Author: By Carlos Eduardo Ozorio / Translation Munique Bohnke

Sergio Moraes almost couldn’t believe it when he heard that he was getting a chance to face Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira at UFC 147 this Saturday in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Eliminated in the semifinals of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil by Daniel Sarafian, Serginho got the news that Ferreira’s opponent on the show, Sarafian, was not able to fight in the final of the show. Later, during a camp in Curitiba, where he was taking the opportunity to improve his Muay Thai, the fighter accepted the chance to step in and fight against “Mutante” on the spot. Now he will be on the main card, again with the chance to achieve his dream, a contract with the UFC.

Coming from a humble childhood and raised in a poor community in São Paulo, Moraes started to have contact with fighting through capoeira and jiu-jitsu, in which he has already won the world title three times. But it’s the contract with the UFC that means a change for his family, and the situation that put him in the finals was a surprise he’s grateful for.
 
“I would never want for Sarafian to get hurt, because he earned his spot in the final, but it happened and I was already training hard. I went to Curitiba to work on my standup game, and when I heard I was going to face ‘Mutante,’ I intensified my training even more,” he says.

On TUF, Moraes was knocked out by Sarafian, and the setback made him realize the importance of improving in other areas of MMA, and for that, he counted on some strong help.

‘I trained with André Dida and Mauricio Shogun’s team. When I got on the reality show, I was thinking about the jiu-jitsu world championship, and I wasn’t training my MMA game up. As soon as I left the house, I could only think about correcting my mistakes. My defeat happened, but I quickly raised my head and thought of a better way to work on my flaws. The opportunity of working with Shogun and Dida came, and everybody knows that Curitiba is the birthplace of the best stand up athletes,” he said.

His participation on TUF gave Moraes distinct experiences. There, Serginho lived through so many things, including the thrill of the victory and the sadness of elimination. Now, the black belt feels like a more mature and well prepared fighter.

 “It was a new experience. We were living next to our opponents and even the training partners could turn into our opponents in a minute. We had to make weight three times in a month. These are very different situations and I think we left there ready for anything. Everybody who was in the house has to be congratulated and they are men of their word. Now it is time to make our path outside,” said Moraes, who continues:

“Today, I see myself as a more complete fighter. Of course my main skill is jiu-jitsu, but I’m good in any situation. I think I’m ready to trade with “Mutante,” and I’m in no hurry to go to the ground. If the fight happens standing up, that’s how it’s going to be.”

In three fights on TUF Brazil, Ferreira won by submission twice and knockout once. On his 4-2 pre-TUF record, he has three knockouts and one submission, and in his losses, he was submitted and knocked out. So, if you take into consideration these statistics, none of Ferreira’s fights went to a decision, and while he is very dangerous, he leaves some gaps. Moraes isn’t concerned about the numbers though. He just sees a very exciting fight with a tough opponent, but not an unbeatable one.

“He is a new athlete in MMA,” said Moraes. “He is not a specialist in any area, but he does well in several areas. Since the beginning he got used to training a little bit of everything. He is a modern athlete, well rounded.”
 

 

Before getting to The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra had already built part of his story in Brazilian cages.

With 10 wins and three losses, he submitted current UFC fighter Felipe “Sertanejo” Arantes via triangle choke in 2009, and in 2006, he gave a good effort against Renan Barão, who now challenges Urijah Faber for the interim belt of the bantamweight division, but ended up on the short end of a split decision.

Now, “Jason” has a chance to write his name in the history books, and at UFC 147 on June 23 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, he will try to stop Godofredo Pepey. At stake is the chance to become the first winner of the reality show’s Brazilian version and earn the much dreamed about contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

On TUF Brazil, “Jason” first knocked out Dileno Lopes. After that, he quickly submitted Anistavio “Gasparzinho” Medeiros with an armlock before winning a close, but unanimous decision over Hugo “Wolverine” Viana. Now his target is Pepey.

“He has many qualities,” said Rony. “Some people say he is not that much of a good fighter, but he gets his props on getting to the final. I know who he is. Pepey has a great game on the ground, with a strong triangle, and his hands are also very heavy. He may not be an expert standing, but his hands are strong.”

Inside the house of The Ultimate Fighter, “Jason” was the big revelation of Team Wanderlei. In fact, he was the only member of the team to pass to the semifinals of the reality show. But if inside the reality show he was the great pupil of Wanderlei Silva, in his daily routine he swears his loyalty to the Nogueira brothers, Rodrigo Minotauro and Rogerio Minotouro. As he likes to point out, his team is also his family, and to face Pepey, he will not be lacking in help. His goal is to finish everything in the first five minutes of the fight, something he has managed to accomplish nine times.
 
