Grant Neal is planning on being relentless in his sixth Bellator fight. He is in fact planning for a violent finish, in hopes of getting on the main card his next time out.
The No. 7 ranked lightweight in the promotion, Neal (6-0) is headlining the Bellator 266 prelims this Saturday. Going into his sixth Bellator fight, against Alex Polizzi, Neal has yet to be on the main card. However after Saturday, he believes that will change, because he has what it takes.
“I don’t know why I haven’t been on the main card yet. That’s a question for Bellator; what I do know, however, is my finishing rate is very high. I’m an exciting fighter, and they’ll see that with the crowd that I bring. I’m a charismatic person and have a lot of personality. The most important thing is, I put on a show, whether that’s getting a submission or being relentless with TKO,” Neal told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview ahead of the fight. “I mean, yeah, I wrestle a little bit. Yeah, I submit people, but ultimately I’m going to finish, and I’m always pursuing that. And so I think Bellator is going to have this opportunity to make their evaluation and be like, ‘hey, this is a main card guy, and we love that.”
“But Bellator is doing their thing. I really respect the organization and what Scott Coker is doing. They know what they’re doing. You need exciting guys on the prelims too. You can’t just have a main card full of killers.”
“The Truth” faces Alex Polizzi (8-1) on Saturday. Neal took out a tough prospect in his last outing and expects to do the same to Polizzi— violently.
“My official prediction is absolute violence. It is going to be a violent fight. It is going to be vicious, and I’m going to be in pursuit of a finish. I know that Alex is going to be a game dance partner, and I know he’s looking to do the same thing to me. So I’m excited about this fight. I’m excited to have a very tough opponent. And I know that we’re going to put on an absolute show,” Neal said.
“I feel really good. I feel dangerous. Just know one thing, I will not be broken, and I will break the person in front of me, guaranteed. That’s what you get in a Grant Neal fight.”
If Neal gets past Polizzi, the only opponents above him are the cream of the crop in the light heavyweight division. Names like Lyoto Machida, Julius Anglickas, Phil Davis, and everyone in the Light Heavyweight Grand Prix, such as Anthony Johnson, Ryan Bader, Corey Anderson, and Vadim Nemkov.
Neal is excited about the future but hasn’t paid much attention to it because of his task at hand.
“To be honest, like, I haven’t really paid attention to it because if I don’t get past Polizzi, none of that matters. I’ve always said just give me the best opponent possible. That’s all that matters to me right now,” Neal said.
Grant Neal and Alex Polizzi headline the Bellator prelims, available on Bellator and Showtime’s Youtube channel.
