Another night at the office and another win for undefeated Dalton Rosta at Bellator 289 on Friday.
The middleweight Rosta improved to 8-0 with a unanimous decision win over Anthony Adams, ranked #10 in the 185lb weight class. Rosta himself started the night at #5 and will likely move up a spot or two later this week.
The fight was tough at times, but that’s something Rosta is used to. “I could do this all day. I’m used to working hard, going into dark places and fighting my way out of them,” the middleweight known as “Hercules” — built like him, to be honest — said after the fight. “But that’s not the way I want to fight. I want a long career, I want to graduate guys.”
Rosta chased the finish in the third round and hurt Adams right at the end. Another minute and he might have had a stoppage. “If anything, it’s more of a tease than anything else,” Rosta said of that late surge.
“I have to keep improving,” the 27-year-old said later. “My teammate Johnny [Eblen] is the champion right now, we train together all the time, we get better. I get my experience in the cage.”
Of course, having an American Top Team teammate who holds the belt in the same promotion and weight class could pose a problem down the road. “We may have to fight each other. We hope it doesn’t come to that, but at the end of the day it’s just business,” Rosta said. “But until that day, I’ll keep training with him, I’ll keep getting better because he pushes me. He is a beast. It has a good gas tank, good punches, good fight. I think he has all the qualities I have, plus a good gas tank. He’s a really good fighter and I’m blessed to have him in the gym.”
After going the distance for the fourth time in five fights, Rosta did see a silver lining as much as he wanted to finish his opponents.
“One thing I can take from these decision wins is that I’m getting more time in the cage. And I’m learning to piece things together as I go along,” he noted.
Watch the full Bellator 289 post-fight media appearance from Dalton Rosta above.