LONDON – Norbert Novenyi Jr. sees his quick knockout at Bellator 297 as a turning point in his career.
The undefeated London Shootfighters prospect needed just 46 seconds to stop Kamil Oniszczuk in June – his sixth finish in seven professional wins.
“Some of the comments and tweets I read after the fight, I feel like now people are understanding the kind of level I’m on and a lot of people are taking me seriously,” Novenyi told MMA Junkie. “I feel like it definitely opened some eyes.”
Novenyi (7-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) started to get notoriety after he beat SBG Ireland staple Will Fleury in 2019. But after he took out Oniszczuk in less than a minute, Novenyi feels like he sent the middleweight division a message.
“I feel like the Will Fleury fight was a big fight, as well, because it went to a decision,” Novenyi said. “Even though it was a very fun fight, a lot of people didn’t pay as much attention to it, whereas this fight, he was very legit, and I managed to finish it so quick in such good fashion,” Novenyi said. “I think that’s why everyone understood what I’m about.”
Novenyi called out Charlie Ward (10-6 MMA, 7-3 BMMA) after his win, but Ward was booked shortly after against Gregory Babene (22-11 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) for Sept. 23 at Bellator 299 in Dublin.
Novenyi, who’s targeting a return at the end of the year, still hopes he can face Ward next. But with little time left in the year after Ward fights, the 23-year-old knows it may not be a possibility.
“The reason why (I want) Charlie Ward is because I was supposed to fight him before, and I think that’s like a little bit of an unfinished business in my life,” Novenyi said. “It’s nothing to do with him. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He’s a nice guy, and he used to actually train at London Shootfighters. But I just feel like that fight has to happen for my sake.
“To be fair, I like both of those guys. Both of those guys are veterans and had a lot of fights and are very good, so I’d love to fight both of those. I want to get a fight in before the end of the year, so I’m not sure if it’s going to be one of them. I’d definitely want to fight any of them, but mainly Charlie Ward. I think that fight has to happen because that’s when I tore my ACL.”
Prior to his fight with Oniszczuk, MMA Junkie released a mini-documentary on Novenyi, “On his way to greatness’: Norbert the Shootfighter,” which can be viewed below.
