On the eve of the first round of Bellator’s season-five heavyweight tournament, Mark Holata took the time to check in with The MMA Outsider Podcast. Holata chats about his training, his last career loss and how he sees the fight going with opponent Ron Sparks at Bellator 52.

On the development of his striking power

“I always knew I was strong, but I could brawl [at first]. Once you get the technique down and have someone that knows what they are doing and took the time with me to show me how to throw a proper punch, it takes ten times less energy to knock someone out than just brawling and I kind of found that out.”

On his last loss to UFC veteran Darrill Schoonover

“I let the fans kind of down. It takes a toll on you. Even my friends and everybody kind of fell off. You get that taste of losing in your mouth, I came to find out that it is really easy to get satisfied with the winning, but that taste of losing sticks with you a lot, ten times longer than three wins.”

On his opponent Ron Sparks

“He trains at Gleason’s gym and that’s strictly a boxing facility… I know he is not going to be stronger than me in the clinch. I don’t see that happening. If I get him on the ground, he doesn’t have any ground game. So, if I get him out of his element it is going to be different. As far as boxing goes, I don’t think he is going to have as much speed as me. I have seen the guys he has fought, they did not have any business fighting that guy. He has not been pushed yet.”

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