Carrington Banks Plans to 'Put Offense on Jake Roberts' at Bellator 165 | MMAWeekly.com

Looking back on his unanimous decision victory over CJ Keith in his Bellator debut this June, at first lightweight prospect Carrington Banks wasn’t happy having gone the distance, but the more he reflected on the win, the more he feels he had a good showing.

“Initially right after my fight I wasn’t happy with my performance,” Banks told MMAWeekly.com. “I wanted to finish. I felt like I had opportunities to get the finish. I’m hard on myself and I know what I’m capable of.

“At first I wasn’t that happy with my performance, but as time went on, and I realize I still won, I still dominated and got two 10-8 rounds, I started to feel a little bit better about it. I felt like it was a good fight, but I felt like I could do a lot of things better.”

Having had a taste of the national scene with a stint on The Ultimate Fighter 21 and with Legacy FC last year, Banks is happy to have finally secured a place for himself on this level now with Bellator MMA.

“Just coming into Bellator, I was super-excited about being there, and being in an organization that I was going to face some legit competition – some tough guys,” said Banks.

“I felt like I belonged there and it was time for me to prove it. It’s time for me to show the world what I thought I was capable of, and that was my opportunity. I was excited for it, I was prepared for it, and went out there and put my work to work.”

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Banks (5-0) will seek to pick up his second straight win when he takes on fellow undefeated fighter Jake Roberts (7-0) in a preliminary 155-pound bout at Bellator 165 on Saturday in San Jose, Calif.

“Basically in order to get the win, I have to go out there and do what I do best – and just pour on a lot of offense,” Banks said. “Put offense on him, just smother him, suffocate him, and dominate him in every position and not let him feel like he has any opportunities.

“Just break him mentally; that’s like what I like to do; and that’s what I want to do against Jake Roberts.”

Having spent much of the past couple years with in activity due to TUF’s schedule and fights falling through, Banks is eager to keep things rolling with Bellator as he heads into 2017.

“This past year or so when I wasn’t fighting, it was great because I had a lot of time to grow and work on things that I felt like I needed to work on, but now that time is up, and I feel like it’s time to put that work to use,” said Banks.

“I fought in June, now I’m fighting in November, so they’re keeping me active right now, and I’m excited about it, and I want to stay active going forward.”

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