One of Bellator MMA's brightest light heavyweight prospects Luke Trainer is hoping to earn a new contract with the promotion by "violently" putting away Yannick Bahati tomorrow night.
Bellator make their return to London at the SSE Arena, Wembley tomorrow, where hometown fighter Michael 'Venom' Page will take on Douglas Lima in a welterweight rematch with big title ramifications for the winner.
And Trainer has said that he is looking to steal the show and land a big finish over the veteran Bahati, in an effort to earn his way to a new contract.
He was given a two-fight deal after winning renowned coach John Kavanagh's Euro Fight Night tournament, in which he had to beat three opponents in one night, back in 2019.
But due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, he's been restricted to just one fight since signing with the promotion, admitting that he felt he should have been offered a fight in the United States.
"There's nothing but love between me and Bellator," Trainer told Mirror Fighting ahead of his bout on the Bellator 267 main card.
"I'm so grateful to them for now giving me a fight, thank you to Jude [Samuel, matchmaker], Scott Coker, Mike Kogan, everybody else behind the promotion.
"I want to put on a great performance, put this guy away violently and force them to give me another fight because the crowd wants me again.
"That's my belief and my hope, I want to be as active as possible after this fight."
The bubbly fighter is 4-0 as a professional, with only one of his three wins in the tournament counting towards his full record, and his sole loss came four years ago in the amateurs.
But he puts his nice guy image to the side when he steps into the cage, stopping all four of his professional opponents to date, with a pair of knockouts and submissions.
And the Stevenage brawler is now signed to one of the top promotions in MMA, a chance he wants to grab with both hands.
"I'm a very sensitive human," Trainer explained.
"I pray that Bellator want to continue to work with me because I love it here, the staff have been nothing but beautiful to me.
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"This is life changing money to me, and the experience is life changing to me."
But Trainer almost saw his career with the American outfit jeopardised when he found himself unable to book a fight due to their calendar taking place in the United States.
President Joe Biden has a travel ban in place for almost all UK citizens, as well as the majority of the EU, which made the process of organising bouts for their European fighters more difficult, and led to a spate of releases.
"I was fuming," Trainer admitted when asked about his lack of fights over the last year. "I wasn't just angry, I was fuming.
"Maybe I'd painted a false pretence in my head and thought right 'I've been built up as a prospect, there's guys being sent out the States, I'll be gong out to the States'
"I wasn't sent out and I've had to wait twelve months and I don't know why, but it's built up a chip on my shoulder."
Tickets for Bellator London: Lima vs MVP 2 are on sale now and can be purchased online from axs.com/uk or bellator.com.
Watch Bellator London: Lima vs MVP 2 live on BBC iPlayer on Friday 1st October from 9pm.
