After losing back-to-back fights in 2022 for the first time in his professional fighting career, Mads Burnell got things off on the right foot at Bellator 295.
Burnell (17-5) got back in the win column care of a unanimous decision against Justin Gonzalez. A fight that, as it turned out, did not go according to plan.
“This went exactly the opposite of what I expected. I wanted to stand and f*cking bang with him,” Burnell admitted following the fight, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “Pretty much that’s what I want to do all my fights, but what usually happens is, I hit him with two good calf kicks and in this case, that was the case. Calf kicks, I hit ’em good to the body, and then they desperately shoot at me. And he shot at me.”
Burnell wasn’t going to give up a dominant position, however. “I’m not just going to be like ‘aww no, no, let’s stand and bang.’ I take what you give me, and he gave me that.”
Burnell asked for the match-up with Justin Gonzales believing that Gonzales was a beast, just like himself. And knowing that his performance against Pedro Munhoz last year was far from his best showing. So he took a tough fight, rather than an easier road to bounce back.
“What is the good to be 45-0 and fight only cab drivers? I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror and be happy with that. It’s only cool fighting if you’re fighting bad motherf*ckers,” exclaimed Burnell. “And that’s what I think is cool about MMA; it’s like, you’re allowed to have losses here and there, and stuff like that. As long as you fight bad motherf*ckers, then we can look past it, then we can look through it. Everybody can have a bad night, and that only doesn’t go for MMA, it goes for life, it goes for jobs, it goes for relationships, it goes for everything. So we’re allowed to fail, as long as we do our best and can look at ourselves in the mirror when we’re done.”
As for who Burnell wants next, that would be another bad MF’er in Daniel Weichel.
“Daniel Weichel, stop f*cking running. I’ve been making f*cking memes about you all year, sh*t like that, saying I’ll make you into wiener schnitzel quicker than you’ll say auf Wiedersehen, and you’ve been quieter than a church mouse. Answer me, motherf*cker!”
Watch the full Bellator 295 post-fight press conference with Mads Burnell above.
