By DJ Mackie
Shah Bobonis (12-6; Bantamweight) is a fighter out of the Freestyle Fighting Academy in Miami that has had a very impressive 2011. He has had four victories this year, and not a single one has made it to the final bell. He has had four bouts, with four stoppages, two of which didn’t make it out of the first round. His lastest and probably most notable bout and victory was with ATT’s Marcos da Matta at Bellator 50 on September 17th, where he picked up a 3rd round knockout victory over the Carlos Gracie Black Belt. Shah has big plans ahead in his future and with the impressive streak he is on and the national attention that it is bringing him, he shouldn’t be far from accomplishing some of those goals. I was able to catch up with him recently to get his thoughts on the bout with Marcos da Matta and what it meant to him and what his career holds in store moving forward:
You’ve had three victories in 2011 and all have been stoppages, how good does that make you feel?
Bobonis: The win over da Matta was my fourth this year and I’ve stopped everyone (2ko/2subs). Mma.tv has all my fights sherdog is incorrect. It feels great because I gave up a lot to be a full time fighter. I now work part time and train full time and I think it shows with my results this year. I feel I have come a long way and I’m ready to fight the best fighters in the world at 135lbs.
You finally got the fight you wanted with Marcos da Matta and was able to pull off a very impressive knock out victory, how happy are you with getting the fight and then being able to pull off the win in the manner you did?
Bobonis: I want everyone to know that I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful by calling out ATT’s top 135ers. To be considered one of the best, you have to beat top guys, it just so happens that ATT has a bunch of guys considerd top guys at 135/145. I talked the talk and then I walked the walk. I’m glad it worked out because it would have been embarassing if I would have gotten beat up after asking for such tuff fights. I’m happy that I got that ko in the third because I knew I was down two rounds and needed a knockout to win.
Marcos da Matta was on your wish list of fighters you wanted to fight and you were able to get the match up, who is next in line that you are hoping to get a bout with?
Bobonis: Next up I have Jeremy Pender (7-2) on December 2nd live on HDnet for the XFC. I’m not looking past Jeremy at all; he presents a lot of problems that most 135ers don’t. He is very tall for the weight at 5’10 and has better than average boxing for MMA. He also has a good closed guard game and has four triangle submission victories on his record. That being said I think I am at another level in every area of the fight game. I feel like I need to be fighting the best in the world at 135lbs. I’m really not interested in fighting anyone after this fight who is not recognized on a international level. I’ve put another wish list together.
You have been on a very impressive winning streak since your last loss in the summer of 2010, what can you credit all of the success that you have had to and how do you feel that you have improved since your loss way back in the middle of 2010?
Bobonis: Ya it’s been a while since my last loss. Almost 2 years! I don’t forget what it feels like though, and I work hard so that I don’t have to experience that again. I have to give credit to Master Marcos and Master David Avellan, my parents, and Brawl and Maul. They are the ones who made it possible [for me] to start training full time. I started training full time about a year ago and every area of my MMA game has risen to a world class level.
What is the gameplan moving forward after the da Matta victory, and when can we see you back in action?
Bobonis: My game plan now is to take selective fights to get maximum exposer, such as the XFC fight which will be live on national television. I want big fights on TV with big names.
Thanks for the time, is there anything you would like to say to all of your fans and supporters out there?
Bobonis: Everyone please follow me on Twitter @shah5297, I hear Dana White likes fighters who have large social media followings.
