David Rickels is preparing for another hometown bout this Friday Night at Bellator 171, where he faces Aaron Derrow in the co-main event of the evening. Rickels is learning from his past mistakes in training for fights.
“As far as training goes, I was putting my body through the grinder, and as far as fighting goes, I’ve been staying pretty active on the Bellator roster,” Rickels told MMA Junkie. “It’s not something I don’t like, but I just wanted a little bit of time to let my body heal up, get away from sparring and let my head heal up and go from there.”
Rickels was knocked out by UFC veteran Melvin Guillard in his last fight, but then the bout was changed to a no contest after Guillard failed a drug test.
“I would definitely think differently (if he tested for PEDs); I’d still be upset,” Rickels said. “Have I fought guys who have been on PEDs? I can guarantee it. To me, this dude failed for cocaine. I just lost to the dip(expletive) who barely trained and did cocaine before the fight, so that really (expletive) me up mentally. I’m like, ‘How the (expletive) can I put in so much effort and then this guy beats me?’ That part is what hurt the most.”
Bellator 171 takes place on Friday, January 27 from the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas with Melvin Guillard and Chidi Njokuani headlining.
