Mar-5-2010

Bowles Braces for First Title Defense

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By Frank Curreri

To become champion, Brian Bowles upset a legend regarded as one of MMA’s most aggressive fighters. To keep the title, he must defeat a 4-to-1 underdog who just might be the most elusive fighter in the game aside from Lyoto Machida.

Though Dominick Cruz is the antithesis of Miguel Angel Torres stylistically, Bowles noted it’s not in his constitution to take any challenger lightly. After all, Cruz (14-1) has never lost since moving to bantamweight, and is master at bewildering his opponents and emerging from the cage largely unscathed. Bowles, who had a seven-month layoff after breaking his left hand knocking out Torres, admitted he had difficulty finding sparring partners who could simulate Cruz’s unique brand of stand-up, which is relatively common in boxing, but not in MMA.

“He’s got his own thing going so he’s hard to mimic,” Bowles said of the No. 1 challenger. “He mixes his boxing and wrestling up well; that’s what he does best. I can’t let him keep taking me down and scoring points that way and I’ve got to keep him from staying outside, hitting me once and then running off. I’ve got to stay patient, pick my shots and land my punches on him. He’s always moving and ducking around and I’ve got to make sure I get my hands on him.”

Bowles’ first title defense will be in Columbus, a few hours’ drive from West Virginia, where he was born and raised.

“I’ve got a lot of family there that say they’re coming,” he said.

Though his accomplishments are big-time, the WEC headliner still has a small-town sensibility about him. People rightfully rave about how quickly UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has ascended to his throne, but Bowles’ less-publicized rise has been almost as unlikely and equally freakish. Bowles is 8-0 – all finishes. And his hit list is decorated with names like former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, Damacio Page, Will Ribeiro, Marcos Galvao and Charlie Valencia. Yet Bowles just might be the most genuinely humble world champion in the world today. You don’t get the sense that he’s acting the part, as is the case for many champs who simply edit their thoughts and carefully choose their words.

“We all have an ego, you just have to control it,” Bowles said. “I have the typical fighter’s ego. I think I can win but I’m not stupid enough to believe I can’t be beat. I don’t want to have myself thinking I can’t be beat and then be devastated once I lose and be changing my camp and firing my managers and do all kinds of weird crap. I feel like it would bring bad karma for me to go around bragging. I don’t do anything that I wouldn’t like anybody else to do.”

Bowles, who lives and trains out of Athens, Ga., said he keeps his WEC bantamweight belt locked in a safe at his residence, citing a recent stretch of burglaries near his neighborhood. He is asked whether he has ever considered how long his championship reign can last.

“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “It’s not something you can put a number on. I just have to take it one fight at a time. Once you defend the title four or five times, that’s how long most champions do. For the most part, people defend the belt four or five times and end up losing.”

Leading up to the championship clash, there has been no war of words. Not that Bowles would notice anyway, given the fact that he doesn’t read stories on the Internet and stays “in my own little world” by eating, sleeping and training.

Some believe Bowles will prevail Saturday because of his heavy handedness and dangerous submissions. Cruz is not known as a finisher.

“I don’t think he’s any faster than anybody else that I’ve fought,” Bowles said. “He’s got some early knockouts, but recently he’s been more of a scorer. I think he gives up power with all that movement; he doesn’t really try to plant and hit you really hard … He’s a boxer-wrestler just like me, so we’re going to stand there and slug it out. I’m sure he’s going to take me down, and we’re going to try to take him down, so there will be openings everywhere for submissions and knockouts. It’s going to be a great fight.”