Stewart hungry for redemption in fight against Brakefield

Coming off a loss is humbling for any mixed martial arts fighter but it was very apparent this week for Brad Stewart that his defeat at the hands of Brendan Kornberger ignited a fire. Stewart was very dialed in and fired up as he needed to compose himself a number of times when it came to discussing his upcoming fight on April 24 against Micah Brakefield.

He confessed his wrestling hasn’t been good enough up to this point but credits Fivestar head coach Shawn Albrecht for turning that around leading up to Fivestar Fight League 14.

“I definitely don’t want to let that happen again,” Stewart said. “He [Kornberger] came in and was just trying to wrestle me which is something we obviously weren’t working on enough. Going into this next fight, having Shawn Albrecht here now is really helping that out a lot. He’s been working a lot of wrestling with us and really opened my eyes to some things that we were lacking in our training. This time it’s going to be a totally different fight.

We never really trained against the cage or worked pretty much everything Brendan did to me in there. He was just holding me against the cage and really grinding it out. It makes for a boring fight as far as I’m concerned but he won the fight and did really well. Next time it won’t be the same.”

When it comes to his expectations for his fight against Brakefield, Stewart wasn’t shy about what he wants to accomplish and it was obvious how bad he wants to win.

“This next fight I am looking to completely erase my last loss from everyone’s mind,” he said after an extended pause. “I’m looking to show that I’m a better fighter than I was last time. A lot’s changed from my last fight. My job is different, I’m not working 14 hour days. I’m able to train twice a day. My cardio is great, I feel good. I feel like a completely different guy this time around.”

When it comes to Brakefield, Fivestar owner Justin Donally says he doesn’t waste any time when he’s in the cage. He’s a fighter that aims for submissions and his bouts rarely go the distance.

When it comes to tickets, a few third and fourth row VIP tables are still available, as are some general admission tickets.

They can be purchased from Fivestar Athletics, Marc Joseph’s, the Lido Theatre, and The Cat Rental Store, or by calling 250-785-2736.