David Rickels Says His Michael Chandler Rematch Is Special

In an interview with MMA Junkie, David Rickels (16-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) spoke about his upcoming rematch with Michael Chandler (13-3 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) at Bellator 145 on Friday. The fight will happen on the Spike TV main card following preliminary fights on MMA Junkie from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The two first fought at Bellator 97 in July 2013, where Chandler won by 44-second knockout.

On how much he’s changed: “I changed significantly everything I do going into my camps with my mindset and how I perceive everything in this fight game; I’ve found my flame and love for the sport through training again. How else do I show how great I am right now than beating someone who is a former champion and has beat me before? That is a defining moment that I can put across my belt, per se. This is just a huge opportunity for me to showcase everything I’ve been talking about. All of the skills that I’ve developed and everything I have going into this fight, this is where I want to show these things off.”

On how much this fight means to him: “This one’s special to my heart; this is a big fight for me. I would say losing to Chandler was the start of the path that I had to take to be who I am now. I was denial, thinking it was a lucky punch. I’d say, ‘This motherf-cker got a lucky punch on me!’ That’s the attitude I carried for a while. Then when I lost to (Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire), I realized there was nothing lucky about it. I realized I’m not training hard enough; I’m not doing everything I have to do to be the best in the world. That’s when I really flipped the script and started evolving my game and changing every damn thing I do every day. I had to lose to Chandler to be the fighter I am right now.”

On how the fight will go: “This is going to be a gritty fight. My toughness, my will and all of those things are going to come into play in this fight. I don’t expect anything short of a war, and that’s what I’m prepared for. However I get it is perfectly fine with me, but I wouldn’t mind just beating on him for three rounds and finishing on top. I want to beat the will out of him and just push the pace so much.”