Heading into Bellator 293 on Friday, March 31, heavyweight Marcelo Golm has built up an impressive head of steam.
After finishing his UFC run on a trio of losses, Golm has won his last four bouts, with two coming under the MMA banner. In that stretch, he holds a 100% finish rate, with two submission victories, and two wins by TKO.
“In my whole career, I tried to finish my fights. It’s my style,” Golm (10-3) told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, asked about his recent success. “Aggressive.”
You can expect more of that aggression heading into Golm’s first main event, which sees him paired up with American Daniel James. The Brazilian explained that he’s “always ready to fight five rounds,” and “1000% ready to be the main event. Looking forward to it.”
Despite always being ready for a full 25 minutes, however, Golm says he’s coming into Bellator 293 “with a lot more intensity,” adding that he’s “definitely well-prepared, and taking a little bit more time to work on cardio in this fight.”
Opponent James has bounced around a fair bit throughout his MMA career, and has just two fights in Bellator, eight years apart. But for Golm, getting James next was not necessarily a surprise.
“He finished a top ranked opponent, and it was a knockout,” noted Golm. “Daniel James has been around the block, he’s a well-respected opponent.” Adding that James is “a very tough guy” with “heavy hands,” Golm doesn’t expect any surprises. “He’s not going to surprise me with anything, he’s not going to show me anything I haven’t seen before.”
There has been talk of late of a Bellator event finally taking place in Brazil, with the promotion now featured on Combate in the South American nation. “I would love to fight on my home turf,” said Golm on that front. “I’m always the bad guy when I fight in the U.S. It’s good to be the good guy once in a while.”
Good guy or bad guy, however, “I love that pressure, whether they’re booing me or cheering me, I love it,” Golm added. “It’s a totally different element when you have fans.”
As for where Golm wants to be by the end of the year, that’s simple: holding gold.
“I want to be a champ. By the end of the year, end of this year,” he told us. “And I will.” Asked how far away he though he was from that title shot, “two fights,” answered Marcelo Golm. “March, and I don’t know, July. And then next for the belt.”
Watch our full interview with Bellator 293 headliner Marcelo Golm above.
