Author: By Martins Denis

His upcoming bout is against TUF Live’s Sam Sicilia at UFC 153 this Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but the story of Rony Jason was originally written the moment he agreed to take part in the first ever Ultimate Fighter Brazil.

Spending weeks inside a house, where you’re thrown in with unknown teammates who can turn into your foes sooner or later, depending on your performance. Plus, you need to address the new feelings that can pop up during your season living in the TUF house, as you’re dealing with a bunch of different personalities, as well as a new training regimen and constant dieting that requires complete concentration.

Undoubtedly, you learn many more lessons during this period than you could have ever imagined before your first step into the house. And if the fighter has his mindset prepared for training, keeping on weight and fighting whoever comes, you end up like Rony Jason, the original featherweight TUF Brazil winner.

But the soft-spoken native of Ceara, who adopted the Friday the 13th character mask as his trademark, saw his career turn 180º, and not just because he’s a familiar face for everybody, there are many more points that he’s observed and absorbed since then.

“The list is long,” he says. “When you step out of the house, you realized what the MMA world is, indeed, regarding diet, professionalism, focus on training and goals to be established. I was an athlete, but before TUF Brazil I couldn’t see what I see now.

“The season matured me in different ways,” Jason continues. “You think twice before releasing something on your Twitter or Facebook, because everything has two sides, a very bad and a good. And I realized people have eagle eyes for interpreting a simple tweet as something I didn’t mean. Training wise, I stayed with same mentors at Team Nogueira: Everaldo Penco (BJJ), three boxing professors Edelson, Erivan and Luis, a Muay Thai coach from Thailand and a Savate trainer to teach new techniques.”

Mariano said the list was long, but in fact it wasn’t. The Team Wanderlei representative on TUF Brazil’s inaugural season acclimated to the up and downs of life inside the house, turning them into good points to keep his run to the Octagon alive. Wait, downs? Did he have downs by winning the season and becoming the first ever TUF champ of Brazil?

“Yes, I did,” he replies. “Fighting a friend like I did with Anistavio ‘Gasparzinho’ Medeiros and going to the distance with Hugo Viana and Godofredo Pepey weren’t in my plans. I never expected those events happening.”

Well, isn’t Jason over reacting a bit as he talks about the two decision victories he had? From the Brazilian’s perspective, not at all, and this goal of perfection is necessary when you’re the winner of the first TUF in South America, and he understands the eyes which are upon him right now, with people expecting better and better performances.

“Great power means big responsibilities, and I know there are a lot of people waiting to see more coming from me,” he said. “I’m the first TUF Brazil winner and I’ll proudly carry this award forever. I don’t want to prove points to the critics; I just don’t want to disappoint those who believe in me.”

Beyond the exit door of TUF Brazil is Sam Sicilia, a heavy hitter willing to nail Jason in front of his home crowd. This is the first fight where we’ll see how the Brazilian will perform with the new title added to his name.

“I’m relaxed, I know my coaches trust in me and they know I’ll give my best,” he says. “I see Sicilia as a worthy foe and I don’t look at him differently because I won TUF here in Brazil and he lost there in the USA. I could have been beaten here in Brazil and he could have won there, and we can evaluate what happened to say this or that is better. But when we step into the cage, it’s 50-50 and we both want to win. I know Sicilia is tough and he knocked Cristiano Marcello out, showing how dangerous he is.”

Many say that the highest MMA competition starts when you face an imported opponent. For Jason, this will be his debut against a foreign adversary in Sicilia. Even though the competition in Brazil is tough as nails, he gets the point.

“I see this way: it’s like you play a game and you advance to the next level, that’s it.” Jason said. “I’m in the ‘pre-level’ of hard training, and I have a lot of motivation taking on an American fighter with a different approach from the guys I faced my entire career in Brazil. People can say that I won’t feel the real UFC until I’m fighting in an event outside Brazil. I don’t agree! I’m happy through, because I’m fighting a guy who’s coming to my home, where I’m used to the time, routine, weather and food, and this is still the UFC (laughs).”

