Don’t blink.

A highlight reel knock out could happen at any time.

The term, “high level striker”, is tossed around freely in MMA these days.  If anyone deserves the title, it’s Bellator middleweight Joe “Stitch’em up” Schilling.

This Friday night the dual sport athlete steps back in the Bellator cage looking for redemption. Schilling is coming off of a lackluster loss to Rafael Carvalho, who saw fit to lay on Schilling for a majority of the fight. Schilling has been extremely active as of late, this will be his fourth fight since November 2014, three MMA and one for Glory Kickboxing.

Schilling has two fights left on his Glory contract, but says, “[He’s] all in in MMA”. A trip to American Top Team to help Thiago Silva train for Carlos Condit seemed to be a good fit for Schilling. “It was great. Everyone was extremely helpful.”, Schilling told The MMA Corner. When asked if there were thoughts of relocating to South Florida, Schilling said, “Yes”. Schilling is currently a resident of California and says it would benefit his family and reduce the cost of living by moving to the East coast.

Friday, June 26, Schilling steps into the cage to face the relative unknown Hisaki Kato. Kato (4-1), a striking heavy fighter coming from the HEAT organization in Japan, has never fought in the U.S.  On paper, it looks like this will play out to be a striking battle, but Schilling is quick to point out, “these guys are all going to try and take me down.” Schilling is definitely on another level when it comes to striking in MMA.  Schilling also stated that while at ATT it was the first time he’s ever really had one on one wrestling coaching.  There’s no denying the level of coaching and athletes at ATT.

If Schilling is truly dedicating himself to MMA, then look for the Glory kickboxing standout to really make waves. Be sure to tune in Friday, June 26, on Spike TV to see just what Schilling has been working on.

About The Author

Josh Cate
Staff Writer

Josh Cate started his martial arts training 27 years ago. Josh become instantly passionate about the arts. One road led to another in his journey. Josh holds the rank of 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, 2nd degree black belt in Shingitai Jiu-jitsu, 2nd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Brown belt in Judo. In 1998 he had his first professional MMA bout. A bronze medalist at the BJJ nationals, gold medalist at the Jiu-jitsu World Cup, NAGA national champion are a just a few of the many awards on Josh's list of accomplishments. Aside from owning and operating Team Kaos MMA/BJJ in Knoxville, Tennessee, Josh has started working with Valor Fighting Championships and occasionally writes for mma websites. Be on the lookout for the Full Frontal MMA podcast that he is getting ready to launch as well. Josh is truly grateful for all of the opportunities MMA has given him and looks forward to this chapter with The MMA Corner!