Jaylon Bates earned his first finish as a pro at Bellator 256. And rest assured, he had not been expecting a submission. Let alone a one-arm guillotine. He did foresee finishing early on Friday, however.
“I was planning more for standup,” Bates (2-0) said following the bout, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “I wanted to knock him out, really. But however the fight was going to go, I was going to get the finish. I knew that much.”
Bates’ opponent, Jeffrey Glossner, missed weight for the fight, something that did not sit well with the bantamweight prospect.
“I was kind of bothered that he didn’t make weight. This is a professional sport, and you’re coming onto a top organization,” noted Bates. “You’re going to want to make weight, and show people you’re serious. So with him missing weight, it bothered me, and honestly I planned on going all three [rounds] and just talking sh*t to him, saying ‘why’d you miss weight?’ But we got the finish, and it’s better that way.”
After his first win as a pro, last year, Bates was bothered by the fact that he didn’t secure the finish. He told Cageside Press as much during the Bellator 256 media day — and it definitely motivated him heading into Friday night. In fact, not only did getting a finish motivate him, he predicted it.
“It felt good getting the finish. That’s all I saw. I wrote it in my journal,” Bates revealed. “I’m going to shoot my coach a message that I wrote in my journal I was going to get a finish, and that’s what I did.”
Watch the full Bellator 256 post-fight press scrum with Jaylon Bates above.
