Rousimar Palhares will put his World Series of Fighting welterweight title on the line in December.
The submission artist, who tapped Steve Carl with a heel hook in 69 seconds to take his title in March, will defend the 170-pound championship against fellow UFC veteran Jon Fitch on Dec. 13, WSOF executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz confirmed to MMAFighting.com on Monday. WSOF 16’s city and venue still are yet to be determined.
Palhares (16-6) was initially scheduled to meet Fitch in July, but withdrew from the card because of his mother’s health issues. “Toquinho,” who holds 13 submission victories under his belt, enters the bout coming off a pair of quick finishes over Carl and Mike Pierce.
Fitch (26-6-1, one no-contest) earned a shot at the welterweight championship after defeating Marcelo Alfaya and Dennis Hallman via decision, getting back to the win column following a loss to Josh Burkman in his WSOF debut in 2013.
The next WSOF card is scheduled for Oct. 11 in Edmonton, Canada, and will be headlined by Jake Shields vs. Ryan Ford. In the co-main event, Smealinho Rama battles Derrick Mehmen for the heavyweight championship.
Rousimar Palhares will put his World Series of Fighting welterweight title on the line in December.
The submission artist, who tapped Steve Carl with a heel hook in 69 seconds to take his title in March, will defend the 170-pound championship against fellow UFC veteran Jon Fitch on Dec. 13, WSOF executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz confirmed to MMAFighting.com on Monday. WSOF 16’s city and venue still are yet to be determined.
Palhares (16-6) was initially scheduled to meet Fitch in July, but withdrew from the card because of his mother’s health issues. “Toquinho,” who holds 13 submission victories under his belt, enters the bout coming off a pair of quick finishes over Carl and Mike Pierce.
Fitch (26-6-1, one no-contest) earned a shot at the welterweight championship after defeating Marcelo Alfaya and Dennis Hallman via decision, getting back to the win column following a loss to Josh Burkman in his WSOF debut in 2013.
The next WSOF card is scheduled for Oct. 11 in Edmonton, Canada, and will be headlined by Jake Shields vs. Ryan Ford. In the co-main event, Smealinho Rama battles Derrick Mehmen for the heavyweight championship.
Piotr Hallman suffered his second loss under the UFC banner at UFC Fight Night 51 in Brasilia, Brazil, and he will have to wait nine months to get back inside the Octagon.
The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) announced on Monday that the Polish lightweight tested positive for steroid drostanolone following his split decision loss to Gleison Tibau in the co-main event of UFN 51 on Sept. 5.
Hallman, who was awarded the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus after the three-round bout, will likely lose his $50,000 bonus. He will be suspended nine months, and must undergo a new drug test before being cleared to compete again.
According to the commission, all fighters tested negative in the drug tests, including the four fighters who were randomly tested with both urine and blood exams.
Piotr Hallman suffered his second loss under the UFC banner at UFC Fight Night 51 in Brasilia, Brazil, and he will have to wait nine months to get back inside the Octagon.
The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) announced on Monday that the Polish lightweight tested positive for steroid drostanolone following his split decision loss to Gleison Tibau in the co-main event of UFN 51 on Sept. 5.
Hallman, who was awarded the ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus after the three-round bout, will likely lose his $50,000 bonus. He will be suspended nine months, and must undergo a new drug test before being cleared to compete again.
According to the commission, all fighters tested negative in the drug tests, including the four fighters who were randomly tested with both urine and blood exams.
Thiago Tavares’s recent battles inside the Octagon couldn’t be any better. However, the Brazilian featherweight failed to turn this success into votes.
Born in Santa Catarina, Tavares ran for a seat at the State’s Legislative Assembly. Affiliated with the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Tavares came up short on his first attempt in politics.
According to official numbers from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the highest body of the Brazilian electoral court, Tavares had 7,980 votes on Sunday’s elections, enough to be ranked at No. 103 among state legislators.
Gelson Merisio was the most voted for the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina, with 119,280 votes. Salvaro, the least voted state legislator in the 2014 elections in the state to earn one of the 40 seats at the assembly, received 14,985 votes.
Inside the Octagon, Tavares (19-5-1) is 2-0 since cutting down to featherweight with first-round finishes over Justin Salas and Robbie Peralta. The UFC has yet to announce his next bout.
