'Mighty Mo' bringing the one-hitter quitter: 'I'm the shark – those guys are bait'

At 43 years old and with a career mark of just 5-2 in the sport, Siala-Mou Siliga might not seemed destined for MMA greatness. But “Mighty Mo” believes he’s peaking as an athlete, and his eyes are on championship gold.

“Before, I drank a lot and didn’t take it too seriously because I was knocking everyone out,” Siliga told MMAjunkie. “I’d just catch them with my overhand right. I was celebrating and partying too much. Everything is different now.

“I’ve just been staying in the gym. That’s it. I maybe take a week off after the fight but I hit the gym right after. I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been in my career. I feel a lot stronger and quicker. I’ve just been focusing on fighting and nothing else.”

The hard-hitting Siliga is best known for his time as a kickboxer, competing against – and often knocking out – the world’s best strikers. He’d occasionally dabble in MMA, but Siliga didn’t focus full-time on the sport until 2013. Still, he thinks he’s a natural fit for the cage.

“I tried to get into MMA a long time ago, but K-1 was really pulling me in back then,” Siliga said. “MMA is more natural for me because I was always a natural wrestler. But for some reason K-1 wanted me and they were paying me, and I went where the money was. But now I’ve put a ton of focus on my ground game and defending it. It’s only been a year-and-a-half or two years that I’ve fully dedicated myself to MMA. I’m much better suited to MMA and, if I could go back, I’d have switched to MMA a lot earlier.

“I don’t think I’ve seen any other K-1 or big kickboxing crossovers who come in and wrestle, then finish with a submission. I wrestled in high school but no one really knows about that. I wrestled top guys and finished first or second in the tournaments in my first year of wrestling.”

On Friday, Siliga (5-2 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) enters Bellator MMA’s Season 10 heavyweight tournament, where he faces fellow K-1 veteran Peter Graham (10-6 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) in the opening round. The fight is one of four tourney bouts to take place at Bellator 111, which takes place at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. As with all of Bellator’s Season 10 events, the main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

Siliga never met Graham during their kickboxing days, but he feels pretty confident he knows what to expect.

“I’ve never met him personally, but we’ve fought a lot of the same guys,” Siliga said. “It’ll be an honor to fight another guy who’s been in the circle, and he’s a lion too, you know?

“Peter Graham can defend well, and he has a lot of little tricks he does. But I’ve got something for anything. I’m a slugger, a wrestler-type guy. He’s pretty much a slugger too, but I’ve got a lot of power and speed to go to the max. A fight’s a fight. You can never really pinpoint one thing because something else will come up that you have to worry about. I know it’s already clicking in his head that I’ve got this big overhand right, but I got more tools in the box for him.”

And so Siliga believes that even in his 40s, there is time for him to reach the top. Three tournament wins, and he gets a shot at Bellator gold. It’s all Siliga can ask for, and he’s ready to shine.

“My gameplan is to get the belt and utterly destroy any heavyweight that steps in there with me,” Siliga said. “My power is off the charts right now. I’ll drop the one-hitter quitter on any heavyweight who thinks they have the chin to stand up to my fists.

“I’m telling you truth. I’m the shark – those guys are the bait. Man, … I don’t like talking s–t because I’d rather just be chillin’, but I’m going to put the stamp on everyone. Like, ‘What now? Who’s next?’ Know what I mean? Look out for the new ‘Mighty Mo’ – stronger, faster and ready to smash.”

For more on Bellator 111, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.