If you only knew Rony Jason after his face appeared on TV, you only watched him finishing fights once. But Jason is a finisher, like Sicilia is, and on October 13th, he’ll try to show once more that speech you remember well: “My goal is to leave the cage quickly.” This means Jason enjoys finishing, and he wishes to put a quick end to the man standing across the Octagon.

“I see a lot of me in Sicilia’s fighting.” Mariano says. “Look at his record and you see he wants to dispatch the foes rapidly. He’s a predator. I’m a predator. I look at this fight as prey and predator and I’ll try to be in the second spot. I go forward and I want to finish soon. Sicilia is like this too, so this is gonna be lion vs. lion. He’s 11-1 with 10 finishes, and adding the TUF house fights, I finished 11. This will be a collision of guys who submit opponents and like knockouts. Fans will see two bazookas firing. God bless us and let’s make a great fight!”

The sequence of events over the last three months that saw Renan Barao switch opponents twice before moving from UFC 148 to the main event of UFC 149 was stunning, to say the least.

Now, Barão is preparing to battle Urijah Faber on Saturday night for the interim UFC bantamweight belt, but to get here, he went through a lot of different emotions and a surprise after his fight against former WEC title challenger Scott Jorgensen.

Barão (30-1, 1 NC) dispatched Jorgensen by unanimous decision at UFC 143 in February, and his aspirations for a shot at the title were high. Then Jeff Hougland‘s name was announced as his opponent for UFC 148 in Las Vegas on July 7th, and while the Nova Uniao product was fine with the choice, he was uncertain what this match against the unheralded up and comer was going to do for him in his title quest. Okay, a win is a win, and it doesn’t matter against who that victory comes against when you have a winning streak like Barao does, but a fight is a fight, and losing to someone like Hougland, who was only 1-0 in the UFC at the time, would be worse than an upset; it would be catastrophic.

But the MMA world keeps turning, and a succession of changes then shook the bantamweight division. Soon, the UFC was forced to relocate fighters from one event to another to cover for injured fighters who dropped off the cards – and it was announced that Barao would instead face the “Pride of El Salvador”, Ivan Menjivar, at UFC 148. However, destiny had a final trick reserved for the man unbeaten in his last 31 fights, as an injury suffered by the 135-pound champion, Dominick Cruz, opened the ultimate door for what Barao never expected three months prior: a fight for the belt. This new situation was so big that Barao couldn’t avoid smiling at any moment, even when he had to be in the stare down position inside The Ultimate Fighter training center in Las Vegas against Faber when their bout was announced.

“That’s the problem with not talking English too well,” he laughed, talking about his trip from Rio de Janeiro to Vegas without knowing the reason for the journey. “I didn’t imagine that it would happen so quickly, and Dedé (Andre Pederneiras, Barao’s coach and manager) just said we need to go to USA to resolve some issue. I thought I’d fight one more time and then I would face the winner of Faber-Cruz (if he won the Menjivar fight). So now you all can understand why I couldn’t hide the smile in any of the situations that came afterwards.”

Talking about it now makes Barao laugh, but at the time, with Pederneiras not telling him the real reason for their sudden trip to Las Vegas, he was concerned, but the shocking news at that moment was turned into pure happiness when he finally found out the answers to his questions.
 
“My reaction… when I got the point, well man, I think I have no words,” he said.  “Inside my body I was smiling much more than I do when I talk about that chance I have now. Look at it this way, we all have dreams, and we know how much time it takes for them to come true. I was looking for this objective for that long, and thank God I’ll have this opportunity of showing against Faber the hard work I had put in during my whole career.”

There’s no question that he deserves this shot. The man has been perfect during his time under the Zuffa umbrella, with two finishes in the WEC, three great performances in the UFC and the longest winning streak in MMA today. That’s 31 fights without a loss, but fighting Faber for the world bantamweight title is unquestionably the high point of Barao’s career and how he handles everything leading up to the match of his life can be a burden. But Barao says it is not this way.

“I’m very relaxed with this winning streak issue; sometimes it’s mentioned by my teammates regarding the amount of fights I have won one after other, but I don’t think on it,” Barao said. “This is a result of the hard work I had during my career, and I’m trying to collect the results of that again with a win on Saturday night and consequently the bantamweight UFC belt.

