Wrestling standout Pat Downey got the job done at Bellator 284 on Friday, picking up his first win as a mixed martial artist.
Admitting that there were “some butterflies” while speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight at the Sandord Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Downey added that “I’m not gonna lie, I couldn’t wait to get it finished. I just wanted to have this 1-0 record and say I’m an MMA fighter.”
He can now say that, officially. Downey submitted Keyes Nelson with an arm-triangle choke early in the opening round, using his wrestling to set up the finish.
“A lot of these middleweights, and not just in Bellator, in the whole world— a lot of these middleweights are not going to be able to survive the game with me,” Downey later boasted. “I’m too good.”
Downey added that he didn’t want to be a wrestler who relies on one move and holds opponents down. “I don’t wanna be one of those guys that’s not exciting. I want to do cool takedowns like you saw, slam right to the full mount transition into the kill. If I’m not trying to kill him with chokes or joints, I’m trying to beat the shit out of him.”
With Downey’s debut coming in the same week as Bo Nickal’s Contender Series appearance, the two wrestling rivals will no doubt be compared. Downey believes their paths will cross again down the line; for now, he’s focused on a quick turnaround in Bellator MMA.
“I want to go to that Bellator card in Ireland and beat the shit out of somebody else. I love this,” he exclaimed.
Downey told Cageside Press he has a name in mind. “I want that motherf*cker that was talking sh*t last fight, Danny Compton. He’s in my DM again, saying how the f*ck did I get an opponent weaker than my first op. Mind you, this guy beat the first op that Bellator tried feeding me. So I see a lot of these motherf*ckers going on Instagram or in my DMs or social media. Be careful what you’re all asking for, because you just might get it.”
Watch the full Bellator 284 post-fight press scrum with Pat Downey above.
