Daniel Weichel to 411: ‘I’m Going to Finish Sanchez at Bellator 159’

Michelstadt, Germany’s Daniel Weichel may appeared to have sneaked up on some Bellator fans when he stunned former titlist Pat Curran by defeating him at Bellator 133, but the German featherweight is anything but new to this game. A 45 fight MMA veteran, Weichel’s emergence as a major player in the Bellator featherweight division coincides with a rise in status for European MMA as a whole.

Despite falling short in a title shot against then-champion and long-time Bellator mainstay Patricio Pitbull, Weichel can lay claim to dominating most of that fight before falling victim to a second round TKO. Weichel has since bounced back with a lop-sided victory over well-travelled Georgi Karakhanyan, and his personal path back to top contender status sees him face Emmanuel Sanchez (11-2) at Bellator 159 this weekend.

Daniel Weichel took time out of his schedule to discuss this fight, and much more, with 411mania’s Jon Butterfield in an exclusive interview!

It was Bellator 158 this past weekend from London – do you miss compete in the UK or Europe, you’re obviously competing in the United States for Bellator 159, but do you miss fighting in the UK or Europe?

Yeah, definitely, a little bit. I would love to fight in Europe again and I’m looking forward to fighting [there] in the future because it would almost feel like fighting at home anywhere in Europe, you know, but also I appreciate the love I receive from the fans in the US as well.

Bellator are just starting to make waves in Europe, obviously they’ve been to Italy, now they’ve been to London, do you anticipate them hosting an event in Germany at all?

I would love to see that, but I don’t know about the situation [and] how hard it would be for them to go to Germany, but I would love to represent Bellator in Germany, this would be a dream!

You’re training with Team MMA Spirit over in Olimp, Germany, and there’s a ton of experience in that camp, some of the best fighters from all over Europe with guys like Ivan Buchinger, Stephan Puetz and Max Coga, how good are European camps these days?

To be honest I don’t follow too many camps outside Team MMA Spirit. I don’t really know. I think everybody has to find the best camp for themselves, the best trainer that approaches [training] in the best way for the fighters. For me, this is Team MMA Spirit and the coaches we have there fit perfectly with my style, my way of training, my way of preparing for fights. So I think how good the camp is depends on how the trainers can adapt to the different kind of styles for the fighters.

So speak to us a bit about the relationship with your coaches at Team MMA Spirit.

My striking coach Mohamed Ouali coming to Frankfurt was probably the best thing to happen to my striking skills. I really feel I can do anything that I want striking with any opponent, my style has improved so much and now, with him, I feel like a more complete and better mixed martial artist. What he’s done to me and my style I can’t really put into words.

It’s really about gelling with your coaches then?

Yeah we see each other every day, and for me if I’m not in training camp I also see [Ouali] because I’m in the gym anyway, so we see each other each and every day.

Your opponent, Emmanuel Sanchez, has made waves in the Bellator featherweight division, picking up 4 wins and beating some really talented guys like Justin Lawrence and Daniel Pineda – what will you be looking to do to stop his momentum?

I just have to go there, be focussed and concentrate and play my game. I think that I will be one step ahead of everything that he’s doing and that will give me an opening sooner or later, no matter if it’s in the striking department or on the ground, I will find my opening and I will take it.

Are you confident of a finish going into this fight?

Yeah, I’m pretty confident that I will finish the fight inside the three rounds, that’s what we train for at MMA Spirit and we all know it’s better not to leave it in the hands of the judges.

Sanchez has had three split decision wins in a row. He does have a habit of dropping the first round, at least on my personal scorecard – is he a slow starter?

Yeah, he is a slow starter, but I will not focus too much on that. I just have to step in there and target him, and just play my game. When I’m in there I won’t focus on what he’s doing, I’ll go in there, put the pressure on him and that’s how I’ll win this fight.

You’ve shown some outstanding high volume striking against the likes of Georgi Kharakanyan and Pat Curran, how important is your cardio in asserting that type of strategy?

Cardio is one of the most important things, it can make you lose a fight even if you’re technically better than your opponent, so cardio always has to be on point.

What do you think of those fighters who haven’t had the same focus on cardio as you have, what do you think about that?

Like with the coaches and trainers, everybody has to find the best way to train their own cardio, and also it’s the mental aspect, sometimes when a fighter panics or [feels] under pressure the cardio can completely shut down even if the cardio is actually good, so you have to be able to train that as well. To [feel] under pressure and still be calm and control yourself, your breathing, your heart beat, and this plays also a major role besides training only your cardio.

What sort of things would you do to improve that mental toughness as you say?

That’s a thing that trainers bring each and every day, they focus on body language, behaviour in the gym, on the mat, [and everywhere else]. It just gets in the blood, what the coaches are telling us. It’s a thing they teach us everyday.

One thing that really stands out on your record is the 21 submission wins statistic, the majority of those coming in the first round – how good do you feel your grappling is?

I feel my grappling is on point, I’m still improving, I’m still learning, and last [six months] I’ve probably taken only one week off. Yeah, I’m still working on that, I love to improve and learn new things. I’m a different fighter right now [everywhere], but I feel my Jiu Jitsu is on top, on point. To improve my submission game in MMA is to learn how to get better at feeling movement from your opponent, and I think I improved a lot on that.

Obviously your grappling game is very sharp because you know how to win, but how is your position game? If you had top control or on the bottom would you feel comfortable?

Yeah, definitely, yeah, a lot of Jiu Jitsu practices includes drilling uncomfortable situations and making them more comfortable and working directly for a submission or using a submission for a sweep and things like that. We drill those [situations] a lot.

Now obviously with the fight against ‘Pitbull’, that’s a fight you were dominating until he caught you early in the second – tell us your thoughts on how that fight went from your perspective?

Like you said I felt I was controlling the first round throughout. I should have kept listening to my corner and what they told me in the break, but somehow my emotions took over and against an opponent like him you can’t afford to do that and I paid the price for it.

So was that part of the learning to take from that fight, to stay calm and keep in the head-space of your coaches?

Yeah, of course, that’s what I take form the fight. Always control your emotions every single second, there can’t be a split second where you’re out of focus in a fight, we’ve seen it before in other fights and I experienced it in that fight. If you lose your focus and if you don’t have your emotions under control you’ll pay for that.

Obviously you don’t want to look past Emmanuel Sanchez, but would you be interested in jumping straight into a title fight or would you maybe want to fight Pitbull first instead?

For me it’s about the title, I want to be the first German Bellator champion, and I want to take that belt home. For me it’s not about a certain opponent, for me I’ll fight anybody to get that belt. The featherweight division is so strong I think sooner or later I will fight Pitbull again anyway, even if it’s for the belt or [to avenge] the defeat.