For his MMA debut, former top amateur wrestler Jarod Trice was able to pick up a unanimous decision over Tommie Britton at Bellator 167 in December, but he feels like he could have done better.
“I think I had an okay performance,” Trice told MMAWeekly.com. “I felt I had some opportunities to finish the fight, but I didn’t. I’m happy that first fight is out of the way. I’ve gotten to sit down, evaluate, figure some things out and gotten ready for my next fight.
“I’ve been competing my whole life on the national and international stage. I felt comfortable. I went out there, pushed him on the cage, elbows and knees.”
For his follow-up bout, Trice will be fighting just around a month after his first one. Having faced similar circumstances before in his wrestling career, the short time between matches is not an issue.
“I really don’t have a problem with having a quick turnaround fight if I have to,” he said. “If the opportunity is there, I’m always willing to take it on. I’m never going to back down from anything. You have to stay ready and prepared at all times.”
After fighting his debut at 205 pounds, Trice (1-0) steps up to heavyweight in a preliminary card bout at Bellator 171 against Kevin Woltkamp (1-2) on Friday in Mulvane, Kan.
“I’m moving up to heavyweight and I feel very comfortable about the match-up,” said Trice. “I’m happy to go in there and bang a bit, and I’m anxious to test (Woltkamp’s) chin out a little bit, that’s pretty much it.
“I was a heavyweight my whole career in college wrestling and in international wrestling too. I train with a huge heavyweight in Tyrell Fortune every day. I’m very comfortable fighting at light-heavyweight and heavyweight.”
While Trice can compete at both weight classes, he feels his future is more firmly rooted in one, and will continue to push himself to develop as 2017 continues forward.
“Right now I’m probably going to focus on the 205-pound weight class more than likely,” he said. “My goal is to get better and become the best in the world, and train as hard as I possibly can and make the right decisions in everything else.
“That’s the first plan I have – to be the best in the world and beat everybody up – in 2017 I can get in as much training as possible and as many fights as I can, I’m happy with the outcome of whatever.”