“I would like to thank the 7,980 people that showed that they are tired of the current politics and decided to give their votes for renovation and wanting change,” Tavares wrote on his Instagram. “I’m glad there is people like me who are tired of so much neglect, little or no support to social projects for our children and so much corruption in politics. Thank you for believing in my projects and my ideas.”
Thiago Tavares’s recent battles inside the Octagon couldn’t be any better. However, the Brazilian featherweight failed to turn this success into votes.
Born in Santa Catarina, Tavares ran for a seat at the State’s Legislative Assembly. Affiliated with the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Tavares came up short on his first attempt in politics.
According to official numbers from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the highest body of the Brazilian electoral court, Tavares had 7,980 votes on Sunday’s elections, enough to be ranked at No. 103 among state legislators.
Gelson Merisio was the most voted for the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina, with 119,280 votes. Salvaro, the least voted state legislator in the 2014 elections in the state to earn one of the 40 seats at the assembly, received 14,985 votes.
Inside the Octagon, Tavares (19-5-1) is 2-0 since cutting down to featherweight with first-round finishes over Justin Salas and Robbie Peralta. The UFC has yet to announce his next bout.
“I would like to thank the 7,980 people that showed that they are tired of the current politics and decided to give their votes for renovation and wanting change,” Tavares wrote on his Instagram. “I’m glad there is people like me who are tired of so much neglect, little or no support to social projects for our children and so much corruption in politics. Thank you for believing in my projects and my ideas.”
Luiz Cane was hoping to be re-signed by the UFC after a pair of wins in 2013, but his return to the cages in 2014 didn’t end well for the Brazilian light heavyweight. Fighting Alexandre Zaneti in the main event of Saturday night’s Brazilian Fighting Championship 4 in Sao Paulo, “Banha” suffered a first-round TKO. Zaneti, who won the vacant BRFC 205-pound championship, now holds a 10-2 MMA record with 10 stoppage victories.
Luiz Cane was hoping to be re-signed by the UFC after a pair of wins in 2013, but his return to the cages in 2014 didn’t end well for the Brazilian light heavyweight. Fighting Alexandre Zaneti in the main event of Saturday night’s Brazilian Fighting Championship 4 in Sao Paulo, “Banha” suffered a first-round TKO. Zaneti, who won the vacant BRFC 205-pound championship, now holds a 10-2 MMA record with 10 stoppage victories.
At 47 years old, Renzo Gracie is not ready for retirement.
Scheduled to grapple against Kazushi Sakuraba at the upcoming Metamoris event in November, and Matt Hughes at 2015’s edition of ADCC in Brazil, the MMA veteran wants to get back in action under MMA rules.
Gracie hasn’t fought in MMA since 2010, when he suffered a third-round TKO loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 110. The Brazilian, who won his last MMA bout over Frank Shamrock in 2007, expects to get back in the Octagon in 2015.
“I’m ready to kick some butt,” Gracie told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “After Sakuraba, I’m coming for the UFC.”
“I’m as serious as hell, my friend. Believe it,” he continued. “You have to understand that you’re as old as you think you are. … I have to be in shape in November for Metamoris. I have to be in shape of September next year. Let’s be in shape in the middle and do what I like the most.”
UFC president Dana White never sound interested in seeing the Brazilian in the Octagon again after his performance against Hughes in Abu Dhabi, but Gracie is positive he will get the deal done.
“How can you not convince (White) if you fight even for free?” he replied. “You know the offer he did? He said ‘I’ll give you a check for you not to fight.’ I couldn’t. I’d rather fight for free.”
Before he thinks about returning to the Octagon next year, the two-time ADCC gold medalist has to worry about Sakuraba. The MMA legends, who battled at PRIDE 10 in 2000, will rematch in a 20-minute, submission-only grappling contest in California on Nov. 22.
“I got a phone call from my cousin Ralek (Gracie) and he offered me the fight. He said ‘Kazushi Sakuraba may sign with us. Are you interested in fighting him?’ I said ‘sign me up,’” he said. “The day I got that call, I begin training. That was probably a month before the announcement.”
The MMA veteran wasn’t too interested in competing in grappling again, but changed his couldn’t decline a chance to face “The Gracie Hunter” one more time. Sakuraba, who went 26–16–1 (2 no-contests) in MMA, defeated four members of the Gracie family in PRIDE, including Renzo.
