C.B. Dollaway has been in this position before—a couple of times, in fact.
Competing in front of a raucous and lively Brazilian crowd against one of their own is never an easy set of circumstances for an American fighter to settle into, but The Doberman has thus far been unshakable in that particular storm. Two out of his past four showings inside the Octagon have come in the South American mecca of mixed martial arts, where he’s faced competitors with vaulted expectation and ample hype surrounding them.
When the former Arizona State University wrestling standout edged out heavy-handed powerhouse Daniel Sarafian back in January 2013, the MMA universe wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It had been seven months since The Ultimate Fighter alum bested veteran Jason Miller, and he had spent the entirety of his absence from competition recovering from injuries. Yet, Dollaway looked solid against Sarafian—arguably better than he had in years—and emerged from the bout victorious.
While his next outing would end in a questionable split-decision loss to Tim Boetsch at UFC 166, his following assignment would once again come in hostile territory. This time he met super prospect and Vitor Belfort protege Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira in yet another bout that many in the MMA community figured he would lose.
That said, not only did Dollaway derail The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil winner, but he did so in spectacular fashion, scoring a lightning-quick knockout victory just 39 seconds into their tilt at UFC Fight Night 38 back in March. With Dollaway‘s wrestling pedigree being one of his major strengths, it was assumed he’d avoid Ferreira‘s power and take the action straight to the canvas. Instead, he chose to stand toe-to-toe with the talented Brazilian and leveled him by using his own ever-improving striking skills.
It was another big win and yet another example of Dollaway going into the belly of the beast and slaying the proverbial monster before him. Whereas the majority of American fighters had been affected or overwhelmed by the Brazilian jitters, Dollaway was thriving in the unique environment.
“Fighting down in Brazil bothers a lot of guys, but I love it,” Dollaway told Bleacher Report. “Apparently, the UFC likes bringing me down to put on exciting fights here in Brazil. I got a great finish the last time I fought down here, and I’ll keep coming down anytime they ask me. Man, it’s so motivational to be out in front of a crowd with that much passion. They are so loud and into the fights. It’s a great honor to fight in front of them.
“Things are crazy in the stadium, but outside of the fights the Brazilian fans are some of the greatest people you’ll ever meet. They will do anything to help you out and point you in the right direction when you need help. They are just passionate about MMA and want to be entertained. I love it.”
While Dollaway has found somewhat of a second home competing in Brazil, past journeys to the Southern Hemisphere have also produced some lasting connections, as a handful of Brazilian fighters have traveled stateside to train with his team at Power MMA and Fitness in Gilbert, Arizona. The most notable of the group is Dollaway‘s recent opponent Sarafian, who reached out to the Phoenix-based team and asked to move his camp up there.
The gym accepted Sarafian‘s request with open arms, and since his relocation to Power MMA, several other Brazilian fighters have followed in his footsteps. Dollaway feels their contributions to the overall team have the squad at Power MMA firing at a new level of efficiency. When those elements are tacked on to Dollaway finally being over the hump of past injuries and feeling in peak physical condition, the opportunity to take his MMA game to the next level has come front and center.
“[Sarafian] is on this card as well and actually did his entire camp up with us at Power MMA,” Dollaway said. “It was cool to have a former competitor join us and help develop the team. We also have Rony Markes up there with us now, and it’s cool to have some Brazilian guys join the team. We are starting to build a pretty solid squad, and things have never been better for us at Power.
“It feels good to be healthy and having everything come together for me. It feels good to not be struggling anymore and feeling like myself in there. I went through some tough years fighting through injuries and just trying to keep my career with the UFC.
“I had some ups and downs, and things are finally coming together for me. Our camp is the best it has ever been. We have the right coaches and the right trainers. We have great training partners and sponsors behind us now. Everything is coming together at the right time, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”
The timing couldn’t be more perfect for Dollaway to be hitting his stride because he’s drawing in on what will be the biggest fight of his career against the most dangerous opponent he’s ever faced inside the Octagon. The 31-year-old Michigan native will square off with former light heavyweight champion turned middleweight contender Lyoto Machida in the main event of UFC Fight Night 58 in Barueri, Brazil on Saturday night.
While Dollaway has won four of his past five showings, including his current run of back-to-back victories, The Dragon is coming off his Fight of the Year-candidate performance against Chris Weidman at UFC 175 back in July. Although Machida was unable to dethrone The All-American in the bout, the grittiness and determination he displayed showed a different side than fight fans were used to seeing from the karate master.
That said, Dollaway sees the bout with Machida as the perfect situation to catapult himself into title contention. The Team Black House fighter has been a perennial contender in each of the divisions he’s competed in, so a victory over Machida would launch Dollaway up the middleweight ranks.
“Machida is definitely a hard guy to prepare for because he has such a unique style,” Dollaway said. “It’s been difficult to find training partners to emulate his style because there’s obviously not a lot of local guys who fight the way he does. We had to fly some guys in for camp who had Shotokan karate and Tae Kwon Do backgrounds. He’s such a different fighter, and no matter how much I train and prepare, I’m not going to get the full effect from him until I’m in there on Saturday night. I’m sure I’m going to have to make some adjustments when I’m in there.
“You can’t let him have space in there. You give that guy room to operate, and he’ll pick you apart all day. He’ll be able to find his shots, and he’s always dangerous. I’m not going to give him the room to work, and I’m going to be right there in his face mixing it up. He doesn’t like to get hit, but that doesn’t much bother me. I’m ready to fight. I’ve been in some grueling wars, and I’m ready to do it again.”
Hype and promotion are as much a part of the fight game as the action inside the cage. With Dollaway previously knocking off two highly touted Brazilian prospects, and the opportunity to pull off a big upset against an established former champion in Machida, the “Brazilian killer” label wouldn’t be too far behind. That particular moniker is an offshoot of Japanese MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba being labeled as “The Gracie Hunter” for his continuous streak of defeating members of MMA’s premier family.
Should Dollaway add Machida to the list of Brazilian fighters he’s defeated on their home turf, it would be hard to keep that particular label off his career profile.
“If I take care of business on Saturday I’ll go ahead and take that nickname,” Dollaway replied in regard to getting labeled The Brazilian Killer. “No disrespect of course to the guys who are training with us because I wouldn’t want to make any of them upset or offend them, but it’s all in good fun. I have a tough test on Saturday, but if I take care of business like I plan to, then I’ll have earned some right to have that label attached to my name.
“I understand that I am the heel on fight night. I am the bad guy. I’ve embraced that role, and I’ll embrace it more than ever on Saturday night. I recently did a tour to Iraq with the Armed Forces Entertainment and visited a lot of the army bases over there and did some training with the guys. I’m going to carry out the flag that was given to me by one of the special forces units and let them know I’m thinking about them.
“I’m going to have the Toby Keith song “Made in America” playing as I walk out, so I’m going full USA and going to embrace the ‘American heel’ role while I’m down here this weekend,” he added. “I plan on going out there and getting that victory, and it’s going to change my life.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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