10 Questions for Brandon Girtz

Brandon Girtz wants to get his hands on Bellator MMA gold at 155 pounds, but his latest assignment has him competing as a welterweight. Consider it a detour.

Girtz will move to 170 pounds to face King of the Cage, Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 174 on Friday at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. There, the 31-year-old Grudge Training Center rep attempts to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Adam Piccolotti in November, the defeat bringing his run of three consecutive victories to an end.

In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Girtz discusses his forthcoming battle with Gonzalez, his plans to return to the lightweight division and competing on the first Bellator card to be headlined by women:

Sherdog.com: What does Gonzalez bring to the table?
Girtz: He’s a great fighter with great heart. He’s a guy that never quits. He is always going to be coming forward at me, and he’s got a hell of a chin. The difference here is going to be my speed. I know I’ll have a lot of punches to get out of the way of, and this is going to be one of those fights where I’ll be throwing a lot of punches and he will, too. I’m ready for that three-round war. A lot of times I’ll go into a fight knowing that I’ll blast the guy out of there in the first round because they can’t handle what I bring, but this guy has been through some wars, and he can take a punch. I think this is going to be one of those “Fight of the Year” candidates.

Sherdog.com: What weaknesses do you see in his game?
Girtz: The one thing that sticks out the most is speed. There’s no question in my mind that I’m going to be faster than him, and I think it’s going to be a pretty big measure on that speed, too. I think people will walk away from that fight talking about the speed difference and how much faster I am than him. He’s going to be the bigger guy out there; there’s no doubt about that. I’m not a massive 155er coming up to 170, but I don’t believe he’ll be the stronger fighter and I don’t think he’ll have wrestling over me.

Sherdog.com: While this is not a make-or-break fight for either of you, how much added pressure is there to get back on the winning side after a loss?
Girtz: Every next fight is the biggest one of your career. No matter what, that’s how it is. If you’re on a three-fight winning streak, the next win can get you a title shot. I lost my last fight, so this is now the biggest, best fight of my life. Every time, there is something big on the table that makes it even more important. The thing is I’ve never lost two fights in a row, and that’s because I always come back with more fire. The same thing will happen here.

Sherdog.com: What was behind your decision to take a fight at 170 pounds?
Girtz: It’s a great opportunity for me. It has nothing to do with 155 being too hard to make; that’s my weight class. I make my cut to 155 well, and it has nothing to do with weight. I took this fight because it was a great opportunity that presented itself, and I’m ready to put on a great fight for the fans.

Sherdog.com: Will you be returning to lightweight after this fight?
Girtz: My weight class is 155. No matter what happens here in this fight, I have had my eye on one guy, and that is Michael Chandler. I’m here to fight the best opponents Bellator has to offer me and this is one of those fights, but like I said, I’m a 155er.

Sherdog.com: Can you see yourself bouncing between divisions if Bellator offers you more fights at 170 pounds?
Girtz: I’m going to focus at 155 because I am going to continue that goal of winning that belt. Chandler has always been the guy I wanted to fight. I have no ill will or anything like that so hopefully that’s not taken that way, but I have set out goals that I want to accomplish and he’s always been that guy at the top. I want to fight the best. My weight class is not 170; these guys are naturally much bigger than me. I’m not saying I’ll never fight again at 170, but the lightweight title and Chandler are on my radar.

Sherdog.com: How close do you think you are to achieving that goal?
Girtz: It could come next. Who knows? With what we just saw with Josh Thomson losing to [Patricky] “Pitbull” [Freire], the whole division just got mixed up. If I would have won against Piccolotti, I would have been fighting Chandler. There’s no doubt in my mind about that, so to say that if I beat Fernando here, even though it’s at 170, I would say yes because there aren’t many other people who deserve a title shot. Had Thomson won against “Pitbull,” he would have gotten he shot. “Pitbull” has lost to Chandler a few times already, so does he deserve it? Piccolotti, yes he beat me, but he got me on one of my worst days ever and he’s still really green. If he was to get a title shot now, it would be a disservice to him because he’s still got a lot of growing up to do in this sport; it wouldn’t be fair to him. I also believe I will fight Piccolotti again, but I think it will be for the belt when we do.

Sherdog.com: What went wrong in your fight with Piccolotti?
Girtz: I had a trying year. With that being my second ACL surgery and rehab, it was tough to come back from. That was on the back of my mind throughout the entire training camp. I was so worried about injuring my knee again and I couldn’t focus; I couldn’t do anything like I normally would. I didn’t have that mindset going in that I was going to kill that guy. I wasn’t sparring right, I couldn’t get kicked in the leg, I wasn’t doing any live wrestling. Those things all built up, but it screwed me up. Also, Piccolotti was also a much better opponent than I originally thought.

Sherdog.com: Do you feel like your mind is in the right place for this next fight?
Girtz: Yeah, absolutely, and that’s what that Piccolotti fight did for me. It made me know I was healed because he kicked the s--- out of my leg and nothing happened. That’s all he did, really. I came out of that fight and my knee felt just like it did going into that fight, and that gave me all the confidence in the world; that’s how I knew I was good to go. You can’t go into camp or a fight worried about possibly getting injured. Now that I’m not worried about it, my confidence is through the roof.

Sherdog.com: What are your thoughts on Bellator 174 being headlined by the women’s featherweight title fight between Marloes Coenen and Julia Budd?
Girtz: It’s great. You see what is happening with women’s MMA now, and it’s becoming huge. This is the start of something great. You’re seeing a lot of women who have some real all-around skills. You used to see a few one-trick ponies in the beginning, but now you’re seeing a lot of well-rounded women. Marloes is one of the pioneers of women’s MMA, and Julia is a great veteran. I think it’s great that they are headlining this card, and it just shows how far the sport has come.