Texan Derek Campos has been with Bellator for a while, fighting some of the top contenders and having picked up a number of solid victories along the way. Despite this, he has so far struggled to mark himself as one of the elite in the Lightweight division having lost some crucial match-ups.
Campos (17-6 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) now has the opportunity to cement himself as a top contender in the division when he faces Derek Anderson (14-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) in the opening fight at Bellator 170. Campos enters this bout riding a two-fight win streak, having notched a brutal KO victory over Melvin Guillard and a unanimous decision win against Djaimil Chan. These wins saw him bounce back from a two-fight losing streak to current Bellator 155lb champion Michael Chandler and Brandon Girtz.
Ahead of his fight at Bellator 170 this weekend, the 28-year-old believes he is right where he wants to be and is confident he’ll get the win.
“I feel great, my weight is right where I want it to be, my hands feel fast and from a strength standpoint I feel strong. I’m trying to bulk up a little bit, put on some strength so well see if I can bring some power into this fight. This could be an all-out war with Anderson you know, it could go the distance if he is just that tough but if not I see me breaking his will and taking him out via either KO or TKO.”
Despite his comments Campos regarded Anderson as a great fighter and believes a win on Saturday night could be enough to earn him a title shot and the chance to avenge his loss to champion Michael Chandler.
“To me it doesn’t matter who they line me up against because to me that person is the next step towards the title and I’ll always look to go out there and dominate them. So with Anderson he’s a great fighter, he’s won against really good opponents and he’s lost against good opponents; he’s 14-2 for a reason so this fight against him, a win here could put me hopefully up next for a title shot and if not it’s going to put me in line to keep continuing to fight the best guys in the division.
“You know just like I said I wanna fight the best guys and if with a win here I get lined up for a title shot then great I’m going to go out there and get it. But if not and I don’t get the title shot then yeah I just want to keep fighting the best guys, I’ll fight Josh Thomson I’ll fight Brent Primus, Adam Piccolotti. I’ll fight all the guys who are considered top of the 155 division, I’ll fight whoever I have to until I get my title shot.“
At the moment the American feels there is no one else other than Thomson who is currently challenging the champion and wants to prove that his loss to Chandler in their first fight was a one off.
“Honestly I don’t see many other guys challenging him for that title other than Josh Thomson, I’d love to see that fight but at the end of the day I would love to keep beating the best guys in the division and get that title shot against Chandler so I could go out there and show him that first flight was a fluke. If we were to fight again I believe it would be completely different and I can come out on top. I have the power and I just want to make Michael Chandler feel the power that I have in my punches, in my right hand and my left too. God willing it will eventually happen but I need to go up against Derek Anderson first and get that win.”
This weekend Bellator 170 is expected to draw in big numbers thanks to the Light-Heavyweight main event bout between former UFC stars Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen which gives Campos all the more added incentive to get the night off to an exciting start.
“Being on a bigger show like this with Tito and Chael it’s exciting; everybody has watched Tito from the beginning of MMA and Chael Sonnen is an amazing wrestler. They’re both great wrestlers so it’s going to be exciting and I take great pride to be able to go out there and start the show off for those two legends. I’m looking to start the show off exciting with Anderson and I believe those guys are going to finish the show with a bang. “