“My enthusiasm for this chance and the winning streak are things I don’t think of at this point; my focus is on Faber and what I can do to beat him, the strategy I’ll utilize, things like that. Nothing can harm me now, and because of that I don’t turn positive achievements into pressure on my shoulders.”

Part of the Nova Uniao team, Barao is teammate to a host of UFC fighters, among then a champion, Jose Aldo, the kingpin of the featherweight division. Aldo isn’t just the man at 145 pounds, he is also one of the five men who beat Faber, and many believe that with some adjustments, Barão can have the former WEC featherweight champion’s number as well. Is that the way Barao sees it?

“He gained experience and he dropped one weight class since he fought Aldo, so we had some changes here,” he said. “Of course Aldo’s support is a key point, but I only expect a war, a great fight and I’ll bring to the table the best tactics to get this victory.”

During those last 90 days prior to the main event of UFC 149, Renan Barao passed through several different emotions, including uncertainty and happiness. But we can’t forget that this is a Barao’s dream and he wants to make it happen in real life with a happy ending. So he foresees the final result of the match as such:

“Arm raised, belt around my waist and a smile bigger than the one when I found out I would fight for the interim UFC bantamweight belt. That is what I imagined for me and a dream [a mission] accomplished.”

 

Coming off a knockout defeat and with a record of 4-2, if you compared Cézar “Mutante” Ferreira with his peers on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, he doesn’t look that impressive, especially since nowadays, with fighters joining the reality show with undefeated records, Ferreira would likely be the last one to be picked or considered a favorite to win the whole season.

But don’t get the wrong opinion by this first impression. Finishing all three of his fights in the competition, Ferreira, a protégé of former UFC light heavyweight champion, Vítor Belfort, eliminated any doubts and proved that attitude and focus mean more than a 4-2 record.

“The confidence was my key,” Ferreira says. “I like to concentrate on what I can do, and not what’s around me. I believe in my skills, I knew I could make it to the finals, and under Belfort’s tutelage I learned how to impose my will without thinking much about what the opponent can do against you. This is a kind of mindset I have, and it worked for me during the season.”

Even so, Ferreira didn’t have an easy road in his fights during TUF Brazil, with the exception of his Mirko Cro Cop style knockout in the semifinals against Thiago Perpetuo. He had his hands full against Gustavo “Labareda” Sampaio before entering the Ultimate Fighter house, and, inside of it, Leonardo “Macarrão” Mafra pressured him with a skilled Muay Thai attack. Both guys were submitted by guillotine chokes.

“I believe I committed some mistakes, but I still believe I won those rounds where the guys let their games go. I took lessons from those matches and I listened to my corner. They’re there to be your compass, minimizing the risks.”

Inside the house, Ferreira was blamed by Wanderlei Silva for trying to mimic Belfort. He was accused of trying to share the same type of speeches, being also titled a playboy by the coach of the opposite team. At the end of the show, minutes after knocking Perpetuo out with a high kick, many things had changed and Silva switched his opinion about the finalist. Ferreira explains he is what he is, and he just tries to absorb the best he can from whoever he admires, including Wand.

“When you go to a university, you’re going to learn and graduate with as much good knowledge as possible,” he said. “Vitor provided me a lot of “universities” in my career, and when he couldn’t me teach anything at a certain point, he told me to go to another place to learn. So I was able to acquire good things from Vitor and from other athletes I admire, including Wanderlei Silva. He has a great story in the sport, he’s aggressive, goes forward… So I learned that from him and I took it for me.”

For those who think a reality show like TUF Brazil doesn’t add many things to the participants, Ferreira is a proof it’s not true. Living with other fighters isn’t only a clash of temperaments. The new experience created a benchmark for Cezar Ferreira, as his life is now considered “Before and After TUF Brazil.”

“I think I was tested, not in the sporting way, but in dealing with all these things which occur, and you take away this kind of big experience. I believe I matured 10 years living there,” he said. “I know it helped me a lot and it’ll help me from now on; this is the essence of the reality show. The participants have a different approach to pressure, and when you leave the house with good results, you become a super athlete. Examples are in the promotion when TUF winners fought for titles and captured some of them.”

