Bellator 171's David Rickels rested, rejuvenated and ready to put training mode into cage

With 17 Bellator fights in a little more than five years, David Rickels needed a break following his knockout at the hands of Melvin Guillard at Bellator 159 in July.

Rickels has been one of the most active fighters not just in Bellator, but in all of high-level MMA over the past half-decade. He’s rarely had a break during that stretch, so when he was stopped by Guillard’s thunderous punches in the first round, he knew it was time for a step back.

“As far as training goes, I was putting my body through the grinder, and as far as fighting goes, I’ve been staying pretty active on the Bellator roster,” Rickels told MMAjunkie. “It’s not something I don’t like, but I just wanted a little bit of time to let my body heal up, get away from sparring and let my head heal up and go from there.”

Rickels (17-4 MMA, 11-4 BMMA), who fights Aaron Derrow (14-8 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) in the co-main event of Friday’s Spike-televised Bellator 171 fight card at Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan., originally lost to Guillard (32-16-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) by first-round knockout in their catchweight contest six months ago. However, when Guillard flunked a drug test, the result was overturned to a no-contest.

Regardless of what the result says on his record, Rickels still knows in his heart he lost the fight, which was the fourth time in six fights he failed to have his hand raised.

“I just don’t know how anyone could take that away as any kind of win,” Rickels said. “It’s still an ‘L’ in my eyes. That was one of my best training camps I’ve ever had and to come up short, mentally kind of hurt. For me to come up short really hurt, but taking a little time helped me with that – getting the wheels turning again and getting me back in the right state of mind to get back in a fight.”

Rickels said the details of Guillard’s issues matter little to him. He believes he’s better than Guillard regardless of whether he was slacking or cutting corners, and that’s what stings the most.

“I would definitely think differently (if he tested for PEDs); I’d still be upset,” Rickels said. “Have I fought guys who have been on PEDs? I can guarantee it. To me, this dude failed for cocaine. I just lost to the dip(expletive) who barely trained and did cocaine before the fight, so that really (expletive) me up mentally. I’m like, ‘How the (expletive) can I put in so much effort and then this guy beats me?’ That part is what hurt the most.”

It was reported that Guillard had tested positive for cocaine and that’s why the result was overturned. The Kansas Athletic Commission will not confirm the substance, though, and Guillard told MMAjunkie that he did not test positive for cocaine.

In an April 2007 fight in the UFC, Guillard tested positive for cocaine metabolites after a 27-second loss to Joe Stevenson.

Nevertheless, Guillard presumably didn’t test positive for a performance-enhancing drug after his fight with Rickels, because what was originally a one-year suspension recently was reduced to six months, and “The Young Assassin” was placed in the Bellator 171 main event opposite Chidi Njokuani.

Rickels said it took a while to accept and move past the outcome against Guillard. That made his time off even more useful, and now Rickels said he’s recharged and ready to produce a big year in the Bellator lightweight division.

“The Caveman” still considers himself one of the best at 155 pounds, but his record in six fights since 2014 show an underwhelming two wins, two losses and two no-contests. Rickels said his goal at Bellator 171 is to pick up a clean victory free of any controversy.

“I want to go out there and I want to perform well,” Rickels said. “I feel like a worldbeater in training. I’m the tip-top in terms of timing and speed and everything. I want to go in there and feel that same energy in the cage. I want a good win and to see what’s next.”

For more on Bellator 171, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.