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The two crossed paths again this May in Bellator, and they got through two competitive rounds before controversy struck again. After the second round came to an end, the cageside doctors called a stop to the fight due to a gash above the bridge of Spiritwolf's nose. That stoppage gave Zaromskis a win, though he may have been down two rounds to none heading into the third.
That controversial finish led to an immediate rematch being booked by Bellator, and now they'll square off again on MTV 2 this Friday. For his part, Spiritwolf is really looking forward to bringing a decisive close to this feud.
"I feel like this fight for me is just going to be a continuation of our second fight," Spiritwolf told MMATorch late last week. "Basically, it's just the third round. I feel like I took the first two rounds, and I'll be looking to do the same in the third. My mentality is always 'try to finish the fight,' so I'm going to just going in there to do what I do best, push the fight, and look to finish."
The cut stoppage was a massively unfortunate end to what was a very exciting fight, and Spiritwolf more than anyone didn't want the fight to end like that, for either of them, especially when the cut didn't end up being that bad.
"I wouldn't have wanted the ref to stop the fight if he had a cut, either," he said. "I would have wanted to let him fight, and for us to find a finish. I'm not a very big fan of doctors stopping it because of a cut, unless of course it's really, really bad. Definitely, for me, to really have a finish is when you allow fighters to go in there and dictate what happens. So the doctor stopping it was just unfortunate."
"It actually wasn't very bad. It only required seven stitches, and within that week the stitches were out and I was better. Some people said it looked really small, other people said the opposite, but it wasn't that bad in my opinion. I think Florida will be - I've fought in Florida many times, and Florida is really fair in terms of allowing fighters to fight and I'm very confident we'll get a decisive winner in this fight."
With the success he had in that second fight, Spiritwolf is confident in how he'll perform in this rematch, and expects to finish the job this time around.
"I feel like I was able to feel his range, his mobility, what he wanted to do," Spiritwolf said. "I had a really good idea, I've studied his fights, I've studied his fight style, and I'm really confident with his type of fight style. All the fighters [who] I've fought that have his background of good stand up striking really had a hard time with me. I have really heavy hands, I have good wrestling, I have a good ground game, and my defense for strikers like that is pretty solid."
"As long as I can see him coming, I'm able to defend or counter, and impose my will. Whether it's a takedown, or whether it's a submission attempt, for me I just feel confident, and I'll be looking to finish Zaromskis. He's a really good opponent, I have a lot of respect for him, but it's all business and I'll be going in trying to finish him."
The last couple of years haven't brought Spiritwolf a ton of success, as he's picked up just one win in his last seven fights. However, he's extremely motivated to turn things around, starting with this fight, which he hopes brings him a spot in Bellator's next welterweight tournament.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself, so [this fight isn't] really any more pressure. I just definitely feel that sense of 'now's my time,'" he said. "I train really hard... I'm constantly working out, keeping my mind sharp. I'm a coach as well, so I coach my fighters. I have a very successful MMA team... We have a high level of what we expect from each other. For me mentally I'm always focused on winning, I'm always focused on the positives. If you're focused on losing or you focus on 'oh, I can't lose,' then I think you put losing in your head too much and you end up making a mistake. So I focus on the positive aspect, winning, perseverance; when adversity comes, focus on getting through that and finding a way to win."
"Absolutely [I hope to get into the next tournament]," he continued. "For me, that's what it's all about. Just like in football, it's necessarily the team with the best record that goes in and wins the Super Bowl every year. It's the hottest team coming into the playoffs. Last year, the New York Giants went in there as a low seed, barely qualifying for the playoffs, and they ended up winning the Super Bowl, beating a very good New England Patriots team that was heavily favored, at the beginning of the year anyway."
"I'm looking to do the same thing, and I believe it's a similar type of sport. It's very physical; I'm going to go in there, and I'm looking to just get hot and fight my style of fight. I'm healthy, I feel strong, and I'm going to go in there looking to finish Zaromskis, make a statement, go into the tournament, take it one fight at a time, and work my way up."
Now it's up to him to perform on Friday night, to step into that cage and pick up the win over Zaromskis that has thus far eluded him. It's a fight he expects to be just as exciting as the last one, and he's just happy to have the platform in Bellator to do what he loves.
"I look forward to making it one of the most memorable trilogies, at least recently," Spiritwolf said. "I've gotten a lot of attention from [people about] the controversy, whether they're opinionated one way or another about it. I've had a lot of people say 'it shouldn't have been stopped.' A lot of people who really want to see this third fight. I'm looking forward to it, I'm really excited to fight him again, and I feel like it's a great fight for everybody. I enjoy going in there and putting on exciting fights. Every time I hit my opponent I want to hit him harder than he hits me. It's kind of like 'tag, you're it,' we all played that game as kids. It's a lot of fun, I love doing it, and I'll look to finish this fight come July 20."
Follow Spiritwolf on Twitter @spiritwolfMMA, on Facebook.com/spiritwolfMMA, and at SpiritwolfMMA.net
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