Last Tuesday, Eric Schafer and Duke Roufus flew down to Biloxi, Mississippi to help Alan Belcher prepare for his fight against Jason “Dooms” Day at Belcher’s new Remix Gym.
Alan “The Talent” Belcher currently sports a (12-4) MMA record and is (3-2) in the UFC riding a two-fight win streak. Belcher last saw action in the Octagon last October when he opened up a hatchet-like wound on the head of Kalib Starnes forcing a stoppage in the second round.Belcher was then slated to fight Ricardo Almeida at UFC 81 in Las Vegas, Nevada in February of this year, who would be making a return to MMA after an almost four-year layoff. The week of the bout Belcher came down with a severe case of Bronchitis and was forced by doctors to pull out of the fight. Belcher had trained extensively at American Top Team – Missouri and at the Duke Roufus Gym in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Ricardo Almeida fight.
Belcher was then rumored to fight Patrick Cote at UFC 83 in Montreal, Canada. When Cote slipped on some ice and hurt his knee, Jason Day was called up and offered the fight.
Jason “Dooms” Day is from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada and fights out of the Canadian Martial Arts Centre. He has over five years of MMA experience and is also a full-time carpenter who is looking to begin fighting full time. His Muay Thai coach is Gladiators veteran, Justin “Houdini” Tavernini. Day sports a (16-5) MMA record and is riding a four-fight win streak. His MMA record is (3-2) over UFC veterans and holds wins over Jonathan Goulet, Ron Faircloth, and David Loiseau with losses to Victor Valimaki and Patrick Cote. He most recently defeated David “The Crow” Loiseau in a controversial split decision in February, a fight where Loiseau took Day down at ease multiple times in the fight according to MMA Ring Report. Within a couple days of that win he received the call to fight Belcher. Day admits that wrestling his weakpoint but says he’s never had to worry about it.About the Belcher Fight Camp
Eric “Ravishing Red” Schafer is coming off a 41 second submission victory over Ryan Antle at Gladiators 49 in February. He beat the journeyman fighter with a guillotine choke. Prior to that he suffered a second round TKO loss to Stephan Bonnar at UFC 77 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His MMA record according to Sherdog is (8-3-2) and his UFC record is (1-2).According to a bulletin posted on Red’s MySpace account today, he is expected to return to the UFC late this summer. He also announced that he will be fighting on the Gladiators 51 card on May 17th in Milwaukee.
Former four-time World Champion, Duke Roufus recently scored a unanimous decision victory in front of the hometown fans in Milwaukee on March 29. He outpointed Lawson “Meet Your Maker” Baker of World Combat League fame. The win increased Roufus’ kickboxing record to (38-6-1). Roufus used the Baker fight as a warm-up to an upcoming bigger bout against Alexi Ignashov in Las Vegas in September that will take place with the KO World Series Kickboxing organization.Roufus has also recently made statements about fighting MMA but has yet to reveal his plans. In addition to currently coaching UFC veterans Alan Belcher and Eric Schafer has has also coached numerous UFC fighters in the past such as Stephan Bonnar, David Heath, Sean Salmon, and Joe Doerksen.
Patrick BarryPatrick “Get Hype” Barry of Louisiana is also in Biloxi helping Belcher train for his fight. He is currently a K-1 fighter with a kickboxing record of (15-5) according to Wikipedia. Of his 15 wins, 9 have been via TKO or KO. He is also a decorated San Shou fighter having fought on the international level.
Video Link: Pat Barry vs. Gary Goodrich – (K-1) 4/28/2007
Chad JayChad “Don’t Play” Jay sports an MMA record of (7-2) and is a member of Belcher’s Team Remix. He recently lost a decision to Jake Rosholt of Team Takedown on HD Net Fights in March. Six of this up and coming middleweight’s seven wins have come via submission.
Link: Chad “Don’t Play” Jay to fight on HD Net Fights vs. Jake Rosholt of Team Takedown
Match-up
Jason Day has said in interviews that he hopes that Belcher gives him the fight he was hoping for with David Loiseau, i.e. a stand-up war. He has also stated that his wrestling is the weakest aspect of his game. Despite these statements his ground game seems to be very good from what I saw in his videos, it is his takedowns which need work. I think it would be a big mistake for him to keep the fight in Belcher’s area of expertise.
Jason Day has fought formidable competition and roughly half of his wins have come via submission and the other half via TKO or knockouts. Many of these fights have also come on short notice while working a full-time job. Alan Belcher has fought roughly the same level competition but his 60% of his wins have come by TKO or KO with only 1/3 coming via decision.
Belcher is a fighter who has a style very similar to Patrick Cote. Cote was also the last person to beat Day, so it seems that Belcher would also want to keep the fight on the feet. Belcher most recently beat Starnes using a highly effective clinch to throw elbows and knees. Day likes to tie up and use the fence to set up many of his takedowns, which could be a big mistake if Belcher is able to sprawl and clinch with Day. Day would be better off standing and banging than to tie up with Belcher who is likely to open him up with cuts from the clinch.
I expect that Day will probably get a takedown on Belcher but I don’t think he will be able to keep him down since Belcher is very good at scrambling on the ground. I also assume that Belcher is going to get the win via TKO cut or referee stoppage when Day makes the big mistake to stand and trade with a striker who gets better each and every fight.
Prediction: Alan Belcher – 2nd round – TKO
More Related Links:
Alan Belcher vs. Kalib Starnes – UFC 77
Jason Day Highlight Reel
My Interview with Alan “The Talent” Belcher
Duke Roufus and Red Schafer Training at American Top Team
Jason "Dooms" Day goes one on one with MMACanada.net
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Combat Sports on 04-07-08.
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