Daniels has only lost to the division’s champion, ‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini, and the number one contender Nieky Holzken, so he is right up there in the contender picture himself. He is the world’s leading point-karate fighter and his unique style has proven difficult for opponents to figure out.
“The thing is you can’t give him space, you have to close him down. He likes to have that space to work with and if you give it to him you are in trouble, that’s when he is really dangerous,” says Baesman.
“When you give him space he gets real fancy so you need to be aggressive and close him down. If you give him too much respect and too much space he will finish you for that. You’ve got to be active, take him out of his comfort zone.
“I’ve watched his videos, had other people watch his videos, then we all came together and made a gameplan. We have done our homework and I think the plan is a good one.”
Looking at Daniels’ two losses in GLORY, it seems the Baesman plan is the right one: try to shut Daniels down or trap him in a corner then work him over. There is a methodical approach which could be taken, but Baesman is also conscious of wanting to put on a show.
“Being in GLORY and being back on Spike TV is a great opportunity. I plan on shocking the world but at the same time I have to show my worth to GLORY by being entertaining,” he says.
“I have got some tricks myself and they have worked out in the past so I will definitely be trying it in this fight. I got ‘Attack of the Night’ for what I call my ‘Flying Ninja Kick’ in Bellator so who knows, maybe I will pull that one out again.”
GLORY 21 SAN DIEGO airs tonight, Friday May 8, on Spike TV at 11pm ET/10pm CT and features Artem Levin, the World Middleweight Champion and one of the best pound-for-pound strikers on the planet, defending his belt against bitter rival Simon ‘Bad Bwoy’ Marcus.
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