YORK -- They have a fighting chance and that's all that matters.
Mechanicsburg resident Jeff Smith and Red Land High School graduate Jay Haas will each fight Friday night at Bellator Fighting Championships 74 in Atlantic City.
Smith and Haas are at different points in their careers, however.
Smith (10-1) will face Alexandre Bezerra (13 - 2) in Featherweight feature fight. He said his goal is "definitely make the Bellator tournament, which is a $100,000 tournament.
"If I beat this guy (Bezerra); he's ranked high in featherweight in the world, so (a win) would push me in the tournament," added Smith.
Haas (10 - 8) is hoping to start a winning streak with a victory over Brylan Van Artsdalen (7 - 4). "This fight is really good for me," said Haas. "I need to get a few more wins on my record; maybe rattle off four or five more wins and do some big things for Bellator.
"(I'm going to) just keep grinding."
Haas in the process of opening a MMA training facility in York County. Both fighters used to train at Blackman MMA in Harrisburg, until the facility left Harrisburg Mall. Many fighters now have to train in Allentown or Philadelphia.
