Daniel Straus is working on his eighth year in Bellator MMA. From Fox Sports Net on the prelims of a show a couple of hours from his then-home, to Spike TV headlining championship fights -- he's seen a little bit of everything
Just a few years ago, Straus witnessed the man he'd worked for nearly four years ousted from his position in the company. Bjorn Rebney -- who was a staunch supporter of Bellator's hit or miss tournament format -- was relieved in favor of new Bellator head honcho Scott Coker.
Straus and Rebney had their share of disagreements Rebney shot down Straus' 2012 attempt to fill in for an injured Pat Curran to face Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. The two men would go on to be Straus' primary rivals in a couple of the greatest feuds in the history of the brand. Under both bosses, however, the three names would monopolize the featherweight division for years.
"I'm happy I get to fight a new guy. It's definitely different to be looking forward to somebody different. I've been stuck in this rut fighting the same guy, an injury, fighting the same guy. For the past four years it's been practically the same faces," said Straus.
Despite the disagreements with Rebney, Straus told Fightful.com this week that he thinks highly of him and how he was treated. He was then asked to compare the two as bosses.
"They're two different guys, obviously. I can't say anything bad about Bjorn. We had issues once or twice, but he treated me nothing but good. Some people didn't like the way that he ran the business, but that was his business. With Scott coming in, things have been ran differently. It's awesome to see the changes, the notoriety we're gettings. With change comes change. There's guys we don't see any more that we were comfortable seeing, as far as production crew and stuff like that. It's just different. It's good to be a part of something that evolve. I get to share my experience," said Straus.
Straus also spoke about his fight this weekend with Roufusport product and featherweight grinder Emmanuel Sanchez. At 7-2 in Bellator, Sanchez has carved out a big spot for himself at 145 pounds. Straus doesn't seem concerned about the challenge posed.
"I'm looking for a good ass fight. I'm looking for him to come forward and get knocked the fuck out. He can go all three rounds and I've been doing that my whole life," said Straus.
Straus would go on to tell us that he doesn't have any plans to move up in weight, hopes to be more active than in previous years, and that his previous hand injury has it's painful days (mainly in conjunction with bad weather) but is good as far as fighting goes.
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Bellator 184 takes place Friday, October 6 from the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma. Fightful.com will have full live coverage and discussion of the show, and will talk about the happenings on Saturday's post-UFC 216 show.
