Derek Campos on Bellator 146 Rematch: ‘Definitely a Do-or-Die Situation for Me’

Bellator MMA lightweight Derek Campos’ face was reddening as the blood stopped circulating to his brain, a victim of an inescapable rear-naked choke. He tapped out at Bellator 138 in June, coming up short against former champion Michael Chandler. Campos had a bad night, and he admits it without excuse. He was neither injured nor ill-prepared, and he did not take Chandler lightly.

“The bottom line is that my mind and body just weren’t right; they weren’t on point,” Campos told Sherdog.com. “Normally when I get to the cage, I’m relaxed, centered [and] at peace because I know what I have to do, but with that fight, I just felt off. My timing wasn’t there. I was stiff. It just wasn’t right. I had a good camp, too. He brought his A game and I brought my friggin’ F game.”

Like closers who give up game-tying or game-winning home runs, mixed martial artists benefit from short memories. However, as the saying goes, a fighter is only as good as his last fight, and Campos has lost two of three. He will have a chance to redeem himself at Bellator 146 on Friday at the Winstar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla., where he will face a familiar opponent. There, he will take on Brandon Girtz, a man he defeated a little more than two years ago. A Grudge Training Center rep, Girtz has won four of his five fights since, including a decision over Melvin Guillard at Bellator 141 on Aug. 28.

“It was a tough fight last time and I think it’ll be a tough fight this time, especially with him coming off a big win against Guillard,” Campos said. “He’ll have a lot of steam behind him, but I think he’ll have a lot of pressure on him to not only try and continue winning because of his last fight but also because of that loss he has [to me]. I think that will be in the back of his mind. He’s in the line to where he’s questioning whether he’s a great fighter, and if he can’t beat me, he’ll take two steps back. With that pressure, he’ll be dangerous and he’ll be a different fighter compared to when we first fought.”

With that said, Campos has not seen Girtz alter his approach.

“To me, he seems like the same guy,” he said. “I haven’t seen much change in his standup. His wrestling might be a litter better, but to me, he looks like the same Brandon Girtz with the same style. He throws a lot of power punches, but he’s real stiff, real tight and I’m looking to capitalize on that. I’ve improved in many areas. I’ve been getting stronger with my strength conditioning, and my cardio is on point. I’m not going to get tired at all. I plan on stuffing his takedowns and just wearing him down.”

Campos admits to a certain amount of unease in preparing for someone he has already fought -- and beaten.

“I’m definitely not comfortable going in there thinking I’m going to be fighting the exact same guy as before,” he said. “I feel like I might see something different when we get in there. I know what I want to expect, but I’m expecting the unexpected because he could come in there with a totally different game plan. He may decide to just try and stand and box with me. I just won’t know until about halfway through the very first round about what his game plan is going to be.”

Campos cannot afford another loss.

“This is definitely a do-or-die situation for me,” he said. “I always want to go in there and win because I hate losing, but with this fight, I refuse to lose.”