Gallery Sam Sicilia vs. Derek Campos at Bellator 212: Best photos view 6 images

HONOLULU – During his 12 fights in the UFC, Sam Sicilia racked up some frequent-flier miles.

While there, he fought in Brazil twice, Japan, Sweden, South Korea and a spot so far east in Canada it might as well have been on another continent.

And not that he’s making excuses for a 5-7 run with the promotion, or the three-fight skid that sent him to Bellator, but he thinks the MMA world might have been judging him a little harshly when the chips were down.

“Everyone was like, ‘You need to win.’ I keep seeing (expletive) pop up on social media about how I’ve been – one win, four losses my last five fights,” Sicilia said. (Expletive), three of those were being sent all over the planet for the UFC. (I was) 1-1 in Bellator, and I’m focusing on moving forward in the company. Now I’m 2-1, I’ve got one more fight on the contract – 3-1, and let’s see what I can do.”

Sicilia (17-9 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) this past Friday made it 2-1 in Bellator with a split decision win over Derek Campos (19-8 MMA, 8-6 BMMA) in their featherweight bout at Bellator 212 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The event aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMAjunkie.

“I fell into a role in the UFC,” Sicilia said. “I’d go get shipped out and fight the up-and-comer. I fought Dooho Choi before anybody (knew him) – I fought the tough guys. Now I feel like I’m fighting just a clean slate.

“I like fighting for Bellator – it’s a little more about the fight instead of lights. It’s better for me. I’m kind of a boring guy, and I just like to fight. I would fight in a bar if no one was there to see it.”

The fight with Campos was a classic slugfest that had Sicilia loving his job. And while he’s not the callout type, he also believes that on the “back nine” of his fighting career, he may be afforded some opportunities to call his shots.

His win over Campos was a bounce-back victory after a submission loss to Emmanuel Sanchez at Bellator 198 in April. Sanchez went on to a title shot, but lost to champ Patricio Freire.

“I feel like I’m at the top of the 145ers,” he said. “I dropped the ball with Sanchez, and he got a freaking title fight and he fought his ass off. That guy looks awesome. He’s a tough guy. That was a high-level fight. More than anything, he beat me with the pace. I got a little cut up and I slowed down and I got caught.”

With one more fight on his Bellator deal, Sicilia will be hoping to not get caught again in an effort to get to the top of the mountain at featherweight.

For more from Sicilia, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of “Bellator and USO Present: Salute the Troops,” check out the MMA Events section of the site.