Bellator 107's Peter Graham: Tourney crown one step closer to 'perfect' ending

Peter Graham has been around the block when it comes to combat sports. However, even with all his experience, the former professional kickboxer still has more goals in the MMA realm before closing out his career.

The loftiest of those goals may actually be the one nearest to his reach, though, as Graham (9-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) is just two victories away from claiming Bellator MMA’s heavyweight championship.

Not long ago, Graham was on the outside looking in at Bellator’s latest heavyweight tournament. But in a unexpected turn of events, an injury to Season 9 finalist Vinicius Queiroz deemed him unable to compete against Cheick Kongo, and Graham was the one the company called as a replacement.

“I don’t mind taking a fight on short notice,” Graham told MMAjunkie.com. “I just stick to the program, do what I need to do and I’m excited Bellator asked me.”

Kongo (19-8-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) represents what could be the biggest victory of Graham’s career, and it would also punch his ticket to a championship fight against the winner of Alexander Volkov and Vitaly Minakov.

Friday’s event goes down from the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla., and airs on Spike TV with preliminary-card action airing on Spike.com.

Fortunately for Graham, his years of striking experience will partially make up for the lack of training he received prior to the short-notice contest.

“I’m a striker; I look for the knockout from the first bell right until the last bell and the last second,” Graham said. “I’m never going to stop hunting through the whole thing. I look to win by stoppage every single time. Get in, get out.”

Some argue the 38-year-old Kongo is on the tail end of his career with a 2-2 record in his past four fights, but even with his average record, “The Chief” expects the best version of the Frenchman anyone has ever seen.

“I always think he’s going to turn up and have the fight of his life,” Graham said. “It doesn’t matter last time they fought or the time before, you’ve got to turn up.

“If he has the fight of his life, I’ll be ready for it. I’m focusing on what I need to do, and that’s all that mattes.”

Even if Kongo does arrive in the cage in the best form of his career, Graham doesn’t believe his skills on the feet will be any match for the countless elite strikers he has been pitted against throughout his career.

“I’ve fought some of the most dangerous standup fighters on the planet,” Graham said. “Everyone has their differences and their little variations to the way they do it, but you’ve just got to stay focused.”

For a fighter who started his MMA career with a dismal 1-5 record, Graham has turned things around and has won eight consecutive fights, including his debut in Bellator earlier this year.

Once pegged as nothing more than another combat sports athlete who failed to successfully crossover into MMA, Graham is aware of his remarkable accomplishment thus far.

But he won’t be satisfied with his fighting career until the ultimate goal is completed, and that goal is to have a Bellator title is wrapped around his waist.

“I just want to win the Bellator title, win the tournament,” Graham said. “To wrap my career up as the champ and finish on top, that would be perfect.”

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