Prospect Bezerra Has Designs on Bellator Reign

Bezerra (11-1, 3-0 BFC) will face UFC veteran Douglas Evans in a featherweight matchup at Bellator 57 on Saturday at the Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada. He has torn through his first three foes inside the promotion, finishing two of them -- Sam Jones and Jesse Gross -- inside one round. However, Bezerra chases perfection, not necessarily violent conclusions.

“I never go into my fights looking for the finish,” he said. “My main focus when I enter the cage is to make as few mistakes as possible. To me, it doesn’t matter how I win, just as long as I win.”

Bezerra (Pictured, File Photo) put away Scott Heckman with second-round punches at Bellator 49 in September and has not gone the distance in more than three years. Heckman entered the cage on a three-fight winning streak and had never before been stopped by strikes. Even so, a tapout remains Bezerra’s ending of choice.

“It definitely feels great to knock my opponent out, but because I came from a Brazilian jiu-jitsu background, I prefer the submission,” he said. “It’s a great feeling to feel another man tap inside the cage.”

On a career-best six-fight winning streak, Bezerra suffered his only professional defeat in 2009, when he submitted to an anaconda choke from current UFC lightweight Charles Oliveira in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Evans, a 31-year-old Alaskan, would like nothing more than to halt his run of success in the cage.

“I don’t think anything about Doug Evans, to be honest,” Bezerra said. “I really don’t know much about him. The opponent is not important. It’s all about me going out there and doing what I’m good at. I’m going to be very aggressive in this fight. I want to send a message with this win over Evans that I’m on the road to becoming the next Bellator featherweight world champion.”

Bezerra does not plan on allowing Evans to interfere with his goals.

“I don’t feel like Doug Evans is standing in my way,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t feel like there’s anyone or anything that can stop me from achieving my dream.”

A spot in the next Bellator 145-pound tournament seems all but a certainty for Bezerra, provided he does not stub his toe against Evans. He has his sights set on promotional gold, which currently rests around the waist of Joe Warren.

“Winning that Bellator title is going to mean everything to me,” Bezerra said. “It’s going to show that all the hard work and sacrifices I’ve had to go through to get there had been worth it.”