THACKERVILLE, Okla. – [autotag]Logan Storley[/autotag]’s win Friday at Bellator 233 was a major feather in his cap.
Storley (11-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA), a four time All-American wrestler, took on former Division-I wrestler E.J. Brooks. He picked up a TKO win when Brooks didn’t come back out for the second round with an apparent broken arm.
Storley was able to hurt Brooks early, throwing a couple of kicks that hurt Brooks’ arm. He was then able to use his wrestling to take the fight to the mat, and after the end of Round 1, Brooks’ corner stopped the fight with Brooks unable to continue due to the injury.
[lawrence-related id=461778,461145]
The game plan for Storley was to come out aggressive and put pressure on Brooks, which he was able to do. The arm injury suffered by Brooks made it that much harder for him to get off the mat when Storley was all over him.
“I knew that first kick, I think it was the first or second kick that hurt him,” Storley told MMA Junkie after the fight. “I felt him underneath when I kept putting it on him, and forcing him to push off of it – and that was a hard, grinding pace, the first five. That’s what I wanted to do because I felt him slowly losing that energy and me just getting into more dominant positions, but it takes a while to get to that. You don’t just get to go land big shots right away. You have to wear these guys out, then you can set the pace and fight your fight.”
Storley thinks taking out an accomplished wrestler in Brooks proves how good his wrestling is.
“It took a little longer than I wanted, getting to those positions, but he’s a former Division-I wrestler,” Storley said. “He’s beat really good guys in wrestling, and that’s what people don’t understand is, that guy was a really good Division-I wrestler. So for me to go out there and dominate a former Division-I wrestler like that, I think that speaks to my wrestling ability.”