Dalton Rosta wins middleweight debut at Bellator 243, calls out Dillon Danis

Interview with Dalton Rosta above

Dalton Rosta is already thinking ahead following a successful 185-pound debut at Bellator 243 tonight, Friday Aug. 7. 

Rosta opened up Mark Gardner in the first round, leading to a doctor’s stoppage between rounds one and two. After three-straight TKO wins, Rosta is calling out Dillon Danis.

“I would love to fight Dillon Danis,” Rosta said. 

“He is obviously a big jiu-jitsu guy and his jiu jitsu is legit, but he’s not an MMA fighter and I can prove that.”

Rosta showcased a ground game of his own on Saturday by keeping Gardner’s back to the canvas. The 24-year-old defended an early arm-bar attempt, but managed to escape. Rosta remained on top of Gardner for the remainder of the fight.

It is safe to say middleweight will remain his home. 

“I felt great, my conditioning was there. Obviously when I’m throwing some heavy shots like that, I’m trying to get the finish, I got a little winded, but I cam back real quick, got my heart rate down very quickly,” Rosta said. “I sat on that stool and within 10 seconds of that break, I felt great.”

Rosta remains unbeaten inside the Bellator cage at 3-0.

Also unbeaten under the Bellator banner, Danis is coming off back-to-back wins over Max Humphrey and Kyle Walker. He last competed over a year ago at Bellator 222 in June 2019.

Although Danis is considered a welterweight, both of his Bellator bouts came at 175-pound catchweight. 

“I can definitely finish him, especially on the feet,” Rosta said. “He’s going to be trying to take me down and I don’t feel like he can, well I know he can’t.”

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Connor Northrup
Connor Northrup once covered municipal meetings and promised himself never again. He is now combining his passion for Mixed Martial Arts and reporting all into one.