LOS ANGELES – Darrion Caldwell has made a significant change going into the Bellator featherweight grand prix, which continues Saturday with his opening-round matchup against Henry Corrales.
After losing back-to-back fights to Kyoji Horiguchi at bantamweight – the latter of which saw him lose his Bellator title – Caldwell (13-3 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) opted to switch things up as he begins pursuit of a new title and the $1 million tournament prize.
Apparently Caldwell didn’t feel his longtime team at Alliance MMA in San Diego, Calif., was the appropriate fit to help him reach that goal. He had “no comment” on the specifics of why, but Caldwell said he returned to the gym where he got his start ahead of Bellator 228.
“I changed gyms,” Caldwell told MMA Junkie on Thursday at Bellator 228 media day. “I’m over here back at Pinnacle MMA (in Redlands, Calif), back in my home roots where I started my career under head coach Jake Behney. This is a place where I’ve trained with Henry Corrales before, and I’m just happy to be back home.”
After losing three-straight to begin his Bellator tenure, Corrales has put together five consecutive wins, including a stunning knockout of Aaron Pico at Bellator 214 in January.
That put him in position to get into the tournament and into a matchup with Caldwell. The pair have something of a friendship, and although “The Wolf” holds Corrales in high regard, he said he must put that aside on fight night.
“I respect Henry through and through,” Caldwell said. “Inside the cage, outside the cage. He’s just a man. There’s not anything I can do or say that’s going to change the outcome of the fight leading up to it. It’s just all about preparation. It’s about focusing on how to execute my game plan on Saturday night.”
A loss for Caldwell at Bellator 228 would put him in the curious position of a three-fight skid. A win, though, would advance him to the tournament’s final eight.
With so much on the line, Caldwell knows he can’t look past the task at hand, but he does admit that if he has a chance to pick his matchup in the next round, he’s going right for champion Patricio Freire (29-4 MMA, 17-4 BMMA).
“If ‘Pitbull’ is on that board and doesn’t have a fight, I’m jumping in there,” Caldwell said. “I want to fight ‘Pitbull’ next. That’s the goal.”
