Anthony Morrison was back in the ring, and had found his true home, as part of Bellator

1. Anthony Cheesesteak Morrison- MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography

2. It’s been five years since Anthony “Cheesesteak” Morrison fought featherweight Mike Brown, as part of WEC 46: Varner Vs. Henderson. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in that time, so let’s take a look back to when Anthony Morrison first got the call. True to his name, and being a true native son of Philadelphia, Anthony Morrison was on his way to Max’s Cheesesteaks, as he told MMAJunkie.com back in 2010. A voice on the other end of the line asked the ominous question, “Are you sitting down?” Cutting to the chase, Morrison asked what was up. They said, “You’ve got an opportunity to fight Mike Brown in the WEC.” The news came out of the blue, but was not entirely a shock. Anthony Morrison has been involved in some form of competitive fighting since the age of 13, first inspired by a love of professional wrestling, as well as his streetwise uncles, from the streets of The City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. Morrison was apprehensive, understandably so, despite his love of the sport, and didn’t want to commit, straightaway. “I said, ‘I don’t know,'” Anthony Morrison said. “I am not even goanna front. I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ He had to consult with his wife, who was a little freaked out. “I talked to my wife, and she was kind of scared. I talked to her, and my coach talked to her, SuckerPunch Entertainment President Brian Butler talked to her. We all got on the phone, we all conversed, and here I am. I got my team behind me, and I’m here, ready to work.” This is not exactly surprising, as extreme cage fighting is notoriously dangerous (would we watch it if it weren’t?) Some statistics among fight camps from 2014 show that nearly 1 in 6 fighters, even on the best teams, withdraw due to injuries, self-inflicted or otherwise. And that’s in the minor leagues. Getting in the cage with one of the world’s top WEC featherweights is no easy decision. After the initial hesitation, and easing his wife’s mind, Anthony Morrison committed and dove headlong into training in Sacramento, California. “I’m feeding off the energy,” Morrison said. “That’s what I like. This is the big show, and I’m a showman. The more energy I see around me, the better I feel. “Anybody that’s been around me for the past couple of years knows that I’ve been saying, ‘I want this. I’m hungry.’ Somebody must have heard me because they gave me a buffet. Let’s see how much I can eat.” Anthony Morrison had something to prove, after losing his ten match winning streak to Jose Aldo, costing him the featherweight title.

3. Despite the overwhelming 11-to-1 odds in Brown’s favor, Morrison kept his spirits up while training. “Critics get paid to do what they do,” Morrison said. “But there’s a thin line between a critic and a hater. A critic doesn’t know better, so of course he’s going to criticize. A hater knows better, and he still chooses to criticize. The critics don’t know who I am.” “Just like there’s a lot of pressure on me, there’s pressure on him, too. We’re in the town where he beat Urijah Faber. They don’t like him here. He’s coming in here against that, he just lost his title, and he’s got a hungry guy in front of him. Who do you think has more pressure? I’ve got pressure, too, but he’s got a little bit more.” Despite his positivity and focus during training, it was not meant to be. Anthony Morrison lost to Mike Brown in the first round, at 1:54 in, thanks to a rear-naked choke. The WEC was hard on Anthony Morrison, ultimately causing him to be cast out. This could be a tragedy, and end here, but Morrison is a lifelong fighter and was snatched up by his true home, Bellator MMA, where his record has soared!

4. Referral Link: http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Anthony-Morrison-16722