Tournament win in hand, Bellator's Maiquel Falcao done with safe gameplans

After winning Bellator MMA's Season 6 middleweight tournament, Maiquel Falcao (31-7 MMA, 3-0 BFC) had a chat with his coach on the flight back to his native Brazil.

The coach told him he already had a plan to beat Alexander Shlemenko (46-7 MMA, 7-1 BFC) when the two met to determine the next Bellator middleweight champion.

"Because I have won the tournament, I could chose if I wanted the safe gameplan or to take chances and have a great war against him," Falcao told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

It didn't take long for Falcao to choose the path he wanted to walk in the fight, which will crown a middleweight champ after Hector Lombard vacated the belt and went to the UFC.

"I chose the second option because I know that's what Bellator and the fans want to see in this fight," Falcao said.

Even choosing the more dangerous route, Falcao, who headlines tonight's Bellator 88 opposite Shlemenko, doesn't anticipate many problems.

"I think I am stronger and faster than Shlemenko, a better striker, better grappler, and I have a better coach," he said. "Actually, I think I am better than him at everything. I am even more beautiful than him."

Bellator 88 takes place tonight at The Arena at Gwinnet Center in Duluth, Ga. The event's main card airs live on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

Falcao's desire to beat Shlemenko isn't just skin-deep. He and his wife welcomed a son into the world this past November, and he wants to make his boy pround.

"I wanted to kick Shlemenko's ass, but now I want it even more," he said.

Despite such proclamations, he Brazilian's desire to inflict damage has been questioned. Falcao's aggression could clearly be seen when he fought Gerald Harris at UFC 123, but he appeared to be gun-shy at times. In the Bellator cage, he went to the scorecards in all three of his tournament fights.

Now, Falcao is trying to prove he's the finisher he looks like.

"I didn't get a knockout or submission in Bellator yet because I needed to win that tournament badly," he said. "My life was depending on it, I chose to follow the strategy my coach had for me, taking no chances.

"Now I don't feel any pressure on my shoulders because I already won the tournament. I am much more confident, and I want to go there and have great fights."

Falcao's predecessor, Lombard, wowed fans with his one-punch knockout power. Demand to see him on a bigger stage was such that he took a lucrative offer to fight inside the octagon. Falcao, though, said Bellator doesn't need to worry. He'll be doing all his best work in the circular cage.

"I want Bellator to know that they have a true middleweight champion that loves this organization and that will never turn his back to Bellator," he said. "I will get this belt and it will stay around my waist until the day I decide to retire, then I will give it to Bjorn and say: 'Boss, thanks for everything, now you can tell the guys they have a chance to have this belt.'"