“If anything, I think this is the perfect fight because he will try to fight me and it won’t go well for him,” he said. “I’m a good wrestler and also a good striker, so it’s not going to go very well for him. We talked about it all over the place. As soon as I got the name, they said, ‘He’s going to be desperate; he’ll do whatever he can.” He’s definitely going to work as hard as he can for this fight, he’s definitely coming to fight, so I need to be on my toes.
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“I’m not leaving anyone out – a fight is a fight and one fight can change everything,” Corea added. “One punch can turn a black belt into a white belt; it doesn’t take much. I’m glad I have the coaches (with me) and I just have to keep my head straight, go out there with the work, stay as sharp as I can, fight the best fight I can.”
One of the other motivating factors for Corea over the past couple of years has been the meteoric rise of his teammate, training partner and flyweight champion Joshua Wang.
“It’s definitely eye-opening to see him come from nothing,” Corea began, talking about Van and the impact he had on both him and the rest of the team. “He came from a war-torn country, and within five years he got to the UFC and became a champion. I’m really excited about that because it shows that we can do the same thing.”