 “My preparation is at Team Nogueira and it will always be. We have great coaches and training partners. I have been working a lot with Bruno Machado, who has the same build as Pepey. He is helping me a lot. I am focused and it will be a great fight. I know about the quality of my opponent, but I will make sure to follow every step of my game and finish the fight in the first round. There will be nowhere for him to run.”
 
During the reality show, “Jason” was involved in a controversial fight against “Gasparzinho,” when Vitor Belfort did not hesitate to match up a battle between two old friends and training partners. Rony did not approve Belfort’s choice once it was known to all that he and “Gasparzinho” trained together for a long time. Although, as life on the reality show goes, Jason also trained with Pepey, his future opponent.
 
“We trained inside the house, but it was at a moment to help him face “Vina”. I was not thinking about facing him. He was on my team and we do not train with the mentality to see what the other does best, we train to help each other out. Pepey is a man who I admire a lot, he is a great guy.”

On June 23rd, Jason will face the biggest challenge of his life, and, in the search for that goal, he promises to try everything. However, he keeps his feet on the ground, which is not always an easy challenge.

“A word that would define Pepey is ‘persistence.’ He truly believes it, and he never thinks about giving up, so perseverance is his high point. I think this fight will be on fire. He does not like to step back and neither do I. I want to show that I can also fight standing up too, that I do not have my jiu-jitsu only. We will see how it is going to be.”

 

Despite being undefeated in mixed martial arts, Godofredo Pepey was an unknown fighter to the majority of the public a few months ago.

That was then. Now, after showing his fighting potential and not only guaranteeing himself a spot on the first edition of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, but one in the featherweight final of the reality series as well, he is one win on June 23rd in Belo Horizonte, Brazil away from earning a UFC contract.

In his first challenge on television, Pepey used his extremely dangerous triangle choke to beat Johnny “Cabeça” Goncalves on the ground and earn a spot in the TUF house. After that, he stayed alive in the competition by beating Wagner “Galeto” Campos by split decision in a very close fight. But when the pressure was on to earn a place in the final against Rony “Jason” Mariano, he used a kimura that made Marcos Vinicius “Vina” tap three times in the second round. So with one more victory, the fighter can reach the place he has wanted to be for a long time.

“The expectations are huge,” he said. “Fighting on the main card of the UFC is already a dream come true. Even more so that it’s the reality show finale and on a big event. To have that chance, I went trough a lot of difficulties: I had no manager, no sponsors, and I come from a humble family. It was not easy to get here, as there were only top athletes in the house. Now, I think I will give people something to talk about in this final, you will see.”

Indeed, his way to the top was not easy. Coming from a humble family, Pepey was led to fighting through his brother. From the time he was 14 years old, he specialized in jiu-jitsu, his main skill and one that made him get submission wins in six pre-TUF fights. However, this will also be the main skill of his opponent at UFC 147.

“Rony ‘Jason’ is a great jiu-jitsu fighter, he does not run from the fight on the ground, and just like myself, he has the same goal: the submission. But in MMA, we have to be well rounded and train a little bit of everything. I work in all the areas, and I am a black belt in Muay Thai. I will be ready to trade standing up, and I will also fight on the ground… I really do not have a preference.”

Mariano won 10 of his 13 pre-TUF fights, all of those victories coming before the sound of the final bell, nine of them in the first round. He will be a top-notch adversary, one who has trained under two icons of the sport, Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Rogerio “Minotouro” Nogueira.

“‘Jason’ is a complete fighter, both standing up, trading punches or on the ground. He is an excellent fighter,” said Pepey.
 
But the reality show itself also brought much experience, as Pepey went through an interesting situation during TUF Brazil. He started fighting for the team that was led by Vitor Belfort, one that opened a huge 7-1 lead in the competition.  The gap was so wide that UFC president Dana White started making some changes. To even the teams, Pepey was tasked to represent Team Wanderlei, and his first concern was having to fight the team that had been training him since the beginning of the first episode. In the end, all the fighters in the house knew his fight game. But the victory came in the semifinal, and now Pepey will have an opponent in front of him who had also been his training partner on Team Wanderlei.

More than that, Pepey and Jason are from the same state in Brazil, the state of Ceará. They both have very similar life stories in terms of the sacrifices they’ve made to get here, and now they are face to face, fighting for the same goal. Does that add an extra weight on them?

 “I am glad that Rony and I could show the value of our state on the fights, and we are proud of that. But regardless of where the person comes from, when we are in the Octagon, it will be a war,” he assures.

“I know that it will be a good fight and I will come well prepared. It will be a good show for the crowd because Rony is an excellent athlete and I want to impress everyone in this final. I will give everything I have in this challenge.”