| Special |
 |
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:02 am
Posts: 153
|
 Thirteen fights into his MMA career, Dan Cramer (10-3 MMA, 7-1 BFC) is comfortable playing the role of underdog. But after upsetting the man he believes was the top seed in Bellator's Season 8 middleweight tournament, he believes it's time for people to take notice of his accomplishments.
"I've been the underdog for my whole career," Cramer told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I fought my first pro-fight in the UFC at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. So after that everyone always wanted me to fight in the main event or the co-main event, so I'm used to being the underdog."
So it was in the opening round of Bellator's current 185-pound tourney against Brian Rogers. While Bellator officials don't formally announced seeding in their brackets, company execs have admitted the brackets are generally paired with rankings in mind.
Cramer's pretty sure where his position fell before he scored a unanimous-decision win over Rogers.
"I was definitely the underdog in this tournament, especially against Brian Rogers," Cramer said. "I knew he was probably the No. 1 seed and, when you do a tournament, usually you put the No. 1 guy against the No. 8 guy. But I also knew that I could beat him. I've trained with guys that are on his level and above his level, and I give a hard time to everybody.
"I know what I'm capable of and that it was just a matter of time before I showed it in a big fight, and this time I did."
Cramer gets another chance to prove his worth at tonight's Bellator 92 event, where he meets Brett Cooper (18-7 MMA, 5-2 BFC) with a spot in the tournament finals at stake. Cooper brings a five-fight win streak to the table and earned his sport with a decision win over Norman Paraisy.
"Brett Cooper is a great fighter," Cramer said. "He's one of the toughest guys I've seen fight. He's down to go three rounds, and he's ready to be on the beating-end of things or to to be giving the beating. He kind of reminds me of me: he's ready to go all three rounds, he's tough, he's in shape, and he's got kind of a grinding style."
Which makes it pretty clear what Cramer is expecting in this fight. Fighting the distance in 10 of his 13 fights, Cramer had proven he's capable of keeping a respectable pace from start to finish, even against an equally durable opponent.
And now, five years after a run on "The Ultimate Fighter 7" and a two-fight stint in the UFC, Cramer is planning on finally proving he's worthy of attention and respect.
"I haven't had a lot of crazy, highlight-reel knockouts, for whatever reason, so I feel that guys that get those knockouts also get a little attention and hype around them, too," Cramer said. "But I think I'm as tough as anybody out there. I don't quit in fights. I've been in plenty of fights where I had the opportunity to quit and I didn't.
"I don't think I'm especially tough or been through some crazy things in my life that make me that way; I just think it's naturally in me. When I get hit, I want to hit somebody back. I don't want to shy away. It's a fight-or-flight thing, and I have the fight part in me."Source: MMAJunkie.com
|
|
