Bellator 219’s Saad Awad: “If he stands with me this will be one of those fights everyone enjoys”
Saad Awad faces Brandon Girtz in the main event of Bellator 219 and the bout has the expectations of excitement written all over it.
Brandon Girtz has been in some of the most amazing wars that Bellator has had. What was your initial thoughts on getting this match-up?
“I wasn’t surprised to be honest. We’ve been in Bellator for a long time, me and him. He’s exciting. I’m exciting and this is a fight fans want to see. I’m surprised we hadn’t fought way before. I know they tried to line this up before, but they pulled him to fight Chandler. So, I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. They got the chance to make the fight, so here we are now, fighting.”
Attention, that’s something I think you can garner with an exciting fight this Friday night. I think Girtz brings that kind of style, to present that kind of opportunity.
“Yeah, he does. For fans that don’t know who he is, go back look him up. That dude wins or loses you’re in for a war, no matter who it is. When he fought Chandler, that fight only went a couple minutes, if that. And from what I saw it look like he rocked Chandler in the beginning and Chandler came back. He ended up having a big slam and dislocating his shoulder, or something crazy like that. The dude is a stud when it comes to fighting. He comes by every single time, and he fights from the second the fight starts till the second to fight and whether he’s losing or winning. That’s the kind of fighter I like. His style matches up with mine really good. I think the fans are really in for it with this one.”
You’re a big puncher, he’s always coming forward what’s going to be some keys and important factors in this fight for you?
“I believe I can’t get into much of a firefight with him. The dude will stay in the pocket and throw two, three, four punches: and I think when you fight like that it turns into a 50-50 fight. I don’t want to be a 50-50 fight. I don’t want to take a chance like that, I want to be able to go and pick him apart and hopefully hit them with something hard and not get it back with anything hard; and get that win. If not, try to go out there and just out class him and try to squeak by a victory without taking too much damage, if that possible in this kind of fight.”
Has Brandon’s forward pressure been a big part of your preparation?
“I’ve brought in a couple guys that spar like him. Guys that I usually stay away from, because they go a little bit too hard when you’re not supposed to. I brought those guys in, had my rounds with them, and even the guys that don’t fight like that: I kind of had them. He’s (Brandon Girtz) a southpaw too. I had a couple southpaws to work with. Telling them, ‘Hey throw your haymakers, and throw them from everywhere. Throw them how he throws them, throw that kick that he throws, and shoot in too.’ The dude is a wrestler, can’t forget his wrestling. He might lean back on his wrestling for this fight, being that we’re both coming off losses: and you do what you gotta do to win, as Henderson did. If that’s the case, I’ve been working on my wrestling a lot, scrambling a lot, working my Jiu Jitsu a lot. I think I’ll be comfortable if we hit the floor in this fight. If it happens and becomes a ground fight will see how it goes.
“Sometimes you have to stick to your roots when you really need to win. I mean look at Henderson. Henderson came out that was that last thing people expected him to do was shoot in from a mile away or throw punches and get in and do what he did. He fought the smartest safest fight he could have possibly fought. I’m not saying he’s not smart, but if Girtz just wanted to go out and get a win, he’s gonna watch my last fight and say ok he did this, this, and this and this is what I need to do to get a win. Usually he doesn’t do that, he goes out and fights and you can tell he’s a fighter. He loves to fight, just like me. It’s either or. He’s either going to go out there and try to squeak out a wrestling win, which I think will be bad news for him, or he’s going to stand with me, and this will be one those fights everyone enjoys.”
Check out Saad Awad vs Brandon Girtz at Bellator 219 on March 29.
