Despite a recent setback, Enrique Barzola’s championship dreams in Bellator remain strong.
The winner of season two of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” is still gunning for the Bellator bantamweight title following his exit from the promotion’s grand prix. Barzola (18-6-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), who entered the tournament after defeating Nikita Mikhailov in the wild card qualifier, was eliminated by Magomed Magomedov in the quarter-final round this past June.
It was a tough loss, as Barzola was winning the fight to many, but got caught in a guillotine choke at the end of the fourth round.
“I’m coming off a loss, which was difficult for me because I had back-to-back wins before that,” Barzola told MMA Junkie in Spanish.
“After a defeat, you can learn a lot, obviously depending on the person and who you are as a fighter. You need to figure out a way to not let that stop you or slow you down from your objectives. More than anything, it was an extra weight, but not one that pulls you back, but pushes you forward. You visualize your mistakes, where you need to improve, and the skills you need to work on.
“I believe I did an excellent fight against Magomedov. It was tough and competitive. I did feel like I was playing my game in the first rounds, but I was a bit rushed. Unfortunately, my head coach Javier Mendez wasn’t there because he was at another fight. He always helps me calm down and works on me not getting ahead of myself. I came out too eager against Magomedov and a little mistake cost me. As we know, he locked in well the guillotine and I wasn’t able to defend it.”
Barzola returns to the cage determined to get back to his winning ways and prove once again he’s a legit title contender.
He’ll get a chance to do just that, when he takes on former champion Juan Archuleta (25-4 MMA, 7-3 BMMA) this Friday on the main card of Bellator 286 in Long Beach, Calif. The Peruvian fighter thinks this is a great opportunity to get back on track and make another run for the belt.
“Obviously, we all want to fight for the belt, and the higher ranked you are, the better chance you have of challenging for the belt. I think depending on this fight and how the result plays out – if I win convincingly, I can show Bellator that I truly deserve that opportunity and the opportunity could come next year depending on results.
“Juan Archuleta is not just any fighter. He’s a great fighter, and he’s in the top three. They offered him to me for a reason. I think they recognize my great work and great level of fighting. So I need to make the most of this opportunity and kill Juan Archuleta, so I could have the opportunity to fight for the title in the future.”