“If life puts a source in front of you and you can drink again, how can you refuse it?” he said. “Especially for the fact that I came up short in the last one. In my head, the winner is the one who wins the last one [laughs].
“Since it’s Sakuraba, I couldn’t let go. How can I say no to having a chance to lay my hands on him one more time, you know?”
Sakuraba was the only man to submit Renzo Gracie under MMA rules, but the Brazilian doesn’t bring anything personal to the grappling match.
“It’s not (personal). He’s a gentleman, he’s a great guy,” he said. “But, if I can, I will choke him out, or break his arm to pay back what he did to my arm [laughs].”
The Japanese legend broke Gracie’s arm with a kimura 14 years ago, and the Brazilian refused to tap.
“That was one of the best moments of my life,” he said of the submission loss. “I realized my mind was stronger than my body.”
What if Sakuraba locks another kimura on Nov. 22? Will Gracie let it snap again, or would he tap this time?
“Give me the pleasure of that pain, man,” he said with a laugh. “I will put a little vicodin next to my bed, and I will wake every day and laugh at that shit before I put it in my mouth.”
“Now, I can get out,” he said of the kimura. “I studied every single aspect of it. To me, everything is learning.”
Gracie, who expects to weigh around 182 pounds for the grappling contest on Nov. 22, joked about how he plans to defeat “The Gracie Hunter” at The Long Beach Convention Center.
“Kimura?” he laughed. “My favorite is always the guillotine. I’m very good at it.”
Competing in submission-only matches is not something new to Renzo Gracie. “Before jiu-jitsu was popular,” as he describes it, he already battled jiu-jitsu black belts like Wallid Ismail and Alexandre Paiva, one of the founders of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu team.
“This is a very old concept,” he said. “They always called the superfights, where only the best, and people that had problems between themselves, and they would set up a show. It was always a success. I had a match with Wallid (Ismail) that was almost one hour. I had a couple matches with ‘Gigi’ (Alexandre Paiva), the head of Alliance, for half an hour. I’ve been doing this a long time, before jiu-jitsu was popular.”
If he could change anything in the Metamoris rules, Renzo Gracie would get rid of the time limit to get rid of the possibility of a draw.
“I would (prefer with no time limit) because I would rather know who won,” he said. “I’m going to die old like anybody else, shitting my pants like anybody else, but knowing who I was. I don’t care. If it was me the one who got submitted or not, (at least) I would know.
“In reality, there’s no need for points in a match like this. That’s how I grew up,” he continued. “Those fights were the test. We had those at the academies sometimes. We sit down and both went on it until one taps. I grew up with this. For me, this is very natural, and I’m glad they brought this and make it popular.”
At 47 years old, Renzo Gracie is not ready for retirement.
Scheduled to grapple against Kazushi Sakuraba at the upcoming Metamoris event in November, and Matt Hughes at 2015’s edition of ADCC in Brazil, the MMA veteran wants to get back in action under MMA rules.
Gracie hasn’t fought in MMA since 2010, when he suffered a third-round TKO loss to Matt Hughes at UFC 110. The Brazilian, who won his last MMA bout over Frank Shamrock in 2007, expects to get back in the Octagon in 2015.
“I’m ready to kick some butt,” Gracie told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “After Sakuraba, I’m coming for the UFC.”
“I’m as serious as hell, my friend. Believe it,” he continued. “You have to understand that you’re as old as you think you are. … I have to be in shape in November for Metamoris. I have to be in shape of September next year. Let’s be in shape in the middle and do what I like the most.”
UFC president Dana White never sound interested in seeing the Brazilian in the Octagon again after his performance against Hughes in Abu Dhabi, but Gracie is positive he will get the deal done.
“How can you not convince (White) if you fight even for free?” he replied. “You know the offer he did? He said ‘I’ll give you a check for you not to fight.’ I couldn’t. I’d rather fight for free.”
Before he thinks about returning to the Octagon next year, the two-time ADCC gold medalist has to worry about Sakuraba. The MMA legends, who battled at PRIDE 10 in 2000, will rematch in a 20-minute, submission-only grappling contest in California on Nov. 22.
