Mark Lemminger on his Bellator MMA tandem with Alex Polizzi

Mark Lemminger clashes with Neiman Gracie in the co-main event of Bellator 266. The mixed martial arts broadcast transpires on Showtime and the show emanates from SAP Center in San Jose, California on Saturday, September 18th.

Lemminger trains out of Chosen Few Gym and last returned to the win column at Bellator 260 via second-round TKO. He got beyond a two-fight losing skid there and now looks to secure back-to-back victories as he heads into this weekend’s consequential welterweight bout.

I spoke with Mark Lemminger at the pre-fight media day and the excerpt from our interaction is below.

Mark Lemminger

Talking about some of the high-level wrestlers you are able to get in work with though. One of those individuals being Alex Polizzi, Chosen Few Gym compatriot also fighting on the card here.

He’s like ‘oh yeah we kind of do pretty great things when we’re on the same card. I’m not superstitious but hard to argue with history.’

So how do you feel about that dynamic there?

“I like it. Me and Alex, we’ve been training together now for five, six years and we get along really well. I don’t know. I’m his main training partner so it’s nice. It’s nice that we go through the camp together, we fly out together, we’re out here together. It gives you that at home feeling, you know. So I think Bellator should keep us a package deal.”

Yeah, it seems like quite the quality tandem there. But another quality tandem seems to be Alex Polizzi and that meat mountain sandwich from Arby’s after the fights.

Do you have a certain ideal post-fight cheat meal? What do you send it for?

“I’m Italian. I like spaghetti, pizza. That’s what I’m craving right now. Yeah, I don’t even want to talk about it if I’m being honest.”

Dylan Bowker

I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.

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