BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil — Francisco “Massaranduba” Trinaldo is one of the biggest sensations from the first season of the Ultimate Fighter in Brazil, but Piotr Hallmann ruined the Brazilian party this past Wednesday night.
Set to face the experienced Brazilian in his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 28, Hallmann showed a lot of heart to survive the beating in the opening round and finish the jiu-jitsu brown belt with a kimura in the second round.
“I didn’t expect submissions,” Hallmann told MMAFightung.com after the fight. “I expected to win by points or stoppage, but not a submission at all. But I train every aspect of the game.”
The Polish lightweight, who earned the ‘Submission of the Night’ bonus at UFN 28, realizes he was a huge underdog in this bout, so nobody expected him to come out with the victory.
“I put everything in the Octagon and left it there,” he said. “I knew my people didn’t expect me to win, many didn’t know me yet. But I believe my friends believe in me so I don’t care what everybody else says.”
Trinaldo’s body kick in the opening round hurt him bad, but he realized the Brazilian had tried everything he could in the first five minutes.
“He caught me but I knew I had to survive there,” he said. “I was also tired but I knew he was also tired, so I worked the submission in the ground.”
Hallmann is now 14-1 in MMA with 13 finishes, and tapping Trinaldo was the best way to impress in his first appearance inside the Octagon.
“I know UFC is the biggest event, the turning point of my life,” he said. “I knew I had to change a lot in my life. Since I signed the contract, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to do this.”