Juan Archuleta wants to clock in more hours.
The former Bellator title challenger hasn’t been content with the amount of fights he’s been getting. Archuleta (23-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) last fought in September, where he lost to champ-champ Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in the co-main event of Bellator 228, and he was recently booked to fight Henry Corrales in the main card of Bellator 238 on Jan. 25 in Inglewood, Calif.
Archuleta hopes to see more contracts coming his way and less time in between fights heading into this new year.
“This is what I love doing, win or lose,” Archuleta said speaking with MMA Junkie. “I’ve told people before, it’s not the win or the loss that I’m looking at, I just want to go out there and perform at the best of my abilities. I love this sport, I love competing, I love fighting, and I just love to go out there and show off. The wins and loses don’t matter; it doesn’t matter if I win a belt or not. The thing that matters to me is having security and being able to go out there and perform.
“I’ve been telling Bellator since I signed with them, I don’t care to fight for the title. I just want to fight the best, and the best at every weight class, if I can. I want to stay active, and being with Bellator the last two years have been the slowest two years of my career, and it’s a little frustrating, but I have to deal with it. They don’t put on as many shows and they have so many fighters, so it sucks.
“I want to stay active, so the jealousy of seeing like an ‘MVP’ (Michael Page) being able to compete so many times after he loses, hey, I’m asking for the same thing. And it’s not a money issue because when I first signed with them, I only fought three times in one year, so I know it’s not a money thing, it’s just they’re pushing people through.
“When I re-signed with (Bellator president Scott) Coker, he said I would be able to stay active and fight a lot, and I only fought three times last year, so that did hamper my performance going into the fight with ‘Pitbull.’ But at the same time, it is what it is. I can’t complain about it, just take the fights as they come. I don’t care about fighting for the title, I care about fighting the best guys out there and performing and fighting as much as I can to stay relevant.”
Archuleta joined Bellator in March 2018 and has since fought a total of six times for the promotion. If Archuleta doesn’t fight again by March – outside of his booked contest against Corrales, of course – the “The Spaniard” would have logged in seven fights in two years.
That kind of hustle is often seen across MMA, and many fighters consider it a common level of activity. Yet, for Archuleta, the perceived average doesn’t do it for him.
“Those guys just want to say they’re fighters,” Archuleta explained. “I do this for a living, this is my life – like after my loss I was in the gym the next week, going out and trying to expand the sport. I want to fight every month if I can, every two months if can. For me, three fights, it’s definitely not enough; four fights a year is barely enough. I want to fight five, six times a year.”
Archuleta admits he’s off to a good start being booked in January against fan-favorite Corrales. He’s hopeful 2020 is a year full of fights, even if it means jumping up and down in divisions or in and out of grand prix tournaments.
“When I re-signed my contract, they said they’d keep me active, and they were trying to book me on the Japan card but that fell through,” Corrales said. “So, we’ll see this year. The year is just starting, so we’ll find out how healthy I can stay and how active I can be.
“Like I said before, I’m a fan of the grand prix and everything that goes on with it. It’s an entertaining tournament, especially if it’s a weight class you fight in. If anyone gets pulled out, I would love to jump in, whether it’s 155, 145 or 135 the people that fall off the tournament.
“I definitely want to be in a position to fight the winner of the tournament next now that I’m out. Or I can jump in if someone gets hurt or whatever, so you know, it doesn’t matter what weight class I fight, it’s just who is the opponent and are they the best opponent I can get at the time.”
Juan Archuleta frustrated with lack of activity: 'I want to fight five, six times a year'
