Bellator 165: “Chandler vs. Henderson” comes to SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., tomorrow night (Sat., Nov. 19, 2016), feauturing a main event between Lightweight champion “Iron” Michael Chandler against former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 155-pound kingpin, “Smooth” Benson Henderson.
Saturday night will also see a key Light Heavyweight bout between two contenders with their sights set on newly-crowned division champion, “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis, including one man who already faced him before in Bellator. “Limitless” Francis Carmont (25-11) has won three out of four fights since his departure from UFC. His lone loss came as a tournament alternate at Bellator 142 when Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal was unable to advance because of an injury. Carmont would love to avenge that knockout loss, but Linton “The Swam” Vassell (16-5, 1 NC) stands in his way. He’s a former No. 1 contender who just avenged a loss to former champion “Hardcore Kid” Emanuel Newton at Bellator 149.
Carmont recently spoke with MMAmania.com about his Bellator 165 opponent and his feelings about the caliber of opposition he has faced since arriving in Bellator.
“Yeah it’s true — the dream of all the fighters is to fight the best guys in the world. I have this opportunity when I fight Phil Davis (and now) Linton Vassell. He’s one of those people. I’m so happy to be at my best and to fight here — I know I have a good opportunity to come.”
Even though he is focused on “The Swarm,” he hasn’t completely forgotten about “Mr. Wonderful” — he has just put Davis on the backburner for now.
“You know, sure I want to fight Phil Davis another time, but I have work to do now though. Linton Vassell, the guy is a tough guy, I can’t focus on the future if I don’t pass Vassell. So at the moment I’m only focused on Linton Vassell, and we will see after (him) what happens.”
Part of the reason for Carmont’s laser-like focus on Vassell is that he’s taking him deadly seriously as both a former No. 1 contender and the man who just beat a former world champion.
“Linton Vassell is a top five guy in the world. You know what this guy is very strong, he’s tall, he’s a good wrestler a good ground guy, he has good striking, but you know – for me I’m better (than) him. Now you will see (with) the next win who is the better fighter, but I know I have a lot of work to do.”
Carmont’s being doing the work at the renowned Tristar Gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and could not be happier with how ready he is to take this fight.
“You know I make a very good preparation, I take (on) another Muay Thai coach who challenged me a lot in my game. I have to have a mean game. You know I have a big team so I have the best coaches, best school in the world, I’m so happy to be here. I’m ready to be on top of the world.”
To get to the top you’ve got to take a few people down. Carmont did that at Bellator 158, giving Lukasz Klinger his first-ever submission loss — a feat he’d be happy to repeat to give Vassell only his second loss by submission.
“Well sure I want to finish him and I’d love to finish him in the first round, but you know, he’s a tough guy. I know it will be a hard hard fight, but I like this. I want to fight with the best and this guy is one of the best in the world.”
I asked Carmont if he’ll feel any deja vu returning to SAP Center, the site of his lone Bellator loss to the aforementioned Davis.
“Yeah, when I fight Phil Davis it was the same town, yes, but you know I like San Jose. I know I lose in San Jose, but I win (over) Ruiz (in the) past, so let’s go for a Bellator win (in) San Jose.”
Carmont has been logging the frequent flier miles of late, going from Montreal to London to San Jose, but he’s not complaining about the travel one bit.
“I have traveled 15 years for my job, for fighting, and I’ve been all (over) the world (to) Sweden, the States, Australia, but it’s important for me to see another town, another people, it’s a big opportunity. So many people don’t travel and I have the opportunity to travel with my work and I’m happy with that.”
Like every well-traveled Bellator star, though, he’d be more than happy to see a show come to his backyard and put on a show in “The City of Saints.”
“It will be amazing if Bellator comes to Montreal. It will be a big big show. I like the idea! Maybe yes, maybe one day. Yeah, it has great quality, good people, good ambience, Montreal is a very good town and I’m so happy to live here now. For my family it’s the best place in the world.”
And the best place for you to be is tuned in to see him battle “The Swam” Linton Vassell at SAP Center in San Jose, California — live in-person or free on Spike TV.
Complete audio of the interview is embedded in the video player above and complete Bellator MMA coverage can be found right here on fight night.
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