Ferreira should have faced his teammate, Daniel Sarafian, in Saturday’s middleweight final at UFC 147, but an injury sidelined him, opening a spot for the man who fought in one of the semifinals, Sergio Moraes. A few have said the fight will be less tough for the Team Vitor member because Moraes lost. But there’s nothing easy about facing a three-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World champion, a black belt who submits other black belts. Instead, it can be a classic striker vs. grappler match.

“TUF Brazil had 5,000 applications; just the best of the best remained,” he said. “The level is very high, and if you close your eyes and point your fingers to the competitors, you can match a lot of great fights. I don’t see the challenge smaller or bigger because Sarafian is out and Moraes is in. I’m ready to be the winner. I’ll have my arm raised. I’m very well trained and let me tell you one thing – in my head I visualized fights with all the TUF Brazil middleweights when I joined the house. Moraes is an opponent I need to compete with, and I’ll be doing it very well.”

Since the beginning of Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares’ career, it was pretty clear that he had a lot of potential. The way he managed his wins on the local circuit, his Fury GP win and his UFC debut win over Ivan Salaverry just confirmed that.

And while it’s okay to consider that facing Dan Henderson in his second UFC fight was something of a tactical mishap, that was one of those defeats that you can accept simply due to the size of the challenge that the former Rings, PRIDE and Strikeforce champion represents.      

However, following Palhares’ next steps, something was missing from the best Brazilian Top Team representative, who fights Alan Belcher at UFC on FOX 3 this Saturday. The powerhouse kept dispatching foes with his elite BJJ game inside the Octagon, but his interviews became difficult to collect enough quotes from, and his attitude against Tomasz Drwal – where he yanked the Polish fighter’s ankle while the referee fought for him to release the sub attempt – and the bizarre happenings against Nate Marquardt and Dan Miller left many question marks. Something had to be changed, because only training and fighting was giving the Brazilian a bad image.        

 “My profession is fighting, and for me, the most important thing is training to be prepared, achieving the results and reaching my goals and dreams inside the Octagon”, he said. “In December of 2011, I talked with my master Murilo Bustamante, so we resolved to build a structure of people watching my back, developing my trademark, and constructing a web site, all those things that please the fans.”         

It was the first step to really show the Palhares that only close fans, teammates and family knew previously. 2011 was time to change the reputation of a fighter some saw as ‘dirty,’ and to show not only the sportsmanship of the competitor, but also the human being that many didn’t meet until then.    

“Look, in my life I never needed to be disloyal with anyone trying to reach something, and that attitude came from the cradle before I got involved with martial arts. I thank God due to the education my family gave me,” Palhares said. “One of the reasons that MMA is popular is because of the different ways that people see the same fight, from referees and judges to fans and journalists. For me, no misconception is worth enough if you are conscious of your acts, losing or winning.”        

For a guy who was born in inland of the Minas Gerais state (Dores do Indaiá city) like Palhares, all the sudden changes can affect you. Training and social media work must be very well conducted or your bright plan will turn into a nightmare.    

“I have the sport psychologist Dr. Guilherme Pineschi working with me, with the goal focused on concentration and performance inside the Octagon. I’m looking for manage the anxiety before the fight well.”    

For those who have been watching Toquinho’s fights, the notoriety of his mindset alteration is clear. After some rough patches during his fight against Miller at UFC 134, he came back refreshed against Mike Massenzio. The result? A quick heel hook, as usual. However this was the new Toquinho here, one with the same skills but without unexpected attitudes.      

“Like a fighter, I try to evolve every day at Brazilian Top Team, so I’m 100% sure that there are a lot of differences (between the first and last impressions of him)”, he said. “I hope you can notice more on May 5th. I keep the same training routine, and the same respect for the martial arts.”    

Respect is an interesting issue at this point. Belcher, Toquinho’s upcoming foe, stated he knows the power of the Brazilian’s submissions. So his key for victory may be keeping the fight on the feet. As for the ground? Well, everybody knows that the ground plus Toquinho can equal game over. And the Brazilian who scored two knockdowns on Miller adds he has more under his sleeve.    

“I hope for a tough fight because I’ll battle a great fighter,” he says respectfully. “But I’m prepared to battle in any position where the fight develops. This will be a great fight, where I believe that both of us will search the finish, trying to grab the victory entire time.”    

