When bantamweight Jaylon Bates returns to the Bellator cage this Friday, the 2-0 fighter will look to keep his perfect record intact.
Don’t let that small number, just two pro fights, fool you however. Bates also went undefeated as an amateur, and counting those appearances, has hit double digits in terms of fights under his belt.
As things progress, however, Bates admits that nerves come with it. “I would say I get a little more nervous, as everything goes,” he told Cageside Press during this week’s Bellator 261 virtual media day. “More, my record is on the line of course, so I get a little more nervous. But that just means I care, so I love it.”
This time out, Bates is up against Cody Matthews. Asked for his thoughts on the match-up, Bates exclaimed that “it’s going to be a painting, and his face will be the canvas.”
More specifically, however, Bates is looking to show some different tools when he creates his latest masterpiece.
Among them, “really my athleticism. I feel like my last two fights, I wrestled a lot, I did a lot of damage. But this fight, I want to show my athleticism and my stand-up a lot more,” Bates told us. “I know he has a knockout, so I’m excited to go out there and see what he really has to offer.”
Watch the full Bellator 261 virtual media day scrum with Jaylon Bates above. The event takes place this Friday, June 25 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.
