Juan Archuleta knows what it’s like to train with a champion of a major MMA promotion. Now he’s trying to become one himself.
Archuleta meets Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Freire in the Bellator 228 co-main event Saturday night. The fight is one of four first-round matchups of the 145-pound grand prix on the card.
“The Spaniard” trains at The Treigning Lab in south California alongside the likes of former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, and he said that’s a kind of experience “you can’t buy.”
“Being around these guys and being around champions, you know you’re putting in the same work and it’s your time to be a champion,” Archuleta told Bloody Elbow at Bellator 228 media day Thursday in Los Angeles.