Looking back at Toquinho’s road inside the Octagon, everything is right where it should be. If a victory over Henderson in 2008 could have cut the distance to title contention in half, now, with more than just training and fighting, he seems more prepared if the shot for gold arises.  

“I know the importance of this fight, not only for me, but for Belcher too. Whoever emerges victorious will take a huge step.” Palhares said. “I want to fight for the belt, but I know my time will come, sooner or later. In fact, I leave it all in the UFC’s hands to choose the best moment for it. What is up to me is giving my best inside the Octagon.” 

Watch “Toquinho’s” intense workout

This Wednesday’s UFC on FUEL TV event in Omaha, Nebraska will mark a night of firsts for Brazil’s Ronny Markes as he takes on wrestler Aaron Simpson.

Markes, who debuted in the Octagon as a light heavyweight and fought at that weight and also at catchweights of around 198 pounds in Brazil, will be fighting as a middleweight for the first time. Plus, this will also be his first time on a UFC main card, as he defeated Karlos Vemola by decision on the preliminary portion of UFC Live last August.

In that debut, Markes, a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Andre Pederneiras and Jair Lourenco, outwrestled the former national wrestling champion en route to a points victory that earned him his first UFC win. And even if he didn’t produce the most exciting bout in his first time outside his homeland, Markes did show the strength and durability to dominate Vemola in the Czech Republic native’s own field – the takedowns.

“If it was a wrestling match, I would have been beaten, I have no doubts of it,” Markes said. “But I have been training throws since my start in BJJ, and I polished them with the wrestling of Roberto Leitão Filho (silver medal in the Indianapolis Pan-Ams of 1987). They were linked to my strength, an aspect that Vemola was not expecting.”

After that first UFC experience, Markes analyzed where he could have been better, and what forced him to be a bit hesitant in some situations. Yet once he capitalized on the holes in Vemola’s game but still couldn’t get a finish, he learned what he is going to do next.

“First off, I was focused on controlling the fight, to debut with wisdom and then deliver something big,” he said. “It didn’t happen and we only realize what we could do better in a win when you watch your performances afterwards. I didn’t use my elbows on any of the opportunities I had to. I saw the gaps for it, but I thought that I didn’t want to expose myself for a reverse, because a wrestler can explode on the bottom and end up on top of you.”

Keeping a dominant position during the fight seemed to be something so far from Markes if you saw his Octagon walk-in. Deeply emotional, the powerhouse from Brazil started crying after passing the curtain en route to the cage. Apparently he was mentally shaken by the opportunity; however, he didn’t drag such emotion into the fight, leaving it all outside.

“I am a strong guy, with strong emotions,” he says, smiling. “After some important matches I won in Brazil I let my emotions appear, and this would not be different when I made my dream come true of going to UFC. A lot of people imagined it would harm my performance, but I have a limit for it and the end comes when I put my first foot inside the cage.”

Markes, at 6-foot-1, wasn’t a tall guy for the light heavyweight division, and he’s still not one of the tallest in the 185-pound class, so the move to the middleweights was welcomed and would not be a problem. But when you look the frame of the man from Nova Uniao, you realize that it is not going to be that easy, principally when a guy like Markes never stepped up on the scales at less than 198 pounds.

“Yeah, this will be a problem…for Simpson,” Markes affirms. “I conditioned my body with the supervision of Thiago Macedo (strength and conditioning coach) and the cut was nice. My speed increased, I kept the strength, and these will be more obstacles for to Simpson face.”

Determined to give to the fans a different look from his first UFC triumph, where he didn’t perform as brilliantly as he wanted to, Markes now hopes to let his game talk for itself as he displays a style that he says is more complete than that of his opponent.

“I have nothing, but respect for Simpson,” Markes said. “He’s a wrestler, a good one, he has a powerful right hand and he has more experience and has been evolving. But I think I have many more options to put Simpson away than he does. I polished my game on the feet very well with a lot of kickboxing and boxing, I am a brown belt in BJJ for about two years, and I am not afraid of playing from the bottom, but I don’t think Simpson will jeopardize himself in my guard. I want to please the fans and best way to do it is by finishing the fight.”

