Titan FC’s Vinny Magalhaes not impressed by Jason Brilz’s recent wins

Vinny Magalhaes takes on Jason Brilz for the Titan FC light heavyweight championship Friday night in Cedar Park, Texas, but he’s not focusing on the belt before stepping inside the cage for Titan FC 30.

Entering the bout fresh off a quick submission victory in Mexico, his first win since leaving the UFC in 2013, the submission wizard vows to become the Titan FC 205-pound champion after one of the best training camps of his career.

“It was excellent, perhaps one of my longest training camp if compared to my last fights,” Magalhaes told MMAFighting.com. “Since I recovered from that (staph) infection earlier this year, I didn’t stop training. I changed my diet, increased the intensity of my training and, instead of training twice a day as I used to, I started training three times a day.”

The 30-year-old veteran, who competed at Metamoris weeks after his last MMA bout, a draw against Keenan Cornelius, feels younger heading into his Titan FC debut.

“Training intelligently, with the right dosage – to avoid overtraining – can’t be bad. I’m in the same shape I was when I was 23 years old, I have the same energy, and I believe this is the result of a consistent training,” he said. “It’s not hard to stay in shape, it’s hard to get in shape after you relax, so I didn’t let that happen.”

Brilz looks to establish himself in the light heavyweight division with a win over “Pezao” on Friday night, adding another victory to his win streak. “The Hitman” was victorious in his last four MMA bouts, but Magalhaes is not impressed.

“I’ve seen some of his fights and, although he handled well the pressure and came out victorious, he wasn’t so dominant, especially for the type of competition he was facing,” he said. “But he came out with the win, and that’s what matters.”

“It would be my second MMA title, and the second in a big international promotion, so it’s obviously an extra motivation,” he added.

Brilz hasn’t lost a fight via submission since 2001, but the Brazilian doesn’t see anything special about his ground game as well.

“When I fought Pokrajac, he had only been submitted once in his career. When I fought Soszynski on TUF, he had only been submitted once in his career. And both haven’t been submitted since I fought them,” Magalhaes said. “When the fight goes to the ground, stats will always be in my favor.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to win, I have many options, but I know I will win before the third round,” he continued. “It’s not the moment to think about how important the title is, but to think about the victory. I believe that even if I win the title, I will still hear questions about my future performances.

A former M-1 Global light heavyweight champion and a The Ultimate Fighter finalist, Magalhaes doesn’t make plans for the future outside Titan FC. He wants to end his five-fight contract with the 205-pound belt around his waist, and then he’ll think about what’s next.

“I have a five-fight contract with Titan and I plan to fulfill it, so my focus is on finishing this contract as champion,” he said. “After that, I will make other plans.”

Vinny Magalhaes takes on Jason Brilz for the Titan FC light heavyweight championship Friday night in Cedar Park, Texas, but he’s not focusing on the belt before stepping inside the cage for Titan FC 30.

Entering the bout fresh off a quick submission victory in Mexico, his first win since leaving the UFC in 2013, the submission wizard vows to become the Titan FC 205-pound champion after one of the best training camps of his career.

“It was excellent, perhaps one of my longest training camp if compared to my last fights,” Magalhaes told MMAFighting.com. “Since I recovered from that (staph) infection earlier this year, I didn’t stop training. I changed my diet, increased the intensity of my training and, instead of training twice a day as I used to, I started training three times a day.”

The 30-year-old veteran, who competed at Metamoris weeks after his last MMA bout, a draw against Keenan Cornelius, feels younger heading into his Titan FC debut.

“Training intelligently, with the right dosage – to avoid overtraining – can’t be bad. I’m in the same shape I was when I was 23 years old, I have the same energy, and I believe this is the result of a consistent training,” he said. “It’s not hard to stay in shape, it’s hard to get in shape after you relax, so I didn’t let that happen.”

Brilz looks to establish himself in the light heavyweight division with a win over “Pezao” on Friday night, adding another victory to his win streak. “The Hitman” was victorious in his last four MMA bouts, but Magalhaes is not impressed.

“I’ve seen some of his fights and, although he handled well the pressure and came out victorious, he wasn’t so dominant, especially for the type of competition he was facing,” he said. “But he came out with the win, and that’s what matters.”

“It would be my second MMA title, and the second in a big international promotion, so it’s obviously an extra motivation,” he added.

Brilz hasn’t lost a fight via submission since 2001, but the Brazilian doesn’t see anything special about his ground game as well.

“When I fought Pokrajac, he had only been submitted once in his career. When I fought Soszynski on TUF, he had only been submitted once in his career. And both haven’t been submitted since I fought them,” Magalhaes said. “When the fight goes to the ground, stats will always be in my favor.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to win, I have many options, but I know I will win before the third round,” he continued. “It’s not the moment to think about how important the title is, but to think about the victory. I believe that even if I win the title, I will still hear questions about my future performances.

A former M-1 Global light heavyweight champion and a The Ultimate Fighter finalist, Magalhaes doesn’t make plans for the future outside Titan FC. He wants to end his five-fight contract with the 205-pound belt around his waist, and then he’ll think about what’s next.

“I have a five-fight contract with Titan and I plan to fulfill it, so my focus is on finishing this contract as champion,” he said. “After that, I will make other plans.”