After his wife’s battle with cancer, UFC’s Igor Araujo finally focuses on fighting again

Igor Araujo returns to the Octagon 10 months after a devastating loss to George Sullivan, and he’s happy to be fighting again.

Araujo takes on Sean Strickland at Wednesday night’s UFC Fight Night 71 in San Diego, Calif., and scoring his third UFC win on July 15 would be the perfect way to celebrate his wife’s victory over cancer.

“I took some time off but it had nothing to do with my last loss, but to help my wife,” Araujo told MMAFighting.com. “I couldn’t stay focused on training. I was fighting for money, and I never did that in my entire life. All I thought about was her health, so I decided to step aside and only return when she was cured.”

Mariana Araujo has battled cancer for years. Days before Igor Araujo’s first UFC fight in 2013, they spoke on Skype, and she had just come out from hospital after removing her thyroid. Almost two years later, she finally appears to be 100 percent again.

“She had metastasis thyroid cancer. She also had brain cancer, thigh bone cancer and marrow cancer,” Araujo said. “They removed her thyroid, and the brain cancer disappeared after the treatment, and they had to remove part of her thigh bone to insert a titanium rod, but still had the marrow cancer, so I didn’t want to fight.”

Araujo lives with his wife and three kids in Switzerland, and will only find out if the treatment worked after his UFC Fight Night 71 bout.

“The doctors scheduled her surgery, and she started crying. Surgery was too dangerous. There was a risk she wouldn’t walk or speak again, so we did radiotherapy instead,” he said. “Before we returned to the United States, the doctor said we hit the target. We will only find out for sure when we return to Switzerland, but we believe she’s finally cured. We’re being very positive about it.”

Dealing with so many adversities outside the cage affected his job, so the Jackson’s MMA welterweight decided to work on the mental aspect of the game ahead of his return to the Octagon.

“I started working with a psychologist, and I’m very confident for this fight,” said Araujo, who holds a 2-1 record in the UFC. “I’m sure I can beat anyone. I train hard every single day with some of the best UFC fighters in the gym, and I know I can do the same in the Octagon.

“I started training in February in Switzerland, even before they told me who and when I was fighting. I trained hard there, stopped focusing on jiu-jitsu and worked on my muay thai game. I came here two months ago and did my camp at Jackson’s MMA, and everybody noticed how good my striking is now.”

Strickland entered the UFC in 2014 and improved to 15-0 with a pair of wins over Bubba McDaniel and Luke Barnatt, but looks to rebound following a unanimous decision loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio.

“Sean Strickland is a good fighter, a jiu-jitsu brown belt,” Araujo said. “I’ve watched two of his fights, and let the coaches do that for me. They told me he has a good jab, a good right hand, but I’m ready to do my best. There’s no easy fight in the UFC.”

Igor Araujo returns to the Octagon 10 months after a devastating loss to George Sullivan, and he’s happy to be fighting again.

Araujo takes on Sean Strickland at Wednesday night’s UFC Fight Night 71 in San Diego, Calif., and scoring his third UFC win on July 15 would be the perfect way to celebrate his wife’s victory over cancer.

“I took some time off but it had nothing to do with my last loss, but to help my wife,” Araujo told MMAFighting.com. “I couldn’t stay focused on training. I was fighting for money, and I never did that in my entire life. All I thought about was her health, so I decided to step aside and only return when she was cured.”

Mariana Araujo has battled cancer for years. Days before Igor Araujo’s first UFC fight in 2013, they spoke on Skype, and she had just come out from hospital after removing her thyroid. Almost two years later, she finally appears to be 100 percent again.

“She had metastasis thyroid cancer. She also had brain cancer, thigh bone cancer and marrow cancer,” Araujo said. “They removed her thyroid, and the brain cancer disappeared after the treatment, and they had to remove part of her thigh bone to insert a titanium rod, but still had the marrow cancer, so I didn’t want to fight.”

Araujo lives with his wife and three kids in Switzerland, and will only find out if the treatment worked after his UFC Fight Night 71 bout.

“The doctors scheduled her surgery, and she started crying. Surgery was too dangerous. There was a risk she wouldn’t walk or speak again, so we did radiotherapy instead,” he said. “Before we returned to the United States, the doctor said we hit the target. We will only find out for sure when we return to Switzerland, but we believe she’s finally cured. We’re being very positive about it.”

Dealing with so many adversities outside the cage affected his job, so the Jackson’s MMA welterweight decided to work on the mental aspect of the game ahead of his return to the Octagon.

“I started working with a psychologist, and I’m very confident for this fight,” said Araujo, who holds a 2-1 record in the UFC. “I’m sure I can beat anyone. I train hard every single day with some of the best UFC fighters in the gym, and I know I can do the same in the Octagon.

“I started training in February in Switzerland, even before they told me who and when I was fighting. I trained hard there, stopped focusing on jiu-jitsu and worked on my muay thai game. I came here two months ago and did my camp at Jackson’s MMA, and everybody noticed how good my striking is now.”

Strickland entered the UFC in 2014 and improved to 15-0 with a pair of wins over Bubba McDaniel and Luke Barnatt, but looks to rebound following a unanimous decision loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio.

“Sean Strickland is a good fighter, a jiu-jitsu brown belt,” Araujo said. “I’ve watched two of his fights, and let the coaches do that for me. They told me he has a good jab, a good right hand, but I’m ready to do my best. There’s no easy fight in the UFC.”