LOS ANGELES – Some fighters work off instinct and fight with their feelings, but Henry Corrales isn’t one of them.
The featherweight, who takes on Juan Archuleta at Bellator 238 on Saturday, explained taking that approach hasn’t done him many favors in the past.
“I try not to really focus so much on my feelings, because they’ve led me wrong ways in the past,” he told MMA Junkie. “So I just work on mastering my craft, training and just enjoying (expletive). I’m not too worried about anything.
“I wanted to punch somebody, then doing it and getting into (expletive) trouble. I wanted to drink too much, then doing it and getting into (expletive) trouble. Just going by instincts and feelings is not good for me, so I don’t try to deal with that type of (expletive).”
Instead, Corrales said, he’s focusing on the few controllable items that exist for a fighter in the leadup to a big event.
“There’s not a lot of things in my control,” he said. “I’m not going to think about who I want to fight, because I don’t turn down a fight, and I’ll fight any one of these (expletives). I don’t think about that stuff. I’m not that smart, so I can’t think about too much stuff. I just think about training, trying to eat the right foods, and being nice to my people around me. Simple (expletive).”
That simple, straightforward approach has clearly worked, with Corrales (17-4 MMA, 5-4 BMMA) now firmly established as one of the most dangerous men in Bellator’s stacked 145-pound division. His featherweight grand prix exit to Darrion Caldwell at Bellator 228 was his first defeat since 2016, and he said he is looking forward to serving up an action-packed encounter with fellow crowd-pleaser Archuleta (23-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) on Saturday night.
“I need to work on my wrestling. I’m not a Division-I wrestling champ, but it was a learning experience,” he said of his defeat to Caldwell. “Even though it didn’t go my way, I definitely enjoyed it. Typical life hardships, you learn a lot from – so that was good. I’m really grateful that I got another big fight. That’s awesome. I’m really pumped. It’s just like any fight. Not only do I predict – I envision and I lust over a lot of violence. So that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
