Henry Corrales on Comeback Win Over Aaron Pico: ‘This Fight Resembled My Real Life’

Henry Corrales kicked off his Bellator MMA tenure with a three-fight losing streak, but a lot has changed since he turned his life around nearly three years ago.

Corrales ignited the MMA world on Saturday night in the co-main event of Bellator 214, when he flattened Aaron Pico in just 67 seconds. Pico entered the bout a highly-touted prospect with huge expectations and he nearly got Corrales out early when he dropped him with an uppercut to the chin. But “OK” Corrales quickly gathered his senses and turned the tables, knocking Pico flat out with a perfect right hook to the jaw and follow-up punches.

“He was digging that body. He was winding up and a couple of them landed pretty good but I ate them,” Corrales told the assembled media at the post-fight press conference. “When that left hand was down, what’s open? I was like, ‘Let’s f---ing go, let’s do this’ and I hit him. I lost my cool and good thing there was a ref in there. [Getting dropped] just got me going; I was ready to die in there.”

“This fight kind of closely resembled my real life,” he added. “I put myself in some shitty situations and had to fight my way out of it. He dumped me on my ass. He’s super quick and it was a flash hit, but I felt good. I got up, threw a couple shots, recomposed myself and got back after it. I was f---ing pissed.”

Corrales said that his life has changed completely since joining the MMA Lab fight team in Phoenix. After opening his MMA career with a dozen consecutive wins, he joined Bellator. The featherweight dropped three straight duels and because his personal life was off the rails and affecting his career, he opted for a drastic change. It helped because the powerful striker hasn’t lost since.

“It’s been a big process since I joined [MMA Lab],” he said. “It changed my life living out there and training with Benson Henderson and all those guys. I don’t want to excuse those losses but there were reasons behind them; I got my s--t together now. I’ve been going on a run and ready to get after it.”

When asked to elaborate on the personal issues that were affecting his personal life, Corrales chuckled and opened up a little bit.

“I was doing just stupid s--t,” he said. “Not even cool stuff like I was in shootouts and being a crazy gangster. One day I was a teenager and walking down the street with my skateboard and these cholo gangster guys walked up and asked what I was looking at. The sun was in my eyes and I guess I had a crazy look on my face and I said, ‘The sun’s in my eyes.’ Once I said that, I felt like such a bitch and then I said, ‘What’s up?!’ I ended up getting stabbed but I had my skateboard, so I defended myself really well.”