Daniel Straus Hoping to Show Off Improved Striking Against Mike Corey at Bellator 65

“I don’t think about my fight with Patricio ‘Pitbull’ in the Bellator featherweight finals. That’s water under the bridge to me,” Straus recently told Sherdog.com. “I lost that fight, but now I have to do whatever I need to do to win this tournament. I’m not about dwelling on the past. I’m about going out there and getting things done.”

Straus now faces Mike Corey in the second 145-pound semifinal on Friday night at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The winner of their Bellator 65 contest advances to the featherweight finals to face Marlon Sandro, who defeated Alexandre Bezerra one week ago.

Unbeaten in his last seven bouts, Corey survived a first-round knockdown to earn a hard-fought decision victory over Englishman Ronnie Mann in his quarterfinal appearance at Bellator 60. Meanwhile, Straus took a workmanlike unanimous verdict over Jeremy Spoon on the same card.

Straus has been on a roll as of late, winning 14 of his past 15 fights. Though the 27-year-old Cincinnati native has gone the distance in 11 of his 18 career triumphs, he is constantly looking to improve his finishing ability.

“I’ve been working really hard on my striking lately, as well as continuing to focus on my cardio and my wrestling,” Straus said. “Just because I don’t knock a lot of my opponents out, that definitely doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. I feel like I have a lot of tricks left that the fans and my opponents haven’t seen yet, and I’m looking forward to continually going out there and showing those off.”

Straus, who used solid takedown defense to keep the majority of his fight with Spoon upright, believes his encounter with Corey will likely be won on the feet, as well.

“I think this fight could turn into a really good standup war. We could end up nullifying each other’s wrestling, and that could lead to a really exciting fight for the fans,” he said.

Even if he advances past Corey to face Sandro in the tournament finals, Straus knows his job isn’t complete.

“Second best isn’t going to cut it this time,” Straus said. “I’m not coming into this fight with Mike Corey thinking about what happened last year. I’m coming into this fight thinking about what’s about to happen right now, so that’s what I’m focused on.”