On September 12th Bellator’s summer 2014 Light Heavyweight tournament came to an end and a new champ emerged. Liam McGeary finished Kelly Anundson with an inverted triangle in the first round, and ended a four month march to the top. During that tournament McGeary disposed of all of his opponents, including Mike Mucitelli and Egidijus Valavicius, in the first round. This is nothing new to McGeary; he is currently 9-0 and has had to go passed the first round on only two occasions.
McGeary, originally from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England, now fights out of the Bronx, New York, by way of Team Gracie. McGeary is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Braulio Estima, a fact that has been evident in his four submission wins. McGeary’s striking is also a force to be reckoned with; he has five KO or TKO stoppages.
Winning at Bellator 124 not only earned McGeary the tournament belt, but also put him next in line to fight current Light Heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton. Newton defended his title against Joey Beltran at Bellator 124, knocking Beltran out with a spinning back-fist.
I caught up with Liam and got his take on participating in the tournament, and his upcoming fight for the belt.
Aaron Robbins: Liam, thank you for taking the time to talk with me. Can you give the fans an idea of the demands put on an athlete competing in a tournament-style event?
Liam McGeary: “It’s the training, you never stop training. I was leaving my house at 7:30 in the morning and wouldn’t get back until 9:00 at night. It’s long hours of training. It’s six days a week, and it was all high intensity training. There was no time to back off, or take it easy for a few days. I started training in March and only had three weeks off until now. It was more or less non-stop the whole time. My body is screaming out for a rest now, so I’m kicking back for a few days.”
AR: Did you leave the tournament with any injuries?
LM: “Besides a few bumps and bruises I’m healthy. I’ve got sore muscles and some aches in my joints, but I’m not as young as I used to be. It’s been a long five months and I need some rest.”
AR: You obviously have a great team to keep you going like that, who was most influential in your preparation during the tournament?
LM: “David Branch played a big part in my training camp. He recently won the WSOF Middleweight tournament to become their champion. He is a close friend of mine and we’ve done a lot of training together. He has really helped certain aspects of my game, and it was really nice having him around. I also trained with Corey Anderson, I helped him out for the TUF finals and he in turn helped me out training for Anundson. I train out of Renzo Gracie’s camp in Manhattan and also Church Street Boxing, so I’m thankful to have all those guys.”
AR: Speaking of Kelly Anundson, you finished him just as quickly as all of your opponents. You like to get things done in a hurry.
LM: “It’s not like I look to hurry, if something materializes I’m not going to let it go. If I see a triangle, armbar, or knock-out I’m not going to let it pass, you know.”
AR: In the fight with Kelly you had him in big trouble on several occasions from the bottom. You had him in an Americana that had him yelling out twice. You ended up finishing with an inverted triangle, a submission people don’t see often. Do you train that over at Gracie’s?
LM: “Yeah his (Anundson) arm was in a bit of a bad place. My long arms work as a bit of a vice or a lever and it would’ve been enough to snap his arm. There was a couple times he let out a yelp. We train everything over at Gracie’s; I kind of guessed that I would be in that position for a lot of that fight, so we trained some attacks off my back, and the triangle works. As soon as my left leg went in I knew I had it, he’s a thick guy so I had a lot to lock up and squeeze on. I’ve locked that up and people have been asleep in seconds. It cuts off all the blood, it’s not an air choke it’s a blood choke.”
AR: After Newton defended his title, it was announced that you would be fighting him next. Give us your thoughts on that.
LM: “I’m looking forward to it, really looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great fight; he’s very unorthodox with his striking. I like to strike as well, a lot of punches and kicks so we are in for a good fight. He’s a good guy, I get along with most people, but I’m ready to fight him.”
AR: Assuming that you beat Newton, is there anybody at 205 that you would like to get your hands on?
LM: “That’s a tough question. You know, I really don’t have a preference on who I would like to fight. There’s no one name that I want to fight, I just want to fight the best. If they step in front of me I’ll fight them, if they aren’t the best I’ll just go on to the next one. I’ll keep searching until I find the best.”
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