Chris Kelades (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

After being submitted by Ray Borg in February, Chris Kelades elected to make some changes in his preparation for UFC Fight Night 74, and headed south to one of the most famous gyms in the sport. Kelades will face Chris Beal in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and will do so, having spent time training at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida.

“I just wanted to mix it up a little bit for this training camp; get a little more focus and have a few more little guys to train with,” Kelades relayed on a recent episode of Full Contact Fighter Radio, while discussing the August 23rd fight. “See some different styles and mostly just mix it up, and have a place where I can stay focused, and not get distracted.”

“At home it’s easy to have those distractions,” the Nova Scotian fighter added. “I don’t think it’s ever a bad thing to put yourself in the position to have to grow as an athlete and a person. So I think that it will definitely benefit and I’ll see some growth from it, that’s for sure”.

Although Kelades (8-2) spent part of his camp training with ATT, his home gym continues to be Fitplus, which has developed other notable fighters like TJ Grant.

“Fitplus where I train, leading up to this, and when I go home I’ll still train there, it’s a great gym,” said Kelades. “But, certain times, when you’re getting ready for a camp, if a guy has to work, or if a guy is sick, a guy’s away, that one guy is pretty pivotal in your whole camp, so, when that happens, it doesn’t give you the confidence you need, going into something at this level.”

In Beal (10-1), Kelades will face a fighter who has gone 2-1 thus far in the UFC, and competed on the 18th season of TUF. Most recently the American was decisioned by Neil Seery.

“I watched him on “The Ultimate Fighter” and watched some of his fights, so I kind of know what he’s about,” said Kelades. “I think it’s going to be a very exciting fight. I think it’s good stylistically. It’s good for each one of us. It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out. I’m excited for it”.

“He definitely likes to strike and he has big power. He likes to use it.” Kelades noted. “I wouldn’t think he’s going to stray too far from that. Like I said before, everybody at this level has a few tricks in their basket, as far as what they can do on the ground and wrestling. He has a little bit of a wrestling background too and he’s just an overall athletic guy….”

UFC FN 74 will be hosted by the Sasktel Centre.