Following a Year at Middleweight, Joey Beltran Jumps to Heavyweight at Bellator 155

For Bellator veteran Joe “Mexicutioner” Beltran, 2015 was a year filled with highs and lows.

Coming off a majority decision over Brian Rogers in April, Beltran was stopped in the third round of his next fight against Kendall Grove in September.

“The year started off great and I got my debut win at 185 pounds (against Rogers), and then in the Kendall Grove fight I was doing extremely well, following the game plan, started tagging him and finding my range, and unfortunately got comfortable one second too soon and got cracked coming in,” Beltran told MMAWeekly.com.

Beltran was able to rebound off his loss to Grove with a TKO win over Lamont Stafford for C3 Fights in December.

“I didn’t want to end the year on a negative,” said Beltran. “I went out there and took care of business and got the win in the first round against a guy (in Stafford) who was coming off of several first round knockout wins, and ended the year on a good note.”

In what’s been a theme for Beltran over the past couple years, alternating wins and losses has put him in a position where he knows he’s going to have to start stringing together a winning streak to stay where he’s at.

“It sucks to not have consistency as far as wins, but at the end of the day I’m not losing fights in Uncle Carl’s Cage Fighting in Kentucky,” Beltran said. “These are the best guys in the world – the upper echelon.

“There are people there are people who would kill to be in my spot, fighting on the main card on TV for Bellator, so I’m definitely not taking it for granted. I know I need to continue to keep working hard to keep my spot.”

After fighting last year at middleweight, Beltran (17-12) will step up to heavyweight to take on Chase Gormley (12-5) in a main card bout at Bellator 155 on Friday in Boise, Idaho.

“I’m taking some steps towards life after fighting with a full-time job now, so for me, cutting down to 185 pounds  is very time consuming, and I literally don’t have time for it,” said Beltran.

“If it was a six-foot-seven guy who was a K-1 level striker, I don’t think it’d be the smartest thing, but I feel my skillset matches up with Chase, and it’s a fight I’m comfortable with.”

For Beltran, being able to compete at multiple weight classes is a necessary thing to do, as he looks to close out his career in the coming years with as stable a financial base as he can.

“Like King Mo says, I’m a money-weight fighter,” Beltran said. “Wherever they’re going to pay me to fight, I’ll go do it. I’m excited walk out there fully energized, fully hydrated, fully fed, and just get out there and get in a fist fight.”

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