Bellator 274 first, then Aviv Gozali heads home to Israel to help grow MMA 

Aviv Gozali first came to New York to learn the ins-and-outs of high-level mixed martial arts.

Entering the seventh fight of his professional career, he’s ready to bring that knowledge home.

The 21-year-old Gozali (6-0) faces Bobby King in a lightweight bout at Bellator 274 on Saturday in Uncasville, Connecticut, his final fight with a New York-based training camp before a planned return to his native Israel.

"I'm feeling I got everything that I was supposed to get from the U.S.," Gozali told Newsday. "And now it's time to go back home and to build on it from over there."

Following his bout with King (10-4), the unbeaten Gozali will head to his hometown of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv, where he is in the process of opening an MMA gym with his father, former Bellator fighter Haim Gozali.

The elder Gozali served as jiu-jitsu coach for his son as a youth in Israel, but the pair decided to make a move to New York to work at Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan early in Aviv’s career. It was then that the younger Gozali sought to round out his game with a trusted face on the local MMA scene — Long Island striking coach Ray Longo.

"I knew that he was the coach of [former UFC champion Chris] Weidman," Gozali said. "So I messaged him on Facebook and told him that I want to move to New York, and this is how I made the connection."

That note paid off for Gozali, who became part of the crew at LAW MMA in Garden City and said he will have Longo in his corner alongside his father and Renzo Gracie.

"He is an amazing coach with so much experience and so many years in this game, so he got me like 100 levels up from where I was when I came to him the first time," Gozali said. "If it’s mentally, if it’s physically — he has an amazing gym over there. It’s a group of amazing fighters, a lot of talents. We’re all young, we’re all hungry for success, so we’re pushing each other, and soon you’re going to hear about us more."

Gozali’s fondness for his peers at LAW, however, is surpassed by his desire to grow the sport in Israel.

"People love it over there," Gozali said. "Bellator came four times to Israel and every time they come in, like, 12,000 people come in to watch, so the sport is getting very big over there."

As his gym opens and brand expands, however, Gozali understands the importance of winning fights to keep himself in the spotlight and maintain his unbeaten record.

"Every win, people get to know me better over there, all the news postings about it, so of course it’s going to be important to keep winning."

That starts Saturday against 38-year-old King, who Gozali expects to be aggressive, but manageable.

"He is probably going to come and think that he can knock me out, but he doesn’t know what’s coming," Gozali said. "I see me getting a first-round knockout or submission, just going to finish him inside one round. It’s going to be quick."