Toby Misech looking to finish Erik Perez at Bellator 235
There’s no denying that 2019 has been one of the harder years in the career of bantamweight Toby Misech.
Following a loss to start off the year in February, Misech has had to wait 10 months before he could get back to action and try to turn things around.
“Honestly my 2019 hasn’t been going so good,” Misech told MMAWeekly.com. “Coming off the loss to (Eduardo) Dantas in February (in Bellator), then the fight in September (versus Brian Moore at Bellator 227) not going through with my opponent pulling out the week before, overall I’d say it’s not going good.”
While he admittedly has been disappointed by how the majority of his year has turned out, Misech is trying to look at the positive side of things and use the experience as a motivator.
“I was a little frustrated, but at the same time I look at it like a blessing in disguise,” said Misech. “I’ve been in camp for 20-something weeks now, and I’m ready to get in there.
“(For my next bout) I’m fighting at my home, I’m way-more prepared, so I’m able to put on a show in front of my home, so it keeps me motivated and positive. I can’t lose in front of my home crowd.”
On Friday in Honolulu, Hawaii, Misech (11-7) will look to turn things around when he faces Erik Perez (19-6) in the 135-pound co-main event of Bellator 235: Salute.
TRENDING > Joe Rogan and Max Holloway: Colby Covington is digging his own grave
“A lot of people outside my camp seem like it’s a bad match-up for me and I have no chance of winning, but I love this match-up,” Misech said. “I’m looking to stop (Perez), finish him, and move on to the next. I feel like I just have to play my game: stick and move, and hit him.
“I want to show people more than I can ground ‘n’ pound; that I can go to the ground. Everybody knows I’m a striker, which is true, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the ground, I just prefer strikes. Maybe I want to show that a little bit more.”
For Misech, his focus for 2020 is fight as often as he can and build himself up to a point to where he can be in title contention before the end of the year.
“I take it fight by fight,” said Misech. “All I know is I want to be active. I want to keep fighting the top guys and get towards that title shot.”
