Pitbull, Leites, Lineker and Brandão: members of the Brazilian legion at UFC 183. Photo: Produção SUPER LUTAS (Disclosure/UFC)
This Saturday (31), the eyes of Brazilian fans will be focused on the long-awaited return of Anderson Silva to the octagon. The Brazilian, former world middleweight champion, will have his first fight since the serious fracture he suffered in his leg in December 2013. His opponent will be the North American Nick Diaz, former Strikeforce welterweight champion who is not used to being intimidated by his opponents.
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However, for Brazilian athletes, UFC 183 goes far beyond Anderson's presence. The event, which will be in Las Vegas (USA), will feature a veritable legion of fighters from the country, with eight Brazilian athletes having important fights in the octagon.
The list of Brazilians ranges from former challengers for the belt, includes athletes who are eyeing the opportunity to compete for the title and also those who are fighting against a possible dismissal. Therefore, the SUPER FIGHTS gives a brief presentation of these seven Brazilians who will climb into the octagon moments before the return of Anderson Silva.
Thales leites
Leites (photo) is on a four-fight winning streak in the UFC. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
Thales Leitas, from Rio, already had the thankless task of sharing the octagon with Anderson Silva. This happened in April 2009, at UFC 97, when the Nova União academy creation challenged the then champion for the middleweight belt after winning five consecutive victories. The fight didn't go as he expected: apathetic, Leites offered no danger to the champion and ended up defeated by unanimous decision from the judges, in a tepid fight.
The fight served as a turning point for Thales' career. After fighting for the title, the athlete ended up suffering another defeat, against Alessio Sakara, which ended up resulting in his dismissal from the UFC. There, a journey began that took seven fights and four years towards his return to the largest MMA organization in the world.
Since returning to the UFC, Leites has performed impeccably, winning four dominant victories. On Saturday, he will try his fifth against the tough Tim Boetsch, which could put him even closer to his dream of gaining another chance to fight for the title.
Thiago Pitbull
Pitbull (photo) had his last fight in April 2014. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
This is another MMA veteran who already has a long career in the UFC. The United States-based Ceará native Thiago Alves, or Pitbull, as he is known, is one of the Brazilians with the longest experience in Ultimate, fighting for the organization since 2005. During this period, Pitbull experienced true moments of ups and downs, and now he battle to achieve regularity in the UFC at 31 years of age.
His best phase to date took place between 2006 and 2008, when he accumulated seven consecutive victories, including a knockout over the former champion Matt hugs and a dominant performance against the tough Josh koscheck. The results earned him the chance to fight for the welterweight belt, which happened at the historic UFC 100 event in July 2009.
At the time, Pitbull was unable to unleash his powerful striking game and ended up dominated by the then champion, Georges St Pierre. Since then, the Brazilian has not been able to repeat the results of his golden phase, alternating victories and defeats. To make matters worse, he has struggled with a long period of injuries, and since 2012 he has only stepped into the Octagon once.
At UFC 183, against Jordan Mein, Pitbull hopes to put his sharp Muay Thai skills back into practice and resume his path to success in the UFC, winning his second victory in a row – something he hasn't achieved since 2008.
John lineker
Lineker (photo) has a troubled history with the UFC scale. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
Currently, John Lineker, from Paraná, shares Jussier formiga the most prominent Brazilian position in the recently created flyweight division (up to 57 kg). The “Mãos de Pedra”, who has five wins in seven fights in the UFC, hopes to become the first athlete from Brazil to fight for the belt in the category, which could be very close to happening if he beats Ian McCall at UFC 183.
However, before thinking about defeating the American, Lineker needs to get rid of another ghost once and for all: the scale. This is because the Brazilian has already been above the weight limit for his category three times in the UFC, and on other occasions he had obvious difficulties in cutting the remaining grams. If he goes overweight again, Lineker could see his dream of fighting for the belt slipping further and further away, even in the event of a victory over McCall.
Inside the Octagon, however, Lineker is guaranteed to be a spectacle. His fighting style, more “planted”, with few movements and an excess of blunt blows, differentiates him from most other flyweight athletes, and his hands have already claimed several victims in the octagon. The mission against the tough McCall is not easy, but it is worth keeping an eye on the 24-year-old Brazilian's powerful blows.
