Bantamweight MMA fighter Darrion Caldwell has everything it takes to be the next big thing in the MMA industry. In fact, if his success will be based on his latest victory, Caldwell will most likely have a great career ahead of him.
Caldwell, who has a record of 9-0 MMA and 6-0 BMMA, had the greatest time of his career when he won over Joe Warren last Bellator 151. Warren, who has a record of 13-5 MMA and 11-4 BMMA, submitted during the first round of Bellator’s main event. Caldwell gave Warren no choice but to surrender when he threw Warren around the cage and ended the fight with a rear-naked choke.
With 9-straight wins on his record, including six consecutive wins under the Bellator banner, Caldwell reveals that he is finally ready to step up his game. He said that he wants to go against Marcos Galvao next. The 135-pound MMA fighter is currently holding a record of 17-6 MMA and 7-3 BMMA.
“I do feel like I’m the guy up next – I don’t think there’s a fight that makes more sense than myself coming in vs. the champ. That’d be ideal. I think the world’s waiting for a face at 135 and I’m the guy,” Caldwell said during a recent interview with MMAjunkie.
The 28-year old fighter also said that he is confident he has what it takes to be a bantamweight star. Aside from having an impeccable record, Caldwell said the fans are very receptive to his fighting style. He further supported his claim by showing the people an amazing overhead suplex on Warren before he finished the fight with a choke.
But his amazing skills aren’t stopping there. He said he can show more.
“Whatever opens up, opens up. I felt like he slightly opened up his hips over the course of that fight and I was able to take position. One of my goals is definitely to get a KO knockout slam. That would be crazy. … That would be sick to knock somebody out with a slam,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell shouldn’t have to worry about his career as long as he maintains his impressive victory streaks. Everything will eventually fall into place- his career, his fans, and more opportunities that would come his way. The only thing that would probably change is his promotion company.
As of the moment, Caldwell has only one fight left in his Bellator contract. He said that his goal is to stay with the company as long as possible since they were the ones that helped him get to where he is right now. But, if Bellator doesn’t make a good offer in time before his contract ends, Caldwell will have no choice but to entertain offers from another promotion company.
“Bellator does a good job with making sure that fighters are happy, I don’t feel like this case is going to be any different with me coming to an ending point in my term. …I love Bellator. My heart’s grown fonder and fonder the more I’ve been with them. If the opportunity comes where I can marry Bellator and make things happen, then that’s what it’s going to be. I love Bellator. They’ve given me a lot of opportunities so it’s a place I would like to see. I’m just planning on sitting back and waiting for everything to unfold. Right now it’s too early to say. We’ll see what happens. But I do know that I’m going to be the guy at 135, the face at 135. Hopefully Bellator is taking notice and want to get behind me and ultimately marry me,” Caldwell added.