The long-awaited week of UFC 280 and the coach of Charles of the Bronx, Diego Lima, does not hide his anxiety and his expectations for next Saturday's event (22). In an exclusive interview with SUPER FIGHTS, at an event sponsored by robot, the leader of Chute Boxe praised the spirit and partnership of his team, saying that the lightweight champion (up to 70,3kg) is ready for the duel against Islam makhachev and guaranteed that 'Charlinho' will be prepared to win the fight, in whatever area it takes place.
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“For me it is very gratifying, I am a guy who is passionate about Chute Boxe, Chute Boxe is my life. Since I was a kid, little, I saw them on 'Pride', then I went to Curitiba to stay at the house of Luiz Azeredo, my master. I followed them on the mat, then I went to train with the guys. So, today I can be in front of my athletes, being able to masterfully represent our flag, not only in the UFC but in the world, it is very gratifying. That's what I always say: I love what I do. I wake up every day excited to go to the gym, excited to train the guys and excited for the next wars.”
Training at Chute Boxe
“Our camp is 365 days a year. We don’t have this talk of “The fight is over, let’s train”. We train every day. It's just like now, we're focused on the scheduled fights. So, let's assume: Charles is super in the spotlight, in the same way that everyone is helping him train, after he fights, he will return to the mat to help everyone who helped him. It's like a cycle, so, really, our idea is this, we train every day, regardless of whether there is a fight scheduled or not, the only thing we do is when we schedule a fight and know the opponent, the focus turns to the opponent . But the training itself remains the same. We train jiu-jitsu, muay-thai, wrestling, physical preparation. We are always training everything and then focusing exactly on the opponent, as soon as the fights are scheduled.”
Is Makhachev the toughest opponent?
“For sure, I look at it as if it were a video game….if you want to pass the level, you have to go through the 'boss', so every second level will be more difficult than the first. So, in fact... the tendency is for all opponents to be increasingly difficult, we have to be aware of that. Especially because, the more we are in the spotlight, the more we are studied, but people worry about wanting to see where they can hit us, where they can try to get a victory over us. So we know that not only will the next challenge be the hardest, but people are also studying us more and more. The tree that bears the most fruit is the one that gets stoned the most, so, thank God, today we are that tree. So we’re getting ready to take all these rocks and try to make a castle.”
Do Bronx's strategy for the fight?
“It's MMA...Charles is ready in all areas, we no longer go with one card up our sleeve, we go with the whole deck. Nowadays, in my opinion, there is no way you can do just one strategy. Because, like it or not, on the other side there is also a guy carrying out his strategy against us. So, we will be ready on the ground, in striking, on the fence, on top, below, wherever the fight takes place, we will be ready for it. So, the fight starts standing up, that's why we're going for the knockout. From the moment we are in 'melee', we will look for the submission.”
How far can Chute Boxe go?
“I don't even think the sky is the limit, I think the mind is the limit. As long as we believe, we can reach. A fighter without a flag is a fighter without a spirit. I think what sets us apart is that our training is fights and our fights are wars, so I think that's what makes us strong, this is the spirit that our master Rudimar Fedrigo forged, we are forged in steel, so we can make sure it’s not even a long life, it’s an infinite life.”
After much provocation between the two fighters, Charles and Makhachev will finally go up to the Octagon to measure their strength and decide who will take the linear lightweight belt. The duel will headline the UFC 280, which takes place next Saturday (22). The show will be held in Abu Dhabi (UAE)
