THAT Chris Bungard has accepted the toughest fight of his career with less than three weeks notice says much about his confidence levels.

Tonight, the 31-year-old will take on Brent Primus at Bellator 240 in Dublin, and while the MMA fighter would rather have had more notice, the occasion will ensure he is on top of his game.

Bungard is rarely short of motivation when he steps into the octagon, but this evening is particularly special for the 31-year-old as it is the first time a Scot has headlined a Bellator card and so to make history is, he admits, is quite something.

“There are so many Scottish fighters coming through, there’s a lot of young guys,” he said.

"There’s young guys at my gym that I know are going to be great fighters so it’ll be good to look back and say I was the first one.”

Bungard will need to be at his best tonight if he is to claim victory in what will be his fourth Bellator fight.

Primus is a former world champion and while Bungard is under no illusions about the task in front of him, he is confident that despite his curtailed preparation time, he will be ready for battle.

He was offered the fight just a few weeks ago in the most unusual of circumstances; while sitting on a camel. But having last fought in November, where he claimed the fifteenth win of his career, he believes he has what it takes to create an upset against the American.

“I was on holiday in Tunisia and I accepted the fight when I was sitting on a camel in the Sahara desert,” he revealed.

“As soon as I got home, I hit the ground running and am trying to be the best prepared I can with the notice I’ve had. I’m looking forward to the occasion, and the fight itself.

"I’m trying to get a couple of sessions in per day but I’m just trying to get as fit as I can. I know how to fight so it’s fitness.

"The guy I’m fighting is very good everywhere and he’s well-conditioned so he’ll be ready to go three hard rounds so I’m just trying to get to that stage where if it does go to three rounds, I’m fighting at my best and be fighting at a high pace.

"I’d have like to have a bit more notice for the fight but these opportunities don’t come round too often so I had to take it.

"I know a lot about him from being in the same company. He’s a world-class fighter and he’s good everywhere really. He’s a jiu jitsu black belt and he’s very well-rounded.

"This is my hardest fight to date but I want to feel the elite level to see where I am in my career and if I can out these guys away then how good am I?

"I feel confident that I can beat anybody on my day. I think it’s going to be a tougher fight than my last three in Bellator. I was the underdog in the my last three but look how they went so anything can happen on the night. I’m looking forward to testing my skills.”

Dublin is a familiar city to Bungard having travelled there regularly until recently to train alongside MMA superstar Conor McGregor. And it was the lure of Dublin that made this an unmissable opportunity for the Bellshill man.

“I trained in Dublin on and off for four or five years,” he said.

“I love Dublin and I love Ireland. I love the people and it’s somewhere I’ve wanted to fight all my life so that’s another reason why I jumped at this opportunity. I’ve got a lot of Irish fans so I’m looking forward to it.”

At 31-years-old, Bungard is most likely nearer the end of his career than the beginning.

But he is still some way from throwing in the towel just yet. There remains a couple of significant goals that remain for Bungard, with bringing Bellator to his home country a major target.

“Bellator have signed another couple of Scottish fighters so hopefully that’s moving things in the right direction. And they’ve put me as the headliner so that must mean something too so it’s looking positive. Hopefully if I put in a great performance and get a good result we can sit down and start talking about venues and dates,” he said.

“I’ve still got a good few years in me. The time will come where the young guys I train with are beating me up every day but they’re not there yet.

“I don’t know how long I’ve got left because it’s a tough sport on the body.

“But I’ve always said I’d like to get to 50 fights, that was my target when I first started and I’m 33 now so I’ve got another 17 fights at least.”

Watch Chris in action against Brent Primus at Bellator 240: Primus vs. Bungard on Sky Sports from 3am.