Well-established Bellator middleweight contender Aaron Jeffery (14-4) has a fight on the horizon following a long layoff dating back to last August.
His opponent?
Well Jeffery couldn’t disclose that information just yet, but in regards to potential dance partners, three names come to mind: Former Bellator Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi, recent title challenger Fabian Edwards, and Bellator’s newest addition to the middleweight rankings and former top ranked light heavyweight, Grant Neal.
Regardless of whether his opponent is one of the three aforementioned fighters, Jeffery is glad to know that he’ll be making the walk once again in the coming months.
“I finally got some fight news so I’m pumped to get back in there,” Jeffery said in an interview with Cageside Press.
The Canadian middleweight has stood across some of the best 185ers in the sport, including the likes of Sean Brady, Andre Petroski, Brendan Allen, and Caio Borralho. He then made his way to Bellator where he would amass three victories in four fights, recording KOs over Fabio Aguiar and Austin Vanderford prior to defeating the then undefeated Dalton Rosta by decision his last time out.
“The performance was good man. I’m happy with it,” Jeffery said regarding his most recent bout. “(Rosta) was a tough guy, ranked in the top 10. Looking back on it I wish I got a finish, but it was a good performance overall.”
While the identity of Jeffery’s next opponent has not yet been revealed, one man that he will not be sharing the cage with (yet) is Bellator Middleweight Champion Johnny Eblen. Though Jeffery had seemingly secured a shot at middleweight gold with his victory over Rosta, the merging of the two premier MMA promotions (PFL and Bellator) paved way for a champions versus champions card, one that will feature a matchup between Eblen and PFL Light Heavyweight Champion Impa Kasanganay, who happens to be a good friend and teammate of Jeffery’s down at Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
“(Impa) said that every time PFL offered him this fight he was like ‘I’ll fight anyone anywhere…But you know my boy Aaron Jeffery is next in line.’ And I believe him when he says that he told them that,” Jeffery said. “But no, I’m happy for him man. That guy works very hard. He’s made a lot of sacrifices and he’s finally doing very big things with his career. It’s very cool to see.”
Jeffery spends most of his time in his native land up north at Niagara Top Team, a gym that has been on the rise as of late, largely due to the success of Jasmine Jasudavicius, Mike Malott, and of course, the man that made the mullet more famous than Billy Ray Cyrus. Though in recent years Jeffery has dedicated a portion of his training camp to Kill Cliff FC, where he benefits from different looks in the gym and warmer weather in the winter, in addition to high-level coaching under the watchful eye of Henri Hooft.
“The vibes at Kill Cliff are very similar (to Niagara Top Team) man. I think that’s why I like it. There’s so much that reminds me a lot of home. There’s a strong team atmosphere where guys are trying to help each other out. ‘Shut up and work hard’ is kind of like the the motto of the gym, so I like it,” Jeffery said. “It’s also the big bodies down there. I don’t have a lot of bigger guys (at NTT). So I need to get down there and move around with some middleweights and light heavyweights.”
The last few months have been challenging in many different ways for Bellator fighters, largely pertaining to the uncertainty that loomed over their futures within the newly merged promotion. Jeffery, however, maintained a realistic outlook on the situation and understands that there is a business side to this sport.
“Fighters – We’re pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole right…Unfortunately we don’t really have much pull in any of this,” Jeffery said. “There’s a million MMA fighters out there that want to be in the position we’re in, so they don’t really need us exactly. So yeah – we get the short end of the stick.”
And he’s right.
There are millions of fighters out there, but there’s only one Aaron Jeffery. Fans and members of the MMA community will be on the lookout for updates to come as they await AJ’s return to the cage.
