Unassuming Liam McGeary preps for biggest fight of his life: Tito Ortiz

Most of today’s top MMA stars dreamed of success in the sport from a relatively young age. Professional sports in general are a pursuit for the dreamer rather than the pragmatist. Liam McGeary is the rare exception who entered the sport largely out of financial calculation. That gamble has paid off handsomely for the Bellator light heavyweight champion and Saturday night at Bellator Dynamite, it could work out even better as the rangy Brit takes on one of the sport’s all-time top attractions in Tito Ortiz.

In his mid-20s, McGeary was making a living working construction sites in his native United Kingdom. Then the worldwide recession hit. Work dried up. McGeary, known for occasionally getting into trouble on the weekends, decided he’d try MMA professionally. He proved to be a natural. McGeary was exceptional at using his length and reach at 6 feet 6 and won his first nine pro fights via stoppage, alternating quick knockouts and quick submissions. Bellator, the second biggest MMA outfit in the world, signed him initially just to fill out cards but quickly took notice of his ability.

“They didn’t know me,” McGeary says. “They just knew some 3-0 guy from England. I fought the first fight on my first card and it was like, ‘Who’s this?’ Six months later I won again and then again and they had to pay attention. I was knocking people out in under a minute. They didn’t know me. I had to make them notice.”

McGeary was impressive enough to earn a title shot against Emanuel Newton, who had won 13 of his last 14 fights. With a unanimous decision victory, McGeary was Bellator champion and set himself up for big fights in a division loaded with major names like “King” Mo Lawal, Phil Davis and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (Jackson is the subject of a contractual dispute with UFC).

Arguably the biggest name of the bunch is his next opponent: Tito Ortiz. The fight is a great opportunity for McGeary to make himself a star, but interestingly it was Ortiz who pressed for the fight. Wanting to be champion, Ortiz lobbied for a fight where he is a nearly 5-to-1 underdog. It was a gutsy move by Ortiz and McGeary was left surprised upon hearing Ortiz would be his next opponent.

“I was a little surprised but I couldn’t be too surprised because I’ve got the belt and people will come after it,” McGeary observes. “I was more surprised that Tito got the shot. He never really did anything. He fought a middleweight [Alexander Shlemenko] and he fought Stephan Bonnar, which was not the best of performances. He didn’t deserve the title shot. But I’m not going to turn down a fight. I’m more than happy to punch him in the face.”

That sort of nonchalant attitude may suit McGeary well against Ortiz. While other fighters might get caught up in the pressure of fighting such a high profile opponent, McGeary cares little about Ortiz’s history or reputation. Ortiz enjoys playing head games with opponents, but if they’re having any effect on McGeary, he does an exceptional job of masking it. McGeary says he hadn’t even given thought to taking on Ortiz.

“To be honest, I’d never given it much thought,” McGeary says. “I thought he retired. I didn’t think about it at all, even when he signed with Bellator. I never batted an eyelid.”

It could turn out that McGeary should have paid more attention to the MMA legend gunning for his title. However, it seems highly unlikely McGeary will enter into his biggest career fight psyched out by the stage.

Spectacle will be the order of the night in what Bellator is promoting as its biggest show of the year. Over 20 fights will take place, with an MMA cage and a kickboxing ring standing side to side in the same arena. In addition to the McGeary-Ortiz title main event, there is also a rare four man single night tournament with Emanuel Newton, Phil Davis, Lawal and Linton Vassell. The Glory kickboxing light heavyweight title will be on the line, in addition to fights featuring Paul Daley and Josh Thomson.