CHICAGO – Tyrell Fortune is no longer worried about the matchmaking for his fights.
Fortune was hoping to avenge his losses to Timothy Johnson and Linton Vassell but instead drew unranked Daniel James at Friday’s Bellator 288 event at Wintrust Arena. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Whether it was his desired rematches or James (13-6-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), Fortune (12-2 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) is only concerned with taking a step toward the title.
“I’m always looking to get the losses back,” Fortune told reporters at Wednesday’s media day. “But again, I used to think I used to focus more on who I was fighting and when I can fight. There’s so many more politics that goes on behind that that I can’t control, and those are uncontrollable. So I feel like I can’t focus too much on that.
“Bellator tries to line up the fights that they can and if these guys’ situations or problems that occur and we don’t get lined up then so be it. But at this point, it’s really just trying to get to the belt. If there’s a fight that advances me forward in the rankings, that gets me a better shot at the title, then I really don’t care who it is.
Fortune could take the route of making some noise through the media but prefers to stay true to himself in his pursuit of gold.
“I’m not gonna cause some rift or beef with some guys that are cool,” Fortune said. “Every time I see Tim (Johnson), we’re cool, we talk. Every time I see Linton – me and Linton used to train together, so me and him have a relationship. So I’m not gonna cause some fake beef just for a show. I think that’s corny. They know that I want to fight them.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 288.