Jaylon Bates went as far as shaving his head to show his renewed dedication to mixed martial arts. Bates (6-0, 6-0 Bellator) will step into the Bellator MMA cage for the seventh time in his career as he takes on Jornel Lugo in a bantamweight affair at Bellator 290. Even though he took home a narrow split-decision victory over Mark Coates in July in his latest assignment, “New Breed” never hid he wasn’t happy about his performance that night. In Bates’ opinion, he didn’t show dedication to the game and didn’t perform at his best at Bellator 283, an error that almost cost him his undefeated streak. Now, Bates says he’s in a different place mentally, and it will show in his clash with Lugo. (00:00) Intro (00:19) Cutting his hair (01:09) Dedicating to training (02:04) His holiday season (03:21) Dealing with COVID (03:51) Defeating Coates (05:22) Preparing for Lugo (06:23) Training with A.J. McKee (07:25) Commenting on McKee’s victory on New Year’s Eve (07:54) Hoping to take on some b