Photo via MMA UK
Karl Albrektsson on Grant Neal “Good for Me to Fight Another Ranked Opponent”
Karl Albrektsson tests skills with Grant Neal at Bellator 290 on February 4th.
Albrektsson appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts once again to discuss his histories with Bellator and Rizin, his path to climb the 205 lb rankings this year, plus so much more. Excerpts from our chat are below.
Karl Albrektsson
Tape study on this opponent and Albrektsson’s thoughts on Grant Neal’s stylistic attributes
“I do a bit of tape studying and they do more. But I do a bit and like check out their style. Then we come up with how we’re going to approach this fight and stuff like that. So all of us do a bit of tape studying… Well, he’s a hell of an athlete and he’s got a good double leg. He’s got good wrestling.”
Albrektsson continued, “I like that he likes to work off his jab. Jab, jab hook, and tries to land that right hand. He’s getting better with each fight. So I think Grant Neal will get better and better in his career as it goes. But right now he’s got a good jab. It’s the jab and the wrestling that I need to watch out from.”
Having upward mobility in the rankings fighting the number six ranked Neal with Albrektsson being in the lower end of the top ten presently
“I’m trying not to think about the rankings so far. I’m just trying to think about the fight but of course, it’s good for me to fight another ranked opponent. Yeah, eventually you know I want to be champion someday and then you have to beat the guys on top of you in the rankings. But I’m focusing on the fight. The rankings, that’s secondary.”
Bellator 290
The sort of strength of schedule Albrektsson wants in 2023 and who he wants next
“Well, I would at least like to get three fights in this year. Maybe even four. I like to be busy, I don’t like to sit out for long. I have my eyes out for a few. Kind of know how I want to progress after I win over Grant Neal… Well, I’ve been calling out Julius Anglickas for a while and after I win, I’ll beat Julius Anglickas (and) I need to get into the top five, top three.”
The cross-promotional efforts between Bellator and Rizin in the context of Albrektsson being a veteran of both promotions
“Man, it looks badass, man. It’s special to fight in Japan. It’s just something different… If I’m going to fight in the cross-promotion, I need to become champion. Otherwise, why would Bellator send me? So yeah, you know I still want to fight in Japan. But who doesn’t want to fight in Japan?”
