Joe Schilling is back in action tonight at Bellator 219, facing Keith Berry in a middleweight division attraction.
The fighter knows that his professional MMA record isn’t the greatest and is tired of talking about it.
“The critics are the critics, and I can’t really say much about them,” Schilling told MMA Junkie. “My MMA record is (expletive), (but) my accomplishments I think speak for themselves across both sports. I’ve had ups and downs. I think I’m already known as that guy who’s going to go in there and bring it every time. Sometimes they pay off, and sometimes they don’t. And that’s really the last thing I want to say about my record. I’m just moving forward. Moving forward, that was a really important step. … The process is one fight after another and showing improvement.”
Schilling has a professional MMA record of 3-5-0 and a record of 2-2-0 in Bellator MMA.
Fans can expect to see an improved Schilling going forward, especially after he left the sport of kickboxing to focus on MMA full time.
“I think the reason it was so difficult is I always had one foot out the door,” he said. “It was like: ‘I’m a kickboxer, and I’m the best in the (expletive) world … sometimes I’m an MMA guy and I suck. But it don’t worry – I’m a kickboxer. Now I’m not a kickboxer anymore.’ It’s like sink or swim. I’ve got kids to feed and goals and (expletive) to reach. Once I made that decision that I’m not doing kickboxing anymore, it’s gotten a lot easier. Now I’m back to being the same aggressive, competitive person I was before. It’s just in a different sport.”
Bellator 219 takes place tonight from the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California with Saad Awad and Brandon Girtz headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on the Paramount Network.
