In a recent interview, Bellator mixed martial arts fighter Justin Lawrence revealed that he was really depressed when one of the biggest fights of his career got cancelled.
Justin Lawrence, who has a record of 8-2 MMa and 1-0 BMMA, was supposed to go against Pat Curran this coming November 6th in the Bellator 145 event. However, Curran got a knee injury just before the event; this unfortunate incident forced the former Bellator featherweight titleholder to back out from the said event.
The fight didn’t get cancelled though. MMA fighter Emmanuel Sanchez was asked to fill the available slot and fight Justin Lawrence on the scheduled fight. Sanchez, who has a record of 11-2 MMA and 3-1 BMMA, will fight Justin Lawrence at Scottrade Center held in St. Louis this coming Bellator 145. The fight is set as the main card of the event and it will be aired on Spike TV.
Lawrence admitted that he had to make some adjustments when he learned that he will not go against a former champion. Sanchez has not yet achieved a great name in the industry, while Pat Curran is already a former MMA titleholder. Justin Lawrence was hoping to fight Curran because this would make a great impact on his career.
“It was a huge opportunity for me and I was really bummed out. I was really upset. It was the opportunity where I had everything to gain from that fight. Beating a guy like Pat would really solidify me and make the ripples in the division that I wanted. It took me a couple days to really let it set in and think. Once you have a name locked in your head you’re ready for that fight and that guy. When they gave me Pat Curran, I was so excited and so ready for that guy and to get the opportunity. I felt like it was meant to be. So I was definitely upset for a couple days. But I’m ready either way and happy I get to go in there and do what I love,” Lawrence said during a recent interview with MMAjunkie.
After dwelling on the sudden turn of events, Justin Lawrence eventually lined up his priorities again and focused on beating Sanchez. “El Matador” actually has a quite impressive record, with having 3-1 under Bellator. Sanchez reportedly agreed to fill in for Curran last June, so this gave Lawrence some time to prepare more and target an MMA stoppage win against him.
“I’m looking to impose my will and get in there and showcase what I can do it and do it better than Pat Curran did. Changing my training wasn’t too much of a big deal because I think Emmanuel Sanchez is a good striker and comes from a good camp like Roufusport so I know he’ll be throwing a lot of kicks, a lot of punches and I’m ready for it. I’ve been dealing with that my whole life,” he said.
Although Lawrence will now be going up against a different fighter, he still believes that a great fight will still earn him the attention that he needs in order to get noticed in the promotion.
“If I go in there and I put on a great performance there’s no reason why they would ignore me; they can’t ignore me. I’m putting on great performances, I’m exciting and people are going to want to watch me fight. They love watching me fight. I think beating a guy like Emmanuel Sanchez does put me up there into title contention,” Lawrence added.