The cage is set to host plenty of seasoned competition when Jeremy Kennedy and Matt Bessette square off.
Kennedy, a Canadian fighter carrying a 15-2 record, steps into Bellator for the very first time on Thursday evening, facing the American Bessette, who sits at 24-9, in a featherweight clash at Bellator 253 held in Uncasville, CT.
At 28 years old, Kennedy rounds out a wave of Canadian talent Bellator has accumulated over the last twelve months alongside Josh Hill, Lance Gibson Jr., and Steve Mac Donald, and he expressed enthusiasm about being among the select few showcasing the Canadian flag inside the promotion.
"I feel like I'm carrying a bit of the Canadian pride with me because there's only a few of us. I want to be a Canadian champion in Bellator, and I think it's my time to really rep that Canadian flag," Kennedy told MMA Empire during an interview.
"I'm glad they're doing it because it's a huge market in Canada, and Bellator's one of the top promotions, and seeing them give all the other Canadians a chance is just going to make Canadian MMA grow, regardless."
Previously, the 35-year-old Bessette had devoted himself entirely to training and competing, relying on fight earnings as his main bread and butter.
Bessette revealed he recently transitioned to a full-time position while keeping his combat sports pursuits on the side. That shift toward a dependable paycheck has lifted a substantial burden from his mental load, positioning him favorably going forward.
"For eight years, from 2011 to 2019, I was just fighting. Although you think you can put more time into your training and get better, yes, but at the same time it weighs on you. When you have a family, it definitely weighs on you because you really have to make that money. If you're not fighting, you're not making money," Bessette explained in an interview with MMA Empire.
"Now that I have this full-time job, I'm able to make my own training schedule around it. I'm still getting tons of training, but now I have a steady pay cheque. That kind of weight is off my shoulders, and it feels so good."
Kennedy confident in his strengths
Kennedy's career path has already brought him face-to-face with numerous formidable adversaries, among them Daniel Pineda, Luis Rafael Laurentino, Marat Magomedov, and the reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Bessette represents yet another formidable hurdle, yet Kennedy views the matchup favorably.
"He's a gamer, he's durable, he throws, he's got a lot of volume, but I think his weaknesses play right into my strengths," Kennedy noted.
"I think I'm going to be able to exploit him, and win all the little in-betweens. I just think I'm overall the better athlete, better conditioned, younger, and more physical than him. I think I beat him everywhere."
Given that the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix is actively underway, Kennedy might not find himself in line for a title opportunity for perhaps a year or longer.
Still, Kennedy emphasized that the division offers plenty of interesting possibilities regardless of when or whether a shot at the belt materializes.
"With the tournament still going on now and me coming into the mix, it's a pretty good landscape. It's really ordering itself out with all these fights, and I'm just excited to get this fight in with Bessette, and see what happens in the quarterfinal and semifinal matchups," Kennedy said.
"There's going to be a lot of options for me here coming up, and I think I matchup well with all of these guys."
Kennedy hasn't competed since taking on Pineda in the PFL back in October 2019, meaning this bout marks his introduction to the empty-arena environment that has defined 2020 combat sports.
