TEMECULA, Calif. – Fernando Gonzalez wants his name out there. He wants to stop being the underdog. He wants to be a big-time welterweight.
And with a 7-1 record for Bellator, one might think he was well on his way.
There’s just been one problem: the scale. Today, for the third straight time, Gonzalez missed weight for a Bellator fight. And for the second straight time, he missed weight not for a welterweight bout – but for a catchweight fight well north of the 170-pound limit.
At Bellator 182 this past August, he was scheduled to fight Brennan Ward at 178 pounds. He came in heavy at 180. Prior to that, he was 174 for a fight with Brandon Girtz at Bellator 174 in a bout that was scheduled to be a 170, like normal.
Today, Gonzalez (27-14 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) was only over by three-tenths of a pound for his Bellator 193 main event against Lorenz Larkin (18-7 MMA, 0-2 BMMA). But he was over, nonetheless, and for a fight that was set up to be at 180 pounds from the get-go since Bellator officials were hoping to avoid an instance of him missing weight.
On Wednesday, Gonzalez told MMAjunkie making weight today wouldn’t be an issue.
“Like the old saying: ‘F me once, shame on you. F me twice, shame on me,'” Gonzalez said. “It’s not going to happen again. I’m ready to go.”
But happen again, it did.
Gonzalez said his issue with the scale against Ward was one of miscommunication. He said he was told prior to fight week the weigh-ins in Verona, N.Y., would be at 5 p.m. the day before the fight. It turned out they were at 11 a.m., and he says he wasn’t given enough advance notice to get the two pounds he was off in the six hours he lost.
But at some point, it’s fairly clear Gonzalez either will have to start making weight at 170 pounds – not even catchweights, but the actual division he wants to fight in – if he wants to contend for a belt, or he’ll need to move up to middleweight. He fought at 185 pounds, as well as light heavyweight, earlier in his career before he signed with Bellator.
Once he gets in the cage, performing hasn’t been much of a problem. And this week, at Bellator 193 at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif., he has a home fight when he headlines on Paramount after prelims on MMAjunkie.
“Right now I’m just containing all the emotions and going over all the things I’ve got to get done in my head,” he said. “You’ve got to put yourself in that mindset that, especially at home, you’re not going to lose. So whatever it takes, we’re going to go out there and get it done.
“The work that I’ve done makes me confident. There are a lot of guys that are working hard, but they’re not working as hard as I am just going out there with my own game plans and formulating my own style. If for any reason anything happens in that fight, I’m able to make that adjustment myself.”
He may need to make adjustments against Larkin, who had a successful run in the UFC before coming to Bellator for an immediate welterweight title shot. Larkin has lost his first two fights for the promotion, so no doubt will be coming in hungry to get his hand raised again.
His name recognition is what Gonzalez says he wants, though, and a win over Larkin could have him in that next tier of fighter.
“It’s another day in the office, but I definitley know this is going to be the name that’s going to get my name out there,” he said. “I’m always the underdog, but Lorenz is always a dangerous guy, so when I beat him Friday night there’s no more doubters.”
There certainly will be far fewer doubters about his abilities in the cage, that’s for sure. But until he fights again after Friday, the doubts will remain about the making-weight aspect of the fight game.
For more on Bellator 193, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
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