Rafael Sapo
Sapo (photo) will face T. Boetsch. Photo: Disclosure/UFC
Of all the Brazilians who will participate in UFC 183, the Minas Gerais native Rafael Sapo It is perhaps the most delicate moment. The 32-year-old middleweight suffered two defeats in his last three fights, being knocked out by top-10 Tim Kennedy and succumbing in the decision to Ed Herman. The narrow victory over Chris Camozzi, in his last fight, gave him a breather, but it is undeniable that Sapo is still under pressure.
A black belt in jiu-jitsu under Vinícius Draculino, Sapo naturally has the main weapons of his game in ground fighting. In the UFC, his record is six wins, four losses and one draw. Against Tom Watson, Sapo hopes to get rid of the possibility of dismissal once and for all and get back on the path towards top-15 of the UFC.
Diego Brandao
D. Brandão (photo) was the TUF 14 champion. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
the ceará Diego Brandao, aged 27, has the greatest achievement in his career being the fact that to date he is the only Brazilian to become champion of a foreign edition of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter. The achievement came in 2011, when the athlete from Jackson's MMA (where names like Jon Jones e alistair overeem) won the 14th season title by finishing Dennis Bermudez at the final.
However, as a contracted UFC athlete, Brandão's career has not yet taken off. In the fight following his TUF 14 win, he lost to Darren Elkins via judges' decision; he then went on to win three straight, beating Joey Gambino, Pablo Garza and Daniel Piñeda. In his last two fights, however, he faced top athletes in the featherweight division, Dustin poirier e Conor McGregor, and ended up being knocked out both times.
This time, Brandão will face Jimy Hettes, an opponent who is in the same situation in the UFC. The winner will have to breathe and dream of bigger fights, while whoever loses will be in a difficult situation.
Rick Monster
Monster (photo) during the weigh-in in SP. Photo: Lucas Carrano/SUPER FIGHTS
Even though this is the second appearance Rick Monster in the octagon, it can be said that the athlete will make his UFC debut. This is because his first fight, in front of Marcos Foot at the TUF Brasil 3 Finale, in May last year, it practically didn't happen, as Monstro suffered a lightning knockout after 20 seconds.
The situation now, however, is completely different. Monstro moved from the heavyweight division, where he competed in TUF and later faced Pezão, to the middleweight category, which should represent a difference of almost 15 kg in his weight. A Team Nogueira athlete, the São Paulo native had quality training at his disposal, including sharing part of his time at the gym with Anderson Silva.
or combat of Rick Monster, however, it will end badly for an athlete from Brazil, as his opponent is compatriot Ildemar Marajó.
Ildemar Marajó
Ildemar (photo) will fight in his third different weight class in the UFC. Photo: Disclosure
Younger brother of Iuri Marajó, UFC bantamweight athlete, Ildemar will fight in his third different weight class at UFC 183. In his Octagon debut, in January 2013, he submitted Wagner Caldeirão in the light heavyweight division; he then moved straight to welterweight, where he had four fights and won half of them. Now, he will return to the middleweight division, a category in which he became champion in the Brazilian event Jungle Fight.
In his second consecutive fight in Las Vegas, Marajó wants to avoid the drama of suffering his second defeat in a row in the UFC, since, in July last year, he lost to Kenny Robertson.
Thiago Marreta
T. Marreta (photo) faces A. Enz. Photo: Josh Hedges
Thiago Santos, from Rio, or “Marreta”, as he is known, has only three fights in the UFC, but his trajectory is curious. None of his fights in the octagon went unnoticed, and the fights attracted the spotlight for good or bad reasons for the athlete.
His UFC debut happened suddenly, in Rio de Janeiro, replacing an injured athlete at the last minute to face Cezar Mutant, champion of TUF Brasil 1. And it didn't matter: Marreta ended up submitted in less than a minute by an aggressive Mutante, who applied a guillotine in the opening moments.
Next, Marreta staged one of the biggest upsets of 2014 by knocking out, also in the opening minute, the favorite Ronny Markes, who had just put in a tough fight against top Yoel romero. Thus, Thiago gained the chance to participate in a prominent event, facing the “Ambulance Man” Uriah Hall, in the same event in which Chris Weidman defended his belt against Lyoto Machida.
The fight with Hall itself didn't attract as much attention as the fact that the Jamaican based in the United States suffered a distressing broken toe during the fight. Even so, Hall came out with the victory, according to the judges' decision.
This time, Marreta faces a lesser-known opponent, who will try to do “all or nothing” at UFC 183. Andy Enz, 23, fights against the “machete”, as he will inevitably be fired if he suffers his third defeat in three fights in the UFC.
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