Bellator 102's Anthony Leone: 'My journey ends with me as world champion'

In MMA, a bad losing streak can be the kick starter to a downward spiral that leads to the end of a fighter’s relevancy. Or it can be used as a platform for a fighter to come back better than ever.

For Bellator 102's Anthony Leone, he is hoping he’ll be the latter, which, historically speaking, is a much smaller and more difficult group to be a part of.

“I’ve trained for many years, and now that I’m here, I’m not going to let this pass,” Leone told MMAjunkie.com. “I lost four fights in a row in the WEC and then another shortly after, which made it five total losses. Ever since then, I’ve taken this very seriously.”

From 2010-2011, Leone (13-5 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) lost four of five fights in organizations spanning from the WEC to Strikeforce and even Bellator MMA.

It was thought that Leone’s days competing at the highest level of the sport were limited and the status of an elite fighter was not in his future, but that was before he was given a second opportunity to shine in Bellator.

Since rejoining the organization in 2012, Leone has rattled off three straight victories, including a win over former bantamweight titleholder Zach Makovsky.

Leone’s most recent submission win, over Frank Baca, was arguably the most significant of his career. It moved the 26-year-old to the Summer Series bantamweight tournament final against Rafael Silva this Friday on Spike TV (9 p.m. ET) at Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, Calif.

Silva (20-3 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) may not have much experience inside the Bellator cage, but the Brazilian is a dangerous opponent who has rattled off 12 straight victories and has finished his opponent in all but three of his career wins.

Leone is aware of the threat his next opponent brings to the cage; however, he feels he has all the right tools to deal with any challenges thrown his way.

“Rafael Silva is really good,” Leone said. “He has a very good submission game but he has to take me down to be able to use that.

“The keys for me are going to be my scrambling ability, I’ll be a little faster than him, and my takedown defense will be important. And when I change levels to threaten with my wrestling, hopefully that will be enough to make him not think about throwing any capoeira kicks. I’ll make him tentative with my takedowns.”

Even though Silva is the more decorated striker and holds eight knockout finishes on his record to Leone’s zero, the American feels he could have the advantage in the striking department. In fact, he’s predicting a knockout finish.

“Every night for the past month when I picture this fight, it’s been the same,” Leone said. “I feel like I’m going to knock out Rafael Silva. So I am going to knock out Rafael Silva.”

Should Leone get past Silva, it would give him the Summer Series tournament crown and the opportunity to challenge Eduardo Dantas for the 135-pound title at a future event.

Moreover, a win would mark his fourth consecutive victory since his losing streak, and it’d prove his run of poor performances was nothing more than a valley in his career before reaching the ultimate peak.

“I think about being the Bellator world champion every day.” Leone said. “I can’t stop thinking about it actually, but I want to make sure I’m taking it one fight at a time. It is in the near future, and I do believe I have the skill set to do it.”

“My journey ends with me as the world champion.”

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