The Bellator debut of Daniel Weichel took place in February of last year and he would win three fights in seventy days to win the season ten featherweight tournament and secure a shot at the Bellator featherweight title.
Following the season ten tournament, Weichel (35-8) elected to take a fight while he waited for his chance at the Bellator title. He would get a tough opponent in former Bellator champion Pat Curran and he would walk away with a split decision victory over the former champion.
Prior to the fight with Curran, Bellator President Scott Coker announced that Georgi Karakhanyan would be getting the next title shot and Weichel would have to wait longer for his chance at the title. However, Karakhanyan would suffer a knee injury in training and Weichel got the call. Before he got that call, Weichel felt that somehow he would be fighting Patricio Pitbull for the title in the summer.
“I was training a week after the fight with Pat Curran,” Weichel told The MMA Report. “I kept training and I was supporting my teammates that were fighting. I kept in shape and somehow I had the feeling that it’s going to happen and I would be fighting for the title this summer. The day my manager called me and said the possibility that I could fight for the title. I was not really surprised. I just told my girlfriend the morning of that day, I think something is coming up. I think I am going to fight for the title. Then, it just happened.”
Weichel trains at MMA Spirit in Frankfurt, Germany and he did his entire training camp for this fight in Germany. While he had all of his usual training partners, Weichel and his team decided to bring in JZ Cavalcante to help prepare for Pitbull. Calvacante trained with Weichel for around two weeks and he explained how useful Cavalcante was in preparing for Pitbull.
“His jiu-jitsu is very good. He brings a new style of jiu-jitsu to me so I have to adapt because of this,” Weichel explained. “I know my training partners so good for many years and we know each other. It’s always good to have some fresh styles like new wrestling and jiu-jitsu styles. I think this is something JZ brings in perfectly on table for me. He has a completely different jiu-jitsu style than my guys have and also the way he moves. I can see when I analyze Pitbull, he has similar movements that he does that Pitbull also does.”
When it comes to the fight against Pitbull on Friday, Weichel believes a key is to remained focus. He needs to listen to his corner and when he does this, everything works out well. Just like any fighter heading into a fight, he is confident that he will get a victory on Friday night simply because he believes it’s his time.
“It’s just my time now. I am in the best shape of my life. I am going to do my thing and bring the belt home to Germany.”