Issue 142

June 2016

Old and new gear that prepares Derek ‘The Stallion’ Campos to charge in the Bellator cage

A. Nice ‘n’ tight

I use compression shorts by Nike and I have a few Bad Boy shorts too – anything that’s good quality for training. I still have a pair of shorts I fought Diego Brandao in (2010), but they got a hole in them so I can’t wear them any more.

badboy.com

B. Garden variety

I’ve been using Garden of Life products. They’re organic, natural and don’t have much extra garbage in. Combine that with my high-fat, high-protein diet with real carbs and I feel great. It’s awesome stuff.

gardenoflife.com

C. Fair game

I go with Fairtex gloves and shin guards for sparring. My bag gloves and mitt gloves are Fairtex too. Everything feels good. With some gloves I can feel my knuckle on another guy’s skull and my shin against their bone. 

These last almost two fight camps, but I try to get new gear after every fight – especially gloves because there’s nothing worse than going with a guy who hasn’t bought new gloves in two years and you can feel every one of his knuckles. I try to cycle my gear out of respect for my teammates. You can’t train if you don’t have healthy teammates.

fairtex.com

D. Ice cold

To recover from injuries I’m a little old-school. I’ll get a bag of ice and put it on. I’ve also been going to a place called Texas Cryofit to get super cold and get that deep penetration into those muscles.

texascryofit.com

E. Memento

I have a Fairtex backpack and a big blue Adidas bag, but that’s nothing to do with the brand. It was a gift from a father figure who was pretty much my sponsor when I was down and out. His name was Kevin McGrath. The memory of him means it’s probably always going to be my gym bag until it’s all worn and broken. It’s not a fancy fighter brand, but it’s something I’ve carried with me since I fought Rich Clementi.

adidas.com