“It’s a big opportunity, another step up in competition, so I’m ready to just showcase my skills.”
Dante Schiro’s statement during Wednesday’s media day resonates even more following the events of the past twenty-four hours.
Schiro was originally in a main card battle with home town favorite Logan Storley at Bellator 265 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Friday.
Now, after Jay Jay Wilson missed weight at Thursday’s official weigh-in, leading to his fight with Adam Borics being cancelled, Schiro vs. Storley has been upgraded to the co-main event. And he doesn’t seem to mind being in enemy territory.
“It’s kind of fun being the homewrecker I guess. I’m ready to go in there and put on a show,” said Schiro. “I don’t care whether it’s his home town, my home town. It’s still a fight, and I’ve got to show up.”
Just as he doesn’t care where the fight takes place, Dante Schiro hasn’t given much thought to his role as underdog — he’s been a +600 on some sites.
“Honestly I don’t really care. If I look into it— the more you look into it, the more I think the pressure puts on you. So I stay away from that kind of stuff,” he told Cageside Press on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, I just don’t care. I’ve got to show up to fight either way, whether I’m the underdog or not. We’ve seen it happen a million times before, some of the biggest underdogs come up and win. So at the end of the day, you’ve got to show up and fight.”
Storley is a decorated wrestler. Schiro has more than a few submissions on his record. It feels like this fight will go to the ground at some point — but don’t expect the newcomer to just let that happen.
“We’ll see. If he’s going to try to take me down, I’m going to defend it, I’m not going to let him take me down, because that’s where he wants to go. He’s going to have to work for the takedown, I’m going to work to defend it.”
“If a submission attempt gets opened up, then it does,” he added. “But every position I’m in in the fight, I’m going to be looking to finish.”
Schiro has fought in a major promotion once before, having a single fight under the ONE Championship banner. That, he believes, has helped him a bit to prepare for another big show with Bellator, but he’s trying to keep things simple.
“I guess [it has helped] a little bit, because I got to fight in front of a lot of people. But I like to simplify things, and a fight’s a fight,” said Schiro. “We get locked in the cage and then we’ve got to hit each other, punch each other, and try to submit each other. The crowd, it’s fun and it adds to it, but I can’t let it effect me too much either way.”
Watch the full Bellator 265 media day appearance from Dante Schiro above. The event takes place this Friday, August 20 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
