Sioux Falls, SD – Bellator middleweight Pat Downey III makes his professional MMA debut this Friday night at Bellator 284 against Jeff Souder.
For Downey it’s a change from NCAA wrestling for Iowa State wrestling product as he goes through his first fight week as a professional fighter.
“It’s a cool experience not gonna lie. It’s a lot of obligations. Between medicals, media obligations and what not, but that’s what I signed up for right? That’s what we get paid to do. I’m having a fun time doing it,” Downey told Cageside Press among other media on Wednesday.
“Doesn’t feel like a job.”
If Downey was too controversial for the amateur ranks of wrestling he might be perfect for professional MMA. Downey expressed that he knew he’d make the move to MMA eventually.
“Never a matter of if I was going to do MMA. For me it was a matter of when am I doing MMA. So I’ve been knowing. I love fighting, watching it, doing it, it’s cool. It’s always been a transition of mine that was going to be made,” Downey said.
“I just wanted to see how much I was going to get paid.”
Controversy follows Downey everywhere he goes and it includes social media. Instagram took Downey’s account down after being reported multiple times.
“These f*cking liberals hate me man. They’ve been trying to cancel the kid. Gordon Ryan reported me. USA’s probably still reporting me. They’re probably hating to see me bounce back. You got haters. They’re just confused fans,” he said with a grin.
With making his MMA debut with a major promotion like Bellator nerves become part of the equation for fighters.
“I guess the nerves with a major promotion it’s a thing right? More eyes on you and stuff, but I think the nerves are really coming from myself. I hold myself to a high standard. I’m doing this new career. I’ve got to prove to myself, right? That I do belong here. That I do like this sport. That I am an MMA fighter, and just to get the cobwebs out you know? Actually say I do the damn sport,” he said.
“I like it man. Ain’t nothing else I could be doing that make me feel this alive.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Pat Downey above. Bellator 284 goes down in Sioux Falls, SD on Friday August 12th.
