Bellator 199 is about more than just the World Heavyweight Grand Prix — as Carrington Banks will look to prove this weekend.
At Bellator 199 in San Jose this weekend, lightweight Carrington Banks puts his undefeated 7-0 record on the line against Adam Piccolotti. And while both men started their careers as undefeated prospects, for ‘The Jetsetter,’ as Carrington is otherwise known, the similarities end there. We spoke to the surging lightweight ahead of the fight about Piccolotti, the lightweight division in Bellator, and plenty more.
First up, about that nickname: “The Jetsetter came about from a song by Tabi Bonney. I used to play it, rap it, sing it all the time when I was eighteen in college,” Banks told Cageside Press. “My friends started calling me the Jetsetter, so the name just stuck. Ever since then I’ve been the Jetsetter, not to mention I’m a fly guy. It suited me, and it just stuck and I ran with it.” When he was first asked for a nickname starting out, Banks went with it, and has never changed it since.
Speaking of starting out, Banks’ start in MMA was a rather humorous transition from collegiate wrestling to the cage. “I went to a fight with my college coach, and when I was watching the fight I was talking a little smack,” Banks said of how he made the jump. “He was there with me, so then he called me on my smack talking, and said ‘would you do this?’ and I was like ‘absolutely.’ So he went and got one of the coaches who he was really good friends with who has an MMA gym, brigs him over to me and was like ‘hey, one of my guys wants to do some training with you.’ So he put me on the spot, and at that point I had to go through with it a little bit. So I told him I didn’t want to fight, but I would do the training.”
Banks stayed true to his word. “So I went, did the training, liked it, they liked me so ever since then I just went back and kept training with no real intentions of being a fighter,” he continued, “but over time, now I’m here, now I’m doing it full time and I’m a professional fighter.”
“My own mouth got me put in a position where now it’s my career,” he finished, “which, I’m happy that it happened, but it’s funny how things work out.”
“I’m a blender, and it all has to flow together in order for me to feel confident in it. So I work on every single aspect of my game”
While Banks is getting to take part on one of the year’s bigger Bellator events, with Ryan Bader vs. King Mo topping the card as part of the heavyweight grand prix, it’s not the be-all, end-all for the rising lightweight. “I’m happy that I’m in this position, and that I’ve put myself in this position,” he told us, “but it doesn’t matter to me honestly. Ultimately I’m there to do a job, and all that extra stuff is not going to help me do my job. Afterward, I’ll appreciate it, but in the moment, it doesn’t really matter to me.”
Another thing that doesn’t give Carrington Banks any pause is the comparisons between himself and opponent Adam Piccolotti. Both started their careers undefeated, and wound up hot prospects in Bellator MMA. Piccolotti came crashing back to earth recently, however, with a two fight losing skid — the first two losses of his career. Banks, however, doesn’t bother comparing himself with his opponent. “We’re two different people with two different coaches, two different gyms, two different backgrounds,” he said. “We were both undefeated at one point, yeah, maybe we had that in common.” That said, “I ain’t gonna compare him to me or me to him.”
“I’ve gotta be better than him. I’m not looking at us in the same light at all,” Banks continued. “As far as keeping my undefeated record and giving him an 0, I just gotta go in there and be me. I gotta do me. I’ve been working hard, I’ve been growing a lot.”
That growth is his key to victory. When it comes to getting the win, “I’ve gotta believe in myself and go out there and perform, it’s that simple.” As to that growth, it has come in all areas. Banks has been working on everything, frankly. “I don’t leave anything out. I focus on every single area of my game.” Or, as he put it later, “I’m a blender, and it all has to flow together in order for me to feel confident in it. So I work on every single aspect of my game, and that’s where I feel confident in my growth.”
As for how he sees the fight at Bellator 199 going, “if I go in there and do what I’m supposed to do, I’m going to win,” Banks said. “How the win comes, who knows. But like I’ve said, I’ve grown a lot, so I do see myself going out there and dominating the fight. I see me winning in a dominant fashion. If it comes in the first round, if it comes in the second or third, I’m cool with any time of win as long as I’m getting my hand raise.”
He’s not overlooking his opponent, however. “Adam Piccolotti is no slouch. It ain’t as simple as it just happening. I gotta go out there, and I gotta break him down, and I gotta expose his weaknesses in order for me to get an early finish. I plan on doing that early actually, and if it works out the way I plan on it working out, hopefully it’ll be a short night.”
If it is a short night, don’t expect a callout. “I haven’t really been thinking about anybody but Adam Piccolotti,” he said. However, he added that “I want to fight the best guys in Bellator. The top. The best. If I’m throwing out names, I’m talking about the Pitbulls, I’m talking about the Hendersons, the Chandlers, I’m talking about Brent Primus. I’m talking about all the guys that are ahead of me. The only way to put myself in a position to get a title shot is to beat those guys.”
He’d be crazy not to want that. “I’m not looking past Adam Piccolotti at all, but if they offer me those fights, I’m not going to say no.”
As for the lightweight division as a whole, Banks’ take is that “it’s growing, it’s getting tougher, it’s getting better.” And he’s excited to be part of that. “I’m one of those guys that’s gonna make this division a little bit better by taking out people, or shining, and doing what I do.”
“I think the lightweight division is one of the toughest divisions in Bellator,” Banks continued. He also pointed out the benefits of having a great fighter like Michael Chandler (who Banks has trained with in the past) among their ranks. “I think Chandler has one of the best names and is one of the best fighters in Bellator altogether. So for him being in my division, I really like that, because it raises the level, the challenge. Taking out a name as great as his, as great as Ben Henderson’s, as great as Pitbull’s, looks really good for me or anybody else who’s able to beat any of those guys.”
As for the lightweight division’s erstwhile champion Brent Primus, Banks said that “it just doesn’t look good for Brent Primus. The way that he won, and then holding onto the belt without defending it as long as he has… I’m sure he knows that. I don’t know what the reason is, so I ain’t going to speak on it, I ain’t gonna talk no s*** because he could have some real issues going on, but it’s not a good look.”
“He should be trying to go out there and prove that it wasn’t a fluke, and that he really is the man.”
Catch Carrington Banks facing Adam Piccolotti at Bellator 199, Saturday May 12 in San Jose, CA. The main card airs live on the Paramount Network starting at 9PM ET.
