Life has been relatively easy for former NCAA wrestling champion Darrion Caldwell since he switched over to MMA. He has yet to taste defeat in eight professional appearances, though his critics are quick to bring up the idea that he has not yet faced any substantive opposition.
“I haven’t been really hit or stunned or anything,” Caldwell told Sherdog.com. “I haven’t been pushed to my limits yet, and I really hope Joe does that so I can see just how great I really am. If Joe can push me to the extremes, I’ll love him even more for that.”
Warren represents what Caldwell hopes to become. He admits he has learned much from watching Warren throughout his run in Bellator, and Caldwell hopes to learn more by being locked inside the cage with the self-professed “Baddest Man on the Planet.”
“I think he’s great; he’s awesome,” Caldwell said. “I think Joe is everything that I want to be in terms of accomplishments. He’s a two-division world champion. There’s not much more you can do in this sport than winning a world title in not just one weight class but two. As a fighter, I think Joe is the epitome of where I want to be, aside from his losses. Outside of the cage, he’s a little cocky, but in this sport, you’ve got to have a little bit of cockiness with you. You’ve got to bring that s--- with you. If not, you’re going to expose yourself.”
Though Caldwell concedes he has not yet faced an opponent of Warren’s caliber, he has not had issues with nervousness or apprehension before this step up in competition. The 28-year-old Power MMA Team rep claims he has envisioned this battle in his head for years.
“My first thought when I heard I was fighting Joe: I was like, ‘Yes! This is the fight I wanted,’ but when I really thought about it after it sunk in, I knew that this is a fight that can really change my life forever,” he said. “I honestly have wanted this fight ever since I first stepped foot in the Bellator cage. I was at 135 [pounds] while he was the champ and he also was the champ at 145, so this is a fight that has always been on my radar.
“I know he’s going to bring out the best in me,” Caldwell added. “He’s a world-class athlete, a world-class trash talker and he’s a world-class wrestler. Whether people dislike him or not, he always brings it to the fullest and he’s shown fight in and fight out that he’s more than capable of dominating the best guys. I’m just here to spoil that and prove that I am the best 135-pounder in the world any day.”
The two employ different fighting styles, even though they both come from elite collegiate wrestling backgrounds. Warren was an NCAA All-American wrestler at the University of Michigan and went on to win Greco-Roman gold at the 2006 FILA Wrestling World Championships. Caldwell was a two-time NCAA All-American at North Carolina State University, where he was a three-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion and 2009 NCAA national champion. He was quick to heap praises on Warren’s accomplishments but remained steadfast in his belief that he is superior on the mat.
“I’m the better wrestler,” Caldwell said. “He might have better conditioning, but I don’t think he’s more accomplished. Stylistically, Joe is a half-assed wrestler. Let’s be honest here. Greco isn’t even a sport where I come from. In Greco, it’s like half wrestling because you can’t even touch the legs. It was shown two fights ago that if someone gets to Joe’s legs, he’s in trouble. So I’m a much better wrestler than him, and I have much more of an upside in wrestling than he does; and I do in fighting, too.”
Caldwell has feelings for how the fight will unfold.
“I don’t see Joe being afraid to wrestle me because he’s been in the cage so many times and he’s always in position to do the right thing,” he said. “I think this fight will [mostly] be fought on our feet, but I do think he’ll try and take me down. He might get me down once or twice, but I’ll get right back up to my feet. He’ll exert all of his energy trying to get me down [and] try to keep me there, but when I keep getting to my feet, it’ll be my game. From there, that’s where I’ll take over.”