Dan Hornbuckle | Source: MMAWeekly.com
After wracking up the two biggest wins of his young career with consecutive knockouts of Akihiro Gono and Nick Thompson under World Victory Road’s Sengoku banner, Dan Hornbuckle entered the Season 2 Bellator Welterweight Tournament under high scrutiny and even higher expectations. Fortunately for him, the Illinois native performs well under pressure, as he is gearing up for the Semifinals after dispatching experienced prospect Tyler Stinson with a first-round triangle choke in the Quarterfinals on April 22.
Hornbuckle, who takes on Steve Carl in the Welterweight Tournament Semifinals tomorrow night at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas, took some time away from his final preparations the week of the fight to speak with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher about reaching the top of the mountain.
While most fans and analysts pegged Hornbuckle as an early favorite heading into the Season 2 Welterweight Tournament, the manner in which he defeated Stinson in the Quarterfinals was still a sight to behold. “I had to let him think that he was competitive real quick and then take it right out from underneath him,” he said about the win.
Hornbuckle, who has been training with the famed American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida since before the tournament, had little time to celebrate, however, as his Semifinal bout with Steve Carl is already upon him. “It goes both ways,” he said about the danger of overlooking Carl in his quest for Bellator gold. “In the back of my mind is the entire tournament and that I’m the bulls eye, but right now I’m focused on Steve Carl.”
While Hornbuckle came out of his Quarterfinal fight without a scratch, Carl was involved in a three-round war with Brett Cooper that left him visibly exhausted directly following the fight. Asked if this played into the structure of his training camp for Carl, Hornbuckle responded in the affirmative. “That weighed into our calculations, that damage was sustained by him for three rounds, so that’s going to slow his recovery process down, but he’s a tough dude.”
Aside from Carl’s toughness, however, Hornbuckle sees himself as the clear favorite heading into tomorrow night’s bout. “It’s not a good match-up for Steve Carl,” he said. “In my opinion, we represent two different skill levels. Believe me, that is not an arrogant comment; he is tough and he has a legit shot, but this is the Semifinals so I have to make sure it doesn’t slip through my fingers. I’ll take from him whatever I want to take. With just 30 days in between fights you can’t sustain damage, so you’ve got to get in and get out.”
Asked how he saw the fight going, Hornbuckle included a warning for the other fighters remaining in the welterweight tournament regarding his ground game. “A stand-up affair is what I see going on in this fight, but just like my last fight, if it goes to the ground, put me on my back and see what happens—I triple-dog-dare you,” he said, adding, “I knew how the bracket was going to be laid out with all these wrestlers, so go ahead, put me on my back and I’ll rip your neck off. Prior to the Stinson fight, you saw what my stand-up was able to do and that’s only gotten better and my ground has only gotten sharper.”
Hornbuckle’s comments lead to a discussion on Olympic wrestler Ben Askren, another Semifinal competitor in the Bellator tournament. “His wrestling won’t touch me,” Hornbuckle said regarding a potential Finals match-up with Askren should he defeat Ryan Thomas for a second consecutive time on tomorrow night’s card. “Ryan Thomas had him in a triangle in a matter of seconds, and I know my Jiu-Jitsu is better than Thomas’s because of the fact that he’s one of my training partners.”
Should Hornbuckle accomplish his goal of sweeping the Bellator Welterweight Tournament, he will be matched up with Season 1 Welterweight Champion Lyman Good this Fall, and while he has respect for the current champion, he maintains that his goal is set in stone. “There’s a belt at the end of the tournament and that’s going to be going around my waist,” he said. “It’s only business. He is a tough opponent—I’ll give him that respect because he won the tournament—so to be able to beat him and win the tournament will be amazing.”
Since a large portion of MMA fans and analysts expect Hornbuckle to win the Season 2 tournament, it seems only reasonable to assume that the promotion itself is leaning toward that scenario, especially since Hornbuckle directly addressed a cage-side Good following his Quarterfinal victory over Stinson. “Yes, the promotion does expect me to get in there with him,” Hornbuckle said. “I expect that as well. I don’t believe the hype of everybody else, but in my mind I’ve already won it. My mind is set on a goal and nothing’s going to stand in my way.”
Finally, Hornbuckle gave his official prediction for his Semifinal bout with Carl: “Within ten seconds, it’s going to be in the middle of the second round—left hand followed with a right hook.”