“I got a phone call from my cousin Ralek (Gracie) and he offered me the fight. He said ‘Kazushi Sakuraba may sign with us. Are you interested in fighting him?’ I said ‘sign me up,’” he said. “The day I got that call, I begin training. That was probably a month before the announcement.”
The MMA veteran wasn’t too interested in competing in grappling again, but changed his couldn’t decline a chance to face “The Gracie Hunter” one more time. Sakuraba, who went 26–16–1 (2 no-contests) in MMA, defeated four members of the Gracie family in PRIDE, including Renzo.
“If life puts a source in front of you and you can drink again, how can you refuse it?” he said. “Especially for the fact that I came up short in the last one. In my head, the winner is the one who wins the last one [laughs].
“Since it’s Sakuraba, I couldn’t let go. How can I say no to having a chance to lay my hands on him one more time, you know?”
Sakuraba was the only man to submit Renzo Gracie under MMA rules, but the Brazilian doesn’t bring anything personal to the grappling match.
“It’s not (personal). He’s a gentleman, he’s a great guy,” he said. “But, if I can, I will choke him out, or break his arm to pay back what he did to my arm [laughs].”
The Japanese legend broke Gracie’s arm with a kimura 14 years ago, and the Brazilian refused to tap.
“That was one of the best moments of my life,” he said of the submission loss. “I realized my mind was stronger than my body.”
What if Sakuraba locks another kimura on Nov. 22? Will Gracie let it snap again, or would he tap this time?
“Give me the pleasure of that pain, man,” he said with a laugh. “I will put a little vicodin next to my bed, and I will wake every day and laugh at that shit before I put it in my mouth.”
“Now, I can get out,” he said of the kimura. “I studied every single aspect of it. To me, everything is learning.”
Gracie, who expects to weigh around 182 pounds for the grappling contest on Nov. 22, joked about how he plans to defeat “The Gracie Hunter” at The Long Beach Convention Center.
“Kimura?” he laughed. “My favorite is always the guillotine. I’m very good at it.”
Competing in submission-only matches is not something new to Renzo Gracie. “Before jiu-jitsu was popular,” as he describes it, he already battled jiu-jitsu black belts like Wallid Ismail and Alexandre Paiva, one of the founders of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu team.
“This is a very old concept,” he said. “They always called the superfights, where only the best, and people that had problems between themselves, and they would set up a show. It was always a success. I had a match with Wallid (Ismail) that was almost one hour. I had a couple matches with ‘Gigi’ (Alexandre Paiva), the head of Alliance, for half an hour. I’ve been doing this a long time, before jiu-jitsu was popular.”
If he could change anything in the Metamoris rules, Renzo Gracie would get rid of the time limit to get rid of the possibility of a draw.
“I would (prefer with no time limit) because I would rather know who won,” he said. “I’m going to die old like anybody else, shitting my pants like anybody else, but knowing who I was. I don’t care. If it was me the one who got submitted or not, (at least) I would know.
“In reality, there’s no need for points in a match like this. That’s how I grew up,” he continued. “Those fights were the test. We had those at the academies sometimes. We sit down and both went on it until one taps. I grew up with this. For me, this is very natural, and I’m glad they brought this and make it popular.”
Paulo Filho was scheduled to fight UFC veteran Amilcar Alves recently in Sao Goncalo, Brazil, but the match-up never materialized.
Minutes before the main event, Fatality Arena officials announced that Filho had suffered a seizure that morning and the middleweight bout was canceled. After the event, Filho told MMAFighting.com his side of the story.
“I’m not an epileptic,” Filho said, “I never had a seizure.”
Filho, who has a history of addiction to rohypnol, has been dealing with health issues over the past few years. Once one of the best middleweight fighters on the planet, the jiu-jitsu wizard has defeated just one of his past seven opponents.
“I was a mess. I decided not to use antidepressants, so it wouldn’t kill my reflexes, but I had a terrible day at home,” he said. “My house looked like a party the day of the fight, lots of people going there. Nobody respected me. It was like Paulo Filho was going to bungee jump instead of getting into a fight, get punched and kicked in the face. I couldn’t focus. My house was like hell that day.
