After scoring three victories in the Bellator featherweight division, Darrion Caldwell is moving down to the bantamweight division on Friday at Bellator 137 as he will meet top contender Rafael Silva in the opening bout of the main card on Spike TV.
The change in weight class is not the only change that Caldwell has made recently as the former Division 1 college wrestler has moved his training to Pinnacle MMA in California after being at Power MMA in Arizona.
Why did Caldwell decide to leave Power MMA? One of the reasons was to work with the coaches of Pinnacle MMA and another reason was he wanted to be around a team that focused more on striking than wrestling.
“I have been focusing on a lot of other aspects rather than wrestling,” Caldwell told The MMA Report. “Power MMA being a wrestling gym with [Ryan] Bader and [C.B.] Dollaway as opposed to where I am at now with Pinnacle MMA. Guys are really focused on the standup game with kickboxing, Muay-Thai, and striking aspect of this sport. It’s been a nice adjustment for me.”
On Friday night, he will look to make an immediate impact on the Bellator bantamweight division when taking on a former tournament winner in Silva. Caldwell stated that this is the best camp of his career and the diet has been going great. He feels explosive at 135 pounds and is excited to show off what he has been working on.
“I think it’s Darrion Caldwell 2.0,” he said. “This is probably my best camp because my time I have spent with these fighters here [Pinnacle MMA]. There are a lot of fighters in my weight class and around my weight class that I train with day in and day out. I really was not seeing this early on in my career. This has been a vigorous camp. It’s been long and tight. I feel like things are going according to plan.”
When the fight with Silva was initially announce by Bellator, it caught some people in the mixed martial arts community by surprise. Many people did not think Caldwell would get this big of a fight in his bantamweight debut and he feels this fight is a great opportunity for him.
“I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to fight one of the better guys in the organization at the weight class and see where I am at. I know if I beat this guy, I can beat anyone in the weight class. This is definitely my calling and I am definitely ready to take it head on.”
A win over Silva would put Caldwell right in the mix for a title shot in the Bellator bantamweight division. Caldwell is confident that he will get the victory on Friday night in Temecula, California and there is a reason why he believes he will win.
“I want it more,” he said. “I do not thing there is anymore more dedicated to the sport than I am. I do not know a lot of guys that are living in the gym. Waking up, training. Before they go to sleep, training. Middle of the day training. It’s definitely more in it for me to go ahead and get this victory and become a world champion.”