Derek Campos will look to punch his ticket into the Bellator lightweight tournament final tonight when he takes on Bellator veteran and former tournament finalist Patricky “Pitbull” Freire.
Campos (14-3) is currently on a five fight winning streak and his last three wins have come in the Bellator cage.
He secured his spot in the tournament semifinal by defeating Fight Master alum Tim Welch in the opening round with a decision victory. While he was happy to get the victory against Welch, he knows that he could have performed better than he did.
“I felt like I could’ve pushed the pace more against Tim Welch,” Campos said. “I was OK with my performance overall but I hurt my hand when I rocked him in the second round, and I think that kept me from really going after the finish. I wanted to push the pace on him a little more than I did – that’s the part I should have done better with.”
Tonight will mark the first time in his past three Bellator fights that he will walk to the cage as an underdog and unlike some fighters, he does care about whether people view him as the favorite or the underdog.
“I do care about who people think the favorite is or should be,” he said. “I want people to know that I’m not just some scrub that Pitbull is going to run over. Pitbull definitely has a serious fight on his hands here.”
His fight against Pitbull tonight is the biggest fight of his career as he is two wins away from challenging for the Bellator lightweight title. Pitbull has been in the cage with some of the best lightweights in Bellator and a victory tonight by Campos would send a big message.
“I see Pitbull as a big step up for me,” Campos stated. “I put him up there with the top fighters that I’m looking forward to fighting, like Marcin Held, Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez. To be considered a top fighter you have to beat other top fighters, and people will start to see me as a top fighter if I beat him.”
When it comes to the fight tonight, Campos expects a high pace and he will be coming forward at his opponent and expects Pitbull to do the same thing. He admitted that Pitbull is a little quicker than him, but he believes that he has more power than his opponent.
“His stance is tighter and he’s probably a little quicker, but I’ll go ahead and say that I have more power than Pitbull,” Campos explained. “I think that’s going to make a big difference because he’s going to want to stand and bang. When he does and he feels my power, he’s not going to want it anymore. If I have to, I’ll take his ass down and use my wrestling and ground-and-pound to beat the [expletive] out of him.”
Campos intends to make a big statement tonight against Pitbull and move one step closer to challenging for the Bellator lightweight title. His plan is to push the pace, move forward and look to win by knockout.
“I absolutely intend to make a big statement against Pitbull. I’m going to push forward, not back up an inch and just throw heavy hands until I get a finish. I have no problem saying that I’m going for the finish here. I’m looking to knock Pitbull out, either technically or out cold. Or, since I have good wrestling and I’m not afraid to use my Jiu-Jitsu, I’ll jump on a submission if it’s there. I don’t want a decision win over Pitbull – I’ll find a way to finish him.”