Renan Barao, the bantamweight contender from Nova Uniao who faces former title challenger Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143, has a strong opinion about things that are new to him. And we are not just talking about fights, as Barao has already shown that he can stand and bang or grapple with splendor and, in the process, deal with matters such as his international debut in the WEC back in 2010, his move to the UFC, and his most recent bout in his opponent’s backyard when he subbed local hero Brad “One Punch” Pickett in England.

For Barao, it’s all just a case of adaptation, training, and will that make these new ventures become second nature, not only in the sport, but in life too.

“I never felt that responsibility that people are used to putting on me,” he says. “They say I am a Nova Uniao black belt, so I need to sub everybody to prove a point, but I don’t see it this way. Guys forget that I have also been training boxing for so long, so my game is to finish the fights, not exclusively trying to take people down and work the ground game. Perhaps the two fights I had in the WEC and in my UFC debut cemented the mindset that I am a grappler, and because of it they got shocked when I was better at trading blows with a guy nicknamed ‘One Punch.’”

The performance against Pickett back in November at UFC 138 was really impressive, and Barao fought like he was competing in an empty arena as he ignored the audience’s boos in order to put on an absolute showcase of his talent. In pre-fight comments, he said the British fans’ cheers wouldn’t affect him, and he naturally adapted himself to the situation with ease.

Yet while he deals with the pressure of his sport with no problem, saying it’s all about adjustment, we can’t say the same thing when the topic is his samba dancing. Before UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro in January, Barao, along with Junior dos Santos, Ronny Markes and Johnny Eduardo, made an appearance at Samba School to test their skills with the rhythm and proved that the first two men are much better fighters than dancers.

“I shocked everybody with my rhythm (or lack of it), did you see?” he laughs. “If it was forro (a traditional rhythm from the Northeast of Brazil), you would see my talent, but samba… You know, give me a couple of weeks to train and I’ll adjust better (laughs).”

All kidding aside, the 25-year old Rio Grande do Norte native did do his homework in the last 60 days of preparation, and after getting an in-depth look at his adversary’s footage, Barao took the first step toward extending his superb unbeaten streak to 30. Once again he speaks about adapting, adding that there are a combination of factors needed for him to overcome Jorgensen this weekend.

“I don’t agree with those who talk about not studying your opponent’s game; it’s very important to be aware of what the tendencies of Jorgensen are. That is part of a great strategy to trap the opponent or to capitalize on the holes in his game.” Barao said. “On the other hand, these two fights I had in WEC and two in UFC were kind of a maturation for me. I felt the vibration, I could let my game go, and I could see what happens when you have the crowd on your side and you can’t impose your will – being the favorite becomes a heavy boulder on your shoulder. You know, I believe this was what happened to Pickett; all the responsibility was on him, and the moment my punches and knees started to connect, he saw that the crowd couldn’t help and that it was only me and him inside the cage.”

Topping with Jorgensen, Barao (29-1 1 NC) might not been counting with the “Young Guns” using the public to discourage him.

In Jorgensen, Barao will be facing a fighter who is in the top five in the bantamweight division, and who has wrestling credentials linked to the punching power that separated Ken Stone from his senses at the TUF 13 Finale and neutralized Brazilian jiu-jitsu wizard and former WEC featherweight title challenger Jeff Curran. These “Young Guns” are the real deal to combat the Brazilian’s game, but Barao hopes to fire back with his own arsenal.

“What I can tell you is that the fight will be huge,” said Barao. “We are finishers, we are agile and we want the gold. I want to show more of my game on the feet, where I have the reach advantage over my recent opponents, and I know that to have a long reach is not a guarantee that you will box better, but I know how to use it. I know what the fight’s positive outcome can generate for me and the key factor is to not get your mind lost into it. Just impose your game.”

This pivotal meeting will probably mark the rise of a contender for the winner of Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber III. And though the Brazilian is aware of this aftermath, the current moment is the more important goal now as he has only one responsibility.

“My unique and exclusive responsibility is to go forward in all my fights, try to control the opponent and show my game and my work. This is the goal I carry, and it isn’t heavy when I step in the cage.”