I think that’s where you can show how good of a fighter you are.”
Watch the full Bellator 250 virtual media day press scrum with Ty Gwerder above.
