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Long Island’s Tom English to Make Bellator Debut Friday

Photo Credit: Will Paul / CES MMA

Photo Credit: Will Paul / CES MMA

Long Island based mixed martial arts fighter Tom “The Terror” English will be making his Bellator debut against featherweight Chris “Cassius” Foster at Bellator 163 on Friday, November 4th at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

English (6-6 MMA) is no stranger to the professional mixed martial arts scene. Since making his professional debut at Lou Neglia’s Ring of Combat 35 in Atlantic City in 2010, the LI featherweight continued as a consistent name for the highly recognized promotion through 2013, which has also showcased former UFC champions Chris Weidman and Frankie Edgar early in their professional careers. More recently “The Terror” joined the New England based promotion, Classic Entertainment and Sports (CES MMA) before earning his spot in the Bellator cage.

Whether he is competing for local promotions like ROC and CES or an international promotion like Bellator, English treats every fight with the utmost professional out look. “It feels great to have the opportunity to perform on such a big stage, but I’ll handle it no different,” explains English. “ROC and CES are pretty big stages themselves. Very professional and always tough competition. This is just another day in the office.”

A purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Commack MMA’s Tom Mueller, English is feeling strong and confident in the final days of his fight camp after making the adjustments needed compared to his previous camps. “Regardless of the promotion, I needed to make one change in particular if I were to fight again, that being my strength and conditioning,” explained English. “Camp after camp I’ve been BS’ing and it definitely showed out there. This camp I’m working with my boy Eddie [of Savage Athletics] three times a week and he has me feeling like a monster. [My] muscle endurance and strength is on point.”

Foster (9-5 MMA) is fairly new to the Bellator cage after making his debut with the promotion in April at Bellator 153, earning a unanimous decision victory over featherweight Vovka Clay. Regardless of his history in the cage, which includes fights under CES and World Series of Fighting, English believes he is prepared for whatever happens.

“I train to eliminate holes in my game, which would mean training in all areas, ” English states confidently. “Yes, I do watch some tape but I don’t get caught up in it too much. I don’t want to go out there with tunnel vision. We have to adapt on the fly in the cage and I don’t want to be set on doing one specific thing. Will I have a game plan? Yes, but I’ll also have a plan B , C , D and so forth all the way to that W!”

English will face Foster in a three-round featherweight bout on the prelim card starting at 6:50pm, followed by the main card at 9pm featuring the Light-Heavyweight title fight Liam McGeary vs. Phil Davis, both airing on Spike TV.

 

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Kristine is a Managing Editor for DoubleGSports.com as well as UFC/MMA Lead Writer. She also hosts a column known as Fighting Words.
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