Ready for your fifth fight with the Ultimate gloves, Rudolph Vieira believes he is prepared to achieve bigger goals in the middleweight division (up to 83,9kg). In an exclusive interview with SUPER FIGHTS, the Brazilian fighter spoke about his evolution in striking, the lessons he learned from his first defeat in MMA and his plans for the confrontation against Wellington Turman No. UFC 270, which will take place next Saturday (22).
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“The most beneficial change I had, without a doubt, was the arrival of Mano (Santana) here in Orlando. I have this opportunity to train with him almost every day. I didn't have a coach striker. I fought my three fights in the UFC practically without a striking coach. I did my training on my own and it was starting to get bad for me, I was already feeling bad, you know? Before my defeat (for anthony hernandez), I was already feeling bad. I said, 'Man, I need to change. I’m already going for my third fight.” Before this fight, I already knew what I wanted to change, regardless of victory or defeat. Then that shitty fight happened, I lost badly. At the time, when it happens, you feel sad, you are very shaken. But then, you stop to think coldly and today I see that it was the best thing that could have happened to me, it was that defeat. It helped me a lot, it made me grow a lot.”
Evolution in striking
“I want to get better at standing, of course. Even so I wouldn't be as predictable as I was before, from my first fight until my defeat. For me, if I could win the fight without touching the guy in the stand-up fight, I would do it. Today, I have a different mentality due to the confidence I've gained, improving my fundamentals, improving the shots that I think are important for me and I'm already gaining more confidence, man. I'm learning to move better, to defend myself better without that fear of being taken down. My focus will always be jiu-jitsu, but I think that when I gain more confidence, improving on my feet, this will benefit me a lot, because it will be difficult to fight me. It’s difficult to fight a guy who takes down well, has good jiu-jitsu and is confident in his striking and defends himself well.”
Still afraid of being punched?
“Actually, it’s not really a fear of being beaten. It's fear of taking a hit and falling hard. But in training, what happens most to me is getting hit. In the fight, I enter much more cautiously. Not nowadays, I go in to fight MMA, nowadays I no longer go in with that 'sense of urgency'.
Lessons from the loss to Anthony Hernandez
“That was another good thing I took away from that fight, from the beating I took. Which was realizing that I had resistance. Even though I was 'dead', I was at my limit, taking hits from everything I could and I was standing. I couldn't believe I was able to stand there. The deal was bad for me, at the same time, I didn’t want to give up”
Was invincibility a burden?
“Yes, it helped, but it was something I didn’t think about much. I have always approached every fight as if it were the first, the most important. I always see my next fight as the most important, so it wasn't something where I was thinking: 'Oh, I'm undefeated'. It wasn’t something I took responsibly and could get in my way.”
Preparation for the duel against Wellington Turman
“I had a lot of time to prepare for this fight, I had time to train all areas. I'm feeling really good, really good. If I have to change for 15 minutes, stand, I will be able to stay. My grappling game has improved a lot, my takedown game, my jiu-jitsu. Everything is very good, just the way we expected it to be.”
Have you seen holes in Turman's game?
"Yes. Of course, we can't talk about it now, but we've already noticed some things that he's soft on and we're working hard on that.
Expectations for the duel
“I believe I will finish, in the first or second round. He (Wellington Turman) is a tough guy at jiu-jitsu, right? We haven't seen him on his back on the ground yet, no one has taken him down yet, especially because he has a high level of jiu-jitsu. But I believe I can finish him in the third round. I fight for this, right? Even though I'm from jiu-jitsu and the people there have a bad reputation for having boring fights. Not that I do this for others, I'm not worried, I want to get there and make a safe fight for myself, a fight that I like. I don't want to do a fight that pleases everyone, because it's 'mine' that's right there on the line. But I believe that with the heart I have, with the conditions I have today, I will have a great fight next Saturday.”
Rapid career development
“I consider myself a very blessed, very lucky guy. Of course, I've always worked hard, since my jiu-jitsu days. And when I decided to go to MMA, I gave myself 100% to the sport, because I really wanted to dedicate myself to that, to get better. I had some unforeseen events, like the lack of a coach where I needed it most. Just these days, I was thinking: 'Damn, I started training in 2016, without having done anything, at most a few gauntlets, I was pissed off. I had never done sparring, ever. Hard MMA sparring I had never done. I started training in June 2016, eight months later, I was making my professional debut and in 2019 I was debuting in the UFC. Things happened very quickly. At first it was a little strange for me, but now I'm managing it better, I'm making up for lost time. I know that I can improve a lot, I know that I can be very good at this, I think because I had this feeling that didn't stop me a few times in the past, even when I was winning, before entering the UFC.”
Did you think about giving up MMA?
“Yes, there was. Because I couldn't feel comfortable, right? So, it was a very bad situation and even though I won, I seriously thought a few times about stopping. I was like, 'Man, I don't think this s*** is for me. I can't feel comfortable.' Okay, I like training, I like winning, but I can't have all this discomfort. But I learned to cope a little more and always insisted a little more, I dedicated myself more. So I kept going, I kept going and today I'm here. I'm going to my fifth fight in the UFC, practically half of my career is now in the UFC. So, I still have a lot of room for growth. Everything, strength, technique, there is a lot for me to improve, so, with the head I have and the right professionals by my side, I believe there is still a lot for me to improve and a lot of work still to be done”.
Expectations for 2022
“You can expect a very motivated Rodolfo, much better than the previous one, than last year. And with a lot of desire to fight, with a lot of desire to be active. This year I want, if God allows, to stay healthy the way I am. I want to be very active in the UFC, trying to do more fights, because since I started, I've always done two fights a year. I was also very worried about my evolution, I didn't want to keep fighting, fighting. I was very worried about my technical evolution, but now I'm feeling more confident, more mature, so this year, I want to do something different. If everything goes well, have three fights, maybe four. And who knows, maybe get into the rankings after doing a good job.”
About Rodolfo Vieira
Hired by Ultimate in 2019, Rodolfo has already had four fights with Ultimate gloves and recorded three wins and one defeat. His next fight will be against his compatriot Wellington Turman, UFC 270, which takes place next Saturday (22). The Brazilian fighter has a record of eight wins and one setback in professional MMA.
