Daniel Straus (22-4, 8-1 Bellator) always seems to be fighting an uphill battle, and he’ll continue that climb when he faces former champion Pat Curran (19-5, 9-2 Bellator) in a rematch for his Bellator MMA Featherweight Title at Bellator 112 on Spike TV Friday night.
Straus dominated Curran for five rounds at Bellator 106 in November, avenging an earlier knockout loss from when the two fighters squared off on the regional circuit in 2009. But despite being the champion, Straus still hasn’t received a huge marketing push from Bellator just yet.
Curran is and was one of the faces of Bellator when they made the jump to Spike TV in 2013, and they aren’t ready to give up on all of those dollars and time spent just yet.
Throw in the fact that Straus is a fairly reserved character, and he just hasn’t gotten the push yet.
Bellator is stacking the deck against Straus in pro wrestling style, however, forcing him to face Curran again due to a clause that they put into their tournament-based organization last year where fighters can receive championship rematches when the organization deems fit. Normally Curran would have to go back through the tournament to earn another title shot, but instead he gets an immediate rematch.
Straus also has to face Curran just a few miles away from his hometown of Chicago, as the Bellator cage once again will be in Hammond, Indiana at the Horseshoe Casino. Straus is definitely feeling the disrespect.
“I don’t think I’m getting that respect,” Straus said in an interview with Bleacher Report. “If you think he [Curran] is a top-10 guy and I beat him, then I think I should be [a top-10 fighter]. It’s kind of funny how things go. You beat one of the highly ranked guys and you’re still not a highly ranked guy. You kind of sit back in the shadows.”
Things were complicated when Straus – who is one of the biggest featherweights in the world – had trouble making weight. He had to cut his dreadlocks, and still came in half a pound over on his original attempt.
“Hey man, I got a lot on my mind. I’m ready to kill this dude,” is all a dehydrated Straus had to say to Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith during the weigh-in. He eventually cut the extra half pound in the allotted time, making the title fight a go.
(Photo courtesy Bellator)