Middleweight Romero Cotton’s win over Justin Sumter at Bellator 254 was a long time coming.
Originally slated for March, only to be delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, “it was a crazy road” getting to the fight, Cotton (5-0) said following a first-round rear-naked choke submission.
Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press, Cotton noted that the after the March fight was postponed, they’d been expecting a quick turnaround. “We thought that we’d be back here in like two weeks, three weeks,” he revealed. “Then it was, it’s gonna be in July. And then we were slated for October, then we got a little nicked up. And then now we’re back here finally, in December, just before Christmas.”
Improving to 5-0 with another finish has to be a nice little Christmas present. And it brings up the question of when the match-ups for Cotton will begin to get tougher. Something he sees as happening in the not-too-distant future.
“The tougher match-up is gonna come,” suggested Cotton. “The company’s changing. There’s much turnover, new TV deals, new names, so I mean the competition is going to come, it’s going to come in, it’s gonna be a new step up every time. And that’s up to me to meet that step.”
That said, Romero Cotton doesn’t have any specific name in mind for his next outing. Instead, his gaze is turned inward. “As far as who I’m looking at, I’m looking at myself. I’m just trying to build myself and get better. And I mean, people are going to start looking [at] and calling for me,” he stated.
Watch the full Bellator 254 post-fight press conference with Romero Cotton above.
