Marcelo Golm has no intention of allowing his latest opportunity to slip through his fingers.

The 30-year-old Brazilian heavyweight will take his first turn as a Bellator MMA headliner when he faces Daniel James in the Bellator 293 main event on Friday at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. Golm enters the cage with plenty of steam, having rattled off four consecutive victories since being released by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2019. He last fought at Bellator 283, where he submitted Davion Franklin with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their July 22 encounter.

In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Golm touches on his time in the UFC, discusses his latest training camp and looks ahead to his showdown with James:

Sherdog.com: You seem to be reinventing yourself as a top fighter in Bellator. When you fought in the UFC, things did not go as you had hoped. What is different today?
Golm: It was the start of my career. Maybe the time wasn’t right yet. It was a matter of maturity. It wasn’t something physical but more to do with my mindset. My arrival in the UFC was way too early.

Sherdog.com: You have finished all four of your opponents since 2020, the last two of them inside Bellator. Can you talk about your recent accomplishments?
Golm: My own career in Bellator has been going great, despite some cancellations and some beef with Steve Mowry. Everything is going according to plan and, God willing, I’ll score one more victory.

Sherdog.com: You have had to endure no fewer than six opponent changes or bout cancellations in the last two-plus years. How do you deal with those circumstances?
Golm: Mentally, I know these things happen. It doesn’t affect me much to suffer a cancelation. I’ve dropped out myself due to injury. Financially, of course, it’s bad. When there’s no fight, there’s no money. At least with Bellator, when my opponents dropped out, they found replacements. I train to face anyone. I have no problem accepting a substitute. It’s only bad when the fight falls through and there’s no one to fill the spot.

Sherdog.com: How did training go?
Golm: My camp was done again at American Top Team. I’ve been here for four years. I train under Katel Kubis, Luciano “Macarrao” dos Santos and Steve Mocco. I train boxing under the Oliveira brothers: Gabriel and Ivan “Pitu.” Marcos “Parrumpinha” da Matta runs our jiu-jitsu sessions and “Conan” Silveira is our head coach. Physical conditioning is done with Diego Lacerda. My training partners for this fight were [former opponent] Sergei Pavlovich and Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

Sherdog.com: You are currently ranked seventh in the Bellator heavyweight division, with James right below you. What do you see in him as an opponent?
Golm: James is a very tough guy. He’s big and strong. He’s also on a four-fight winning streak. His last performance in Bellator was very good, but nothing surprises me. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Of course, I fully respect him. His hands are super heavy. He hits hard, but so do all us heavyweights. It’s what I’m used to. I’m ready to beat him, whether on the feet or on the ground—wherever the fight goes. After this fight, I expect to be closer to the title. I think that with a good win, I should be next to fight for the belt.