Napão hopes to return to the top 10 and gain another chance to compete for the heavyweight belt

Napão (photo) faces Mitrione at UFC on FOX 13. Photo: Nick Laham/Zuffa LLC

Gabriel Napao He is one of the Brazilian athletes with the longest stint in the UFC. The Rio native made his debut in the Octagon in 2005 and went on to challenge for the heavyweight belt two years later, when he lost to Randy Couture. Despite the long time on the road, Napão considers that he still has big goals to achieve in Ultimate, and hopes that his fight against Matt Mitrione, this Saturday (13), will be the first step towards a new chance to fight for the belt.

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Currently 12th in the heavyweight rankings, Napão hopes to join the top ten list soon. “I've been in the UFC's top 20 throughout my career and probably in more than half of my career I've been in the top 10. I want to be in the top 10 again and get another chance to fight for the belt. I feel better, stronger, faster, more mature. I feel like it’s a good moment for me”, said the fighter, in an interview with the North American website “Sherdog”.

Despite the positive record of his opponent, Mitrione, who won seven of his eight victories by knockout, Napão says he is confident in his standup game. “He’s a big, athletic guy. He has good breath. He's another member of the shark tank we have in the heavyweight division. I'm very comfortable with my striking game and if he makes a mistake, I'll try to take him down and capitalize on it,” he said.

The main fight of UFC on FOX 13 will be between heavyweights junior gypsy e Stipe Miocic. Interestingly, Napão has already been defeated by both athletes: he was knocked out by Cigano in 2010 and lost to Miocic by decision in January this year, in his last fight for the UFC.

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