“I didn’t want to take medication, so I had a panic attack,” he continued. “I lay down in my bedroom, thinking what I would do. I just froze. I couldn’t move. And for the first time in my life, I respected myself. When things like that happened before, I kept going and fought, and it didn’t end well. People watched me fight like crap and had no idea what had happened. So I decided to respect myself this time.
“I agreed to fight because I needed the money. That’s the truth. But I was depressed, I was feeling low. I’ve been trying to find a way to get better, so I gave myself another opportunity. I’m not taking anything away from Amilcar, he’s a great athlete, and a fight is a fight, but inside my head I always think I’m going to win.
“That’s how I came to the conclusion that this fight wouldn’t be so important for me. Maybe that was important for Amilcar. Maybe. Maybe not. Honestly, and bringing myself down by saying this, it wouldn’t be important for Amilcar either. If he goes there and beats me, that means nothing. A bunch of nobodies, who haven’t fought anywhere, defeated me via decision when I wasn’t ready. That doesn’t mean shit. The thing is, I wasn’t motivated for this. I didn’t care about it. I just wanted to chill, relax with my birds, my dogs, and walk on the beach with my friends.”
Filho had strong words for Mestre Branco, who he claims made money off him leading up to the Fatality Arena main event.
“I was really sad with this guy. He said harsh words to me that day,” he said. “He was always nice, got me things, but always made sure he got himself a big share of everything. He got a lot of things by using my name.”
“I don’t think the money I was getting paid to fight was enough, too. And by the way he reacted when I decided not to fight, I think he was getting more money than me,” Filho added. “I was getting paid 7,000 reais (approximately 3,000 dollars). When I thought about it, I realized I didn’t really need the fight.
“I don’t blame anyone else but me. I made a mistake by trying to do the right thing. I had a panic attack, I couldn’t move. And (Branco) showed he didn’t care about my health at all, he just wanted to get his share of the money.”
On his Facebook page, Mestre Branco admitted he tried “everything he could” to convince Filho to fight, but defended himself.
“Paulo didn’t suffer any seizure, he didn’t faint either. I was there,” Branco wrote. “He had an attack, he froze, and didn’t want to fight anymore. I did everything I could to convince him (to fight), remembering him everything we’ve been through to get to that day. … He never mentioned his fight purse or any money at all. That was clear on the contract he had signed. Actually, he apologized the whole time, declining to fight.”
“I have to admit that Paulo needs special treatment,” he added. “With all this, I learned that you can only help those who want to be helped.”
Despite deciding against fighting at Fatality Arena on Sunday night, Filho said he won’t retire. With a 23-6-3 record, 7-5-3 since leaving the WEC in 2008, the Filho wants to continue fighting. But he admits he needs to change a lot of things if he wants to get back to the winning column.
“Being Paulo Filho is not easy. Fighting is not for anyone, and get where I got, doing what I did, you have to be special. It’s not easy,” he said. “I want to bring this Paulo back, this Paulo that has been asleep. I lost the love I had for this sport. It’s not fair what I’ve done to this sport and to those who care about me.
“I need the challenge. I need to get back to a good team. I have to live the life of an athlete. I left Brazilian Top Team and tried to do everything on my own, but it didn’t work. I have to have someone helping me, pushing me. I was well trained, technically and physically, but I had this crisis when I chose not to take the antidepressants.”
“I did several exams recently, a complete blood count, and the doctor said I’m 100 percent,” Filho said. “My issue is a psychological issue. I need a good psychiatrist who can get me back to normal. I can’t stay like a roller coaster. I love strawberries, but one second later, I hate strawberries. I’m like that now. It’s hard to be an athlete with pathologies like that.
“Unfortunately, I lost more of the credibility that I had left, but I won’t give up. I can’t do this by myself. I always had someone pushing me, and that’s what I need. I don’t have a reason to stop fighting.”
Paulo Filho was scheduled to fight UFC veteran Amilcar Alves recently in Sao Goncalo, Brazil, but the match-up never materialized.
Minutes before the main event, Fatality Arena officials announced that Filho had suffered a seizure that morning and the middleweight bout was canceled. After the event, Filho told MMAFighting.com his side of the story.
“I’m not an epileptic,” Filho said, “I never had a seizure.”
Filho, who has a history of addiction to rohypnol, has been dealing with health issues over the past few years. Once one of the best middleweight fighters on the planet, the jiu-jitsu wizard has defeated just one of his past seven opponents.
