Ahead of their December Welterweight clash, Nathan Jones warns undefeated Walter Gahadza that defeat will be his only escape at BAMMA 27.
The bout was officially announced in the BAMMA newsletter and takes place on the December 16 joint Bellator-BAMMA show at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
Jones (9-5) returns to the cage for the first time since February to face one of the UK’s biggest Welterweight prospects, Gahadza.
It will be 28-year-old Gahadza’s second fight in the promotion, with his first bout ending in controversy. “The Sniper” fought Colin Fletcher at BAMMA 25 this past May, with the match-up ending in a DQ following Fletcher’s use of illegal 12-6 elbows.
“Mr. Bag & Tag,” who was in attendance for the fight, admitted his disappointment over the match-up’s botched finale.
Jones commented: “First of all, that fight was an anti-climax and I’m pissed because that was the fight I travelled up to Birmingham to see and I was fuming. The fans lost out on the fight, on paper that was a brilliant fight, so I was gutted.”
Despite Gahadza being 16-0 in his MMA career, Jones criticised his opponent’s lack of competition, warning him that a finish will be the only way out at BAMMA 27.
“For someone who’s had 16 fights, there’s not much on him online or whatever. With me, there won’t be no way out for him, the only way out will be a tap out and that’s it.
“On paper [he’s dangerous], but paper is very deceiving. I could fight 100 bums and be 100-0 but that don’t mean anything.”
December 16 will present a massive opportunity for both Jones and Gahadza, with the enormity of Bellator MMA and BAMMA’s collaboration. The super-show will host a Bellator headline card which features King Mo vs. Satoshi Ishii.
“If it wasn’t a Bellator show I’d be wanting this fight for the title, the Lonsdale title,” claimed Jones. “I’ll climb the ladder the way it should be climbed to get that title shot, if it means running through Walter that’s what I’ll do.”
Since Jones suffered a tough loss to SBG Ireland’s Peter Queally in February, BAMMA 26 saw surprising prospect Joe McColgan claim a shock defeat over “The Showstopper” which is believed to have hindered a potential UFC call-up.
With a big occasion to erase the loss and increase his stock in the 170lb division, the fighter from Greater London reflected on his last loss to Queally and whether or not he would be interested in a rematch.
“I’m never one to put other people down or take pleasure in other people’s misfortune, so at the end of the day Peter Queally stepped up, he fell short, it happens to us all.
“I’m not really fussed about a rematch because there’s so many different guys to fight out here, there’s so many avenues to get to that bigger show and I had my chance, it didn’t happen.
“I’m just concentrating on myself, looking to get my name back in the mix and right now that’s dealing with Walter Gahadza.”
