Photo credit to Lost Coast Outpost
Cass Bell on being on Bellator’s return card “I feel honored”
Cass Bell takes on Raufeon Stots on Friday, July 24th. The bout goes at Bellator 242 in the promotion’s return card post-COVID 19 hiatus. An event that they have been fleshing out in a big way. These two are positioned favorably in the promotion’s bantamweight ranks. With the 135 lb belt still vacant, this fight stands out as a high stakes contest with divisional importance. Though Bell has had fewer training partners for this one, he still has been finding time to drill a lot and is locked in.
Below are some excerpts from my conversation with Cass Bell ahead of this consequential Bellator 242 prizefight.
Training camp amid a global pandemic
“It’s been way different. Especially even getting my bloodwork done and all the other medical stuff I had to do. I live in Humboldt County so we’re a small little area. With all this COVID in California, everything’s been shut down. For me to get ready, I had to drive to San Jose last minute and just get everything done. Get all my tests done. Especially not really training for the past couple of months because of the shutdown.”
The regulatory additions to Bellator 242
“Bellator they really stepped up their game with everything. They want all of us to be safe. They want all their employees to be safe which is awesome…So we got tested before we got here. Then we flew all the way from California to Connecticut. As soon as we got off the plane, they picked us up. Just my team and they actually picked us up in an awesome limo. Drove us all the way to the Mohegan Sun Resort and we got tested right when we go into our rooms. We couldn’t leave. We’ve been quarantined in our room ever since. We’re waiting for the test results again.”
Cass Bell
There’s no walking around and exploring but fighters can go train in an allotted workout area. That exercise area and the hotel room are the only spaces the guys are permitted to go. Bellator has been strict about things. Mandating masks at all times per the rules meeting.
Studying Raufeon Stots’ overall game
“We’ve been breaking down his fights. We study him. My whole team will watch him also and break him down. So they start fighting like him…Our fight got postponed. So I was already training for him for a while then took a couple of months off. But I was still doing my homework because I knew I was going to fight him anyway.”
Training with no music to replicate no fans dynamic
“The fans give me that extra push. Especially when I hear my daughter in the crowd. My family or my friends…We’ve been working on it. It’s only been us in the gym anyway so everything’s been super quiet.”
Bell’s daughter Taylor (named after Taylor Swift) is a national champion wrestler at 9 years old. She’s been to pretty much all of Cass’ fights.
Bellator 242
The vacant Bellator bantamweight title and Bell’s future prospects a 135 lbs
“I go with the flow but I definitely think about the future, you know. I definitely think about what I can do. It gives me an extra push when I think about the future. Obviously I don’t look past my opponents at all. I study them, I break them down and everything. Make sure I’m at the level I need to be to beat them. But I’m definitely watching the top fighters in Bellator. The 135ers and I’m training for them. When I’m not training. When it’s not fight camp. I’m training for the top fighters.”
Bell is still the pride of Humboldt County, California. “The Bell” is a personalized song for his Bellator fights; written by Highway. A tune that encapsulates his fight style, his coaching style, ad moreover who he is as a person.
Cass Bell’s final thoughts
“Big shout out to Bellator for putting on this event. Especially letting me fight on the first card. I feel honored and I always go in there trying to finish my guy. Never try to leave it in the hands of the judges. I always try to make the fights exciting. Even my last Hawaii fight, it was one of the fan’s birthdays. They asked me if I could throw some head kicks and try to get them a head kick KO. What I did in Hawaii, I threw head kicks like no other. Just to give it that extra fire and stuff. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that KO but I tried.”
