Patolino revealed Spider's support for not giving up MMA (Photo: Getty Images)
Finalist of TUF Brasil 2, William Patolino came to be considered one of the promises of Brazilian MMA. In the UFC, however, the results didn't come. In four fights – including the final of the reality show, there were three defeats and only one victory, which culminated in his dismissal from the organization. A fact that, according to the fighter himself, combined with repeated injuries, one of which almost caused him to lose his hand, shook him and made him rethink his career in MMA.
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“I had complications. At the beginning of the year, I was going to have a fight with Brendan O'Reilly in Australia, but two weeks before I broke my foot, had a serious injury and needed surgery. And two weeks later the UFC called me and fired me, when I was already thinking about my next fight for the organization. It was something that left me very down, very sad. I left the UFC, I recovered from my foot. But soon after, training to fight in another event, I had a serious injury to my hand during training. I had three surgeries in less than 20 days. An operation that almost led to the amputation of my hand. I almost lost my hand”, Patolino told the website Combate.com.
With the difficult time and the idea of abandoning the profession growing more and more, Patolino had special support to restart his journey. According to the fighter, the messages received from the idol Anderson Silva They were essential for him not to give up on his dream of fighting MMA.
“In one of those conversations, he said to me: “My brother, are you crazy? Are you going to become a doctor, a lawyer? You are the star of this show, you are a phenomenon and you are still young. You just know how to do this, and you do it very well. I only got recognized, I only got to be 'the guy' after I got older. You, at 19 years old, were already known. You're 25 now. Wake up! Staying at home playing video games, eating and sleeping late at night won't bring you what you want. Let's go!". Dude, Anderson sent me about 20 audios on “WhatsApp”. I still have it here today. I heard everything and absorbed it. Crazy, I'm a champion, no one will stop me. Daffy Duck is back!”, William assured.
Without fighting since February 2015, when he was knocked out by Matt Dwyer at UFC Porto Alegre, Patolino will return to the Octagon at Fight 2 Night, on November 4th, in an event hosted by global actor Bruno Gagliasso. At 25 years old, the former TUF Brazil 2 star has a record of seven wins and three losses.
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