“I was a mess. I decided not to use antidepressants, so it wouldn’t kill my reflexes, but I had a terrible day at home,” he said. “My house looked like a party the day of the fight, lots of people going there. Nobody respected me. It was like Paulo Filho was going to bungee jump instead of getting into a fight, get punched and kicked in the face. I couldn’t focus. My house was like hell that day.
“I didn’t want to take medication, so I had a panic attack,” he continued. “I lay down in my bedroom, thinking what I would do. I just froze. I couldn’t move. And for the first time in my life, I respected myself. When things like that happened before, I kept going and fought, and it didn’t end well. People watched me fight like crap and had no idea what had happened. So I decided to respect myself this time.
“I agreed to fight because I needed the money. That’s the truth. But I was depressed, I was feeling low. I’ve been trying to find a way to get better, so I gave myself another opportunity. I’m not taking anything away from Amilcar, he’s a great athlete, and a fight is a fight, but inside my head I always think I’m going to win.
“That’s how I came to the conclusion that this fight wouldn’t be so important for me. Maybe that was important for Amilcar. Maybe. Maybe not. Honestly, and bringing myself down by saying this, it wouldn’t be important for Amilcar either. If he goes there and beats me, that means nothing. A bunch of nobodies, who haven’t fought anywhere, defeated me via decision when I wasn’t ready. That doesn’t mean shit. The thing is, I wasn’t motivated for this. I didn’t care about it. I just wanted to chill, relax with my birds, my dogs, and walk on the beach with my friends.”
Filho had strong words for Mestre Branco, who he claims made money off him leading up to the Fatality Arena main event.
“I was really sad with this guy. He said harsh words to me that day,” he said. “He was always nice, got me things, but always made sure he got himself a big share of everything. He got a lot of things by using my name.”
“I don’t think the money I was getting paid to fight was enough, too. And by the way he reacted when I decided not to fight, I think he was getting more money than me,” Filho added. “I was getting paid 7,000 reais (approximately 3,000 dollars). When I thought about it, I realized I didn’t really need the fight.
“I don’t blame anyone else but me. I made a mistake by trying to do the right thing. I had a panic attack, I couldn’t move. And (Branco) showed he didn’t care about my health at all, he just wanted to get his share of the money.”
On his Facebook page, Mestre Branco admitted he tried “everything he could” to convince Filho to fight, but defended himself.
“Paulo didn’t suffer any seizure, he didn’t faint either. I was there,” Branco wrote. “He had an attack, he froze, and didn’t want to fight anymore. I did everything I could to convince him (to fight), remembering him everything we’ve been through to get to that day. … He never mentioned his fight purse or any money at all. That was clear on the contract he had signed. Actually, he apologized the whole time, declining to fight.”
“I have to admit that Paulo needs special treatment,” he added. “With all this, I learned that you can only help those who want to be helped.”
Despite deciding against fighting at Fatality Arena on Sunday night, Filho said he won’t retire. With a 23-6-3 record, 7-5-3 since leaving the WEC in 2008, the Filho wants to continue fighting. But he admits he needs to change a lot of things if he wants to get back to the winning column.
“Being Paulo Filho is not easy. Fighting is not for anyone, and get where I got, doing what I did, you have to be special. It’s not easy,” he said. “I want to bring this Paulo back, this Paulo that has been asleep. I lost the love I had for this sport. It’s not fair what I’ve done to this sport and to those who care about me.
“I need the challenge. I need to get back to a good team. I have to live the life of an athlete. I left Brazilian Top Team and tried to do everything on my own, but it didn’t work. I have to have someone helping me, pushing me. I was well trained, technically and physically, but I had this crisis when I chose not to take the antidepressants.”
“I did several exams recently, a complete blood count, and the doctor said I’m 100 percent,” Filho said. “My issue is a psychological issue. I need a good psychiatrist who can get me back to normal. I can’t stay like a roller coaster. I love strawberries, but one second later, I hate strawberries. I’m like that now. It’s hard to be an athlete with pathologies like that.
“Unfortunately, I lost more of the credibility that I had left, but I won’t give up. I can’t do this by myself. I always had someone pushing me, and that’s what I need. I don’t have a reason to stop fighting.”
