Bellator champ Eduardo Dantas focused on unknown next fight, sponsors

Eduardo Dantas is starting to get that itch again.

The Bellator MMA bantamweight champion hasn’t fought since a second-round knockout win over Marcos Galvao in February. But with no 135-pound tournament winner waiting in the wings, Dantas (15-3 MMA, 5-0 BFC) is stuck in purgatory unless the promotion books him for a stay-busy non-title fight.

“I wish to fight often,” Dantas told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) earlier this summer. “I hope Bellator books me as soon as possible. I simply asked for a fight – I don’t care who it is. I just want to fight. I already sent Bellator a note via Andre (André) Pederneiras, my trainer and manager. He has already contacted them, but until now, nothing. I can’t wait to fight again.”

In the meantime, Dantas headed to Holland to train his standup game, where he planned to stay for a month.

The Brazilian, who trains at Nova Uniao with the likes of UFC interim 135-pound champion Renan Barao, figured getting some new looks for his game would be a good thing while he’s waiting to hear from Bellator if he’ll be getting a fight this fall, or if he’ll simply have to wait for the next bantamweight tournament winner to be crowned.

“When I started training, I would always watch K-1,” Dantas said. “Now I’ve been able to put away a little money to make this dream a reality. We always try to improve. Right now I’m traveling to improve my standup. But as far as my ground game, I always train in Rio. Nova Uniao has countless excellent ground fighters. For that, there’s no need to travel.”

Dantas’ run to the Bellator title came in Season 5, when he won the bantamweight tournament with a knockout of Wilson Reis and decision wins over Ed West and Alexis Vila. But against then-champ Zach Makovsky, he was on point, submitting him in the second round with an arm-triangle choke.

But knowing he’d be waiting a bit for a Bellator fight, he got permission to take a bout in Brazil against Tyson Nam – and he walked right into a first-round knockout. After that, he knew he needed to change things up a little bit.

“For my fight against Tyson Nam, I think I mostly fought with emotion,” he said. “I didn’t put a lot of thought into that fight. I allowed myself to be driven by emotion. I fought too aggressively. And then what happened, happened. I ended up suffering a defeat. But in a way, it was very good for me because I learned to think. I changed my style a bit. I’m more cold now. I play a more intelligent game. This defeat was very good for me. It helped me mature a lot.

“Nowadays, I’m a different athlete; I’m a more focused athlete, more intelligent athlete. I even thank God for this defeat, for this fight in Brazil. Nothing was on the line, no title, nothing important. I changed my way of thinking completely after that.”

That’s the thinking change that led to him going to Holland, home of some of the most legendary standup fighters in martial arts.

But training won’t pay the bills. Fights and sponsorships will, and lately “Dudu” has been trouble getting either of them.

“I live from fighting,” he said. “And in Brazil, it’s very difficult to get sponsors. I have no sponsors. It’s hard for me. That’s why I have to keep fighting. I have zero sponsors. In Brazil, sponsors only want fighters in the UFC. Bellator is barely starting to grow, by comparison. It gets hard. I am Bellator’s champion, and no one sponsors me. There’s no one to help me, to support me. It’s difficult for me. That’s why I depend on fighting.”

That said, Dantas is holding out hope to get word soon on what’s next for him. And he even believes Bellator’s growth in his home country will help that sponsorship issue in time.

“I get anxious when I don’t have an opponent,” he said. “The lack of sponsors in Brazil complicates my life, but I feel this will get better in the future. I’m happy at Bellator. I like the organization. I like how they treat me. They all talk to me and treat me nicely. I like everyone who works there. I like it a lot.

“I was well-treated since Day One. And because of that, I always try to give my best. It’s a very good organization. If I could stay with them forever, I would. The only downside is that they’re not that known in Brazil. So it makes my life tough. And since I live in Brazil, I also have a hard time finding sponsors in America. If I found a company, I would gladly advertise them on the Internet, with my fight banner, on my shorts. Right now what I need is a monthly stipend, something I could rely on even when I’m not fighting.”

But until that happens, Dantas trains and he waits.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.