No one can argue that the fight game has been deeply impacted by Covid-19. With only 10% of the normal amount of fights being held, many regional fighters have been forced to stay on the sidelines and wonder when they'd be able to get locked in the cage again. There are a fortunate few who have prospered with opportunities since this nursing home pandemic took hold back in March, and Pat "The Gorilla Ninja" Casey is one of them.
Casey's upcoming bout on November 12th at Mohegan Sun Arena will be his 2nd appearance with the world's 2nd biggest promotion; Bellator MMA. The Springfield native got a call on a weeks notice back in September to step in and take on a very experienced Daniel Madrid (18-6) who was on a 4 fight win streak, and was 10-2 in his last 12 fights. Not only was it his toughest opponent to date, but it was also up a weight class (185) from where Casey normally competes (170). Difficult circumstances, but "The Gorilla Ninja" was able to take Madrid the distance and lost a split decision.
Bellator returned the favor by booking Casey on the Bellator 252 card in a few weeks, also at Mohegan Sun. There's a lot of big things happening in Casey's life right now. He just turned 30 and got married on the same day! This man has no fear - ha! The timing seems to be right, and Casey is confident that everything is coming together at the right time for him to perform at his peak come November 12th.
We were able to catch up with Casey after a training session last weekend. Check out the full interview below.
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