While this past weekend was all about Mother’s Day, Bellator lightweight fighter John Alessio received an early Father’s Day gift. The Canadian picked up his first victory since March of 2012, as he dominated Eric Wisely at Bellator 119 in Orillia, Ont.
“The win was super important,” Alessio told Sportsnet. “I had the mindset of, it didn’t matter what the hell happened in there, I was coming away with the [win] no matter what. And it worked. Originally I thought I was the first fight on [the main card] then I got bumped to the co-main event. So that pumped me up even more and it just worked out.”
Prior to the victory, Alessio (35-17, 1 NC) had gone winless in four. What was the biggest detriment during that skid? The 34-year-old had an interesting answer.
“I didn’t really have coaching.” Alessio revealed. “I was just kind of doing it myself. I always had good sparring partners and good camps, just no real coaching to really help me get to that next level. [I had] good specialty coaches, but just not a coach that could help me put it all together.”
Alessio was one of the original members of Xtreme Couture in 2006, which was founded in Las Vegas by UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. It was once considered an elite MMA camp, but Couture became less involved due to movie roles and other commitments. This prompted many of the top fighters and coaches to leave and train elsewhere. Last year, Alessio decided to do the same and began training at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, ahead of his Bellator debut against Will Brooks. His plan ended up backfiring.
“I went to Syndicate MMA because [Xtreme Couture] was falling apart; there was literally nobody there to train with. And I didn’t have a very good camp either when I left [Syndicate].”
Brooks dominated the UFC veteran over three rounds for the win and ended up winning the Season 9 lightweight tournament. Many, including Alessio himself, were wondering what was next. Around the time when Alessio was enduring the worst losing streak of his career, his old gym Xtreme Couture was going through a resurgence of sorts. Headed up by Randy’s son and former UFC and Strikeforce fighter Ryan Couture, talent like Miesha Tate, Vitor Belfort and Brad Tavares found their way back. But, perhaps their biggest acquisition was bringing on coach Robert Follis full time.
“When I heard Follis was coming in [to Xtreme Couture] I’m like, ‘I’ll go try it out.’ He had coached a couple times at Robert Drysdale’s and I was like, ‘I really like the way he coaches.’ Then I found out [Xtreme Couture] had hired him. So I tried it out and instantly it felt like a family and home again.”
With proper coaching in place, Alessio is thrilled to make a fresh start in Bellator. At the post-fight press conference, Alessio expressed that Bellator has treated him better than any other promotion in his career. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney didn’t mention any future plans for Alessio, but the lightweight is eager to get back into the next tournament.
