Ex-Bellator Champ Zach Makovsky Rolls on Following Loss to Edwardo Dantas

EX-BELLATOR CHAMP ZACH MAKOVSKY ROLLS ON FOLLOWING LOSS TO EDUARDO DANTAS
BY STEVEN MARROCCO ON DEC 04, 2012 AT 10:10 PM ET

Eduardo Dantas is not the first person to have issued a beating to Zach Makovsky.

There are two other fighters who've beaten the former Bellator bantamweight champion on the pro circuit. But there are countless training partners who have done it in the gym.

The easy-going Makovsky (14-3 MMA, 6-1 BFC) says that's the point.

"The training always keeps me very humble," the 30-year-old fighter told MMAjunkie.com Radio in advance of his fight with Anthony Leone (11-5 MMA, 1-2 BFC) at Bellator 83, which takes place Friday at Caesars Atlantic City in New Jersey (Makovsky vs. Leone serves on the MTV2-televised main-card following prelims on Spike.com.)

Makovsky, who trains out of Philadelphia Fight Factory, is a former training partner of ex-Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez. A wrestler by trade, he said there are sessions in which he's controlled by superior wrestlers and outstruck by better kickboxers.

"Training with top guys, you get beat up in some area in some points," he said.

Jiu-jitsu is an area for improvement both in the gym and inside the cage. All of Makovsky's career losses come by way of submission. His first setback came when Brazilian Wilson Reis submitted him with an arm-triangle choke.

Lanky fighters have given him trouble, as well. Dantas, who choked him unconscious at Bellator 65 to take his belt, is just such a fighter. Makovsky said he made several strategic mistakes and was unable to exert control of the Brazilian with his wrestling. Instead, Dantas got him to the mat and secured an arm-triangle, which he said caused him to "panic."

The loss was Makovsky's first in two years over eight fights, and it cost him the title. A championship rematch clause recently instated by Bellator would be of immediate benefit, but he must win another tournament to get a second crack at Dantas.

Yet Makovsky is undeterred by the road ahead.

"Nobody wants to lose, even if you can learn more from it," Makovsky said. "The goal is to win every fight. But the real goal is to keep learning and be the best you can be."

With an eight-month layoff from fighting, Makovsky has had plenty of time to take beatings. He hopes all of them serve their purpose against Leone, a veteran of Bellator, WEC and Strikeforce.

"It has been a while, and coming off a loss, I'm looking forward to showing what I can do and getting some redemption," Makovsky said.