Tag: Interview

Jose Aldo Preemptively Endorses TRT, Insinuates That Randy Couture Used PED’s [THE FUCK?!]


(Always the center of controversy, Aldo caused a major stir up when he triumphantly waved a “White Pride Worldwide” flag after his victory at UFC 142. / Photo via AP)

Although the figures have yet to be made public, early estimates indicate that UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie pulled in terrible pay-per-view numbers, to put it nicely. It makes sense, given what the card was facing: A main event featuring one of the lower weight classes (one that was downgraded due to injury, no less), a main card lacking anything resembling star power or intriguing matchups, a bigger PPV at the end of the month, etc. Hell, even Dana White was too caught up in the media whirlwind that was the UFC World Tour to attend the event.

While there’s no denying Jose Aldo’s talents as a fighter, his ability to market himself and draw in big PPV numbers is somewhat less convincing. And with “Scarface” relegated to the sidelines for the rest of the year, what better time than now to start building up his heel persona? We all know that occasionally saying some crazy/accusatory shit in interviews boosts your pay-per-view sales, so who cares if it earns you some dirty looks in the locker rooms?

The reason we say all this is because in a recent interview with Tatame, the normally reserved featherweight kingpin not only came out in support of TRT and stated that he plans on using it in the future, but insinuated that beloved MMA icon Randy “The Natural” Couture was probably on steroids at one point or another during his career.

I don’t see the problem with using TRT. Everybody uses [steroids], from the champion to the newcomer. I believe we [from Nova Uniao] are the only ones that don’t do that, because Andre (Pederneiras) was always against steroids. I think it’s wrong to criticize someone who came forward and said they take TRT. 


(Always the center of controversy, Aldo caused a major stir up when he triumphantly waved a ”White Pride Worldwide” flag after his victory at UFC 142. / Photo via AP)

Although the figures have yet to be made public, early estimates indicate that UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie pulled in terrible pay-per-view numbers, to put it nicely. It makes sense, given what the card was facing: A main event featuring one of the lower weight classes (one that was downgraded due to injury, no less), a main card lacking anything resembling star power or intriguing matchups, a bigger PPV at the end of the month, etc. Hell, even Dana White was too caught up in the media whirlwind that was the UFC World Tour to attend the event.

While there’s no denying Jose Aldo’s talents as a fighter, his ability to market himself and draw in big PPV numbers is somewhat less convincing. And with “Scarface” relegated to the sidelines for the rest of the year, what better time than now to start building up his heel persona? We all know that occasionally saying some crazy/accusatory shit in interviews boosts your pay-per-view sales, so who cares if it earns you some dirty looks in the locker rooms?

The reason we say all this is because in a recent interview with Tatame, the normally reserved featherweight kingpin not only came out in support of TRT and stated that he plans on using it in the future, but insinuated that beloved MMA icon Randy “The Natural” Couture was probably on steroids at one point or another during his career.

I don’t see the problem with using TRT. Everybody uses [steroids], from the champion to the newcomer. I believe we [from Nova Uniao] are the only ones that don’t do that, because Andre (Pederneiras) was always against steroids. I think it’s wrong to criticize someone who came forward and said they take TRT. 

Right off the bat, Aldo is tap dancing on thin ice here. Claiming that everyone in MMA from the champion to the newcomer uses steroids, then immediately declaring that your camp is the only one that doesn’t is not only hypocritical, it’s downright suspicious. Whether Aldo realized it or not, making this kind of statement is sure to draw unwanted attention to Nova Uniao that could come back to bite them in the ass down the line. Because obviously everyone is going to assume that the guys doing steroids are the ones pointing their fingers at everyone else when completely unprompted.

“I would just like to thank the Academy for this award while also reminding everyone that I am the only actress in Hollywood to have never whored out my body to a director for a part. Never ever. Helen Mirren, on the other hand…”(*yanked offstage by cane*)

Likely figuring that he had already pissed off a good percentage of the MMA community with his previous statement, Aldo then started naming names like he was a sexual predator being interrogated by detective Elliot Stabler:

Americans always used that. Randy Couture fought until he was 50, and you say he was clean? If the doctors prescribe you and you’re on the limits, OK, I see no problem. If I need that one day, I will use TRT too. 

Woah woah woah, Jose. Let’s not bring nationalities into the equation, because we both know that Brazilians have been the forerunners in shady, deceptive MMA practices since the Vale Tudo days — just ask Mark Coleman. Secondly, Randy Couture is a saint! A saint who just happens to be banned from attending UFC events forevermore. You don’t just go around throwing accusations all willy nilly without the slightest bit of evidence. That’s our job, dammit, and you’re making it look easier than it really is.

–J. Jones

[EXCLUSIVE] Ray Sefo – Once a Fighter Always a Fighter


(Photo via RaySefo.com)

By Elias Cepeda

I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.

The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.

I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.

He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.

He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.

“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”

I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.

For Ray Sefo, fighting is breathing.


(Photo via RaySefo.com)

By Elias Cepeda

I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.

The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.

I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.

He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.

He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.

“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”

I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.

For Ray Sefo, fighting is breathing. He fights, that’s it. The particular rules he does so under are incidental.

Even though Sefo always respected MMA enough to view it as a new and unique challenge, at first he says he underestimated certain elements of it.

“I always had respect for submissions because of my friend Royce Gracie but when I started training for MMA I honestly kind of dismissed wrestling at first. I thought that stuff was easy,” he says with a chuckle, acknowledging the profound ignorance of his old attitude.

“Then I met Randy [Couture] back in 2005 and started training with these guys in wrestling. Man, wrestling is one of the hardest workouts you can do. There’s so much skill involved in it.”

Sefo tells CagePotato that, heading into tonight, he’s gotten a full training camp behind him. He’s had a chance to work on just those skills and others needed to fight his opponent, twenty five fight veteran Dave Huckaba. He partially blames an abbreviated training camp for his 2011 Strikeforce loss to Valentijn Overeem.

Sefo says that the plan is for this bout to be the final fight of his career. He says a sense of finality has not permeated his training camp, however.

“This possibly being my last match isn’t something that I’ve been thinking about each day. It’s the same thing it always is,” Sefo says.

“I go into the gym and train with the guys each day like always. I do that when I’m not fighting, I do it now training for my own fight and even if this is my final fight, I’ll do it every day afterwards. I first put on a pair of boxing gloves when I was a kid. I put them on today and I’ll keep putting them on the rest of my life.”

[EXCLUSIVE] Ray Sefo – Once a Fighter Always a Fighter


(Photo via RaySefo.com)

By Elias Cepeda

I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.

The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.

I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.

He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.

He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.

“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”

I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.

For Ray Sefo, fighting is breathing.


(Photo via RaySefo.com)

By Elias Cepeda

I’ve been speaking with Ray Sefo for a few minutes now and it doesn’t seem like he understands my question. I asked the multiple time Muay Thai world champion and successful kickboxing and MMA coach why he ever felt the need to step out of his comfort zone and fight under MMA rules.

The former K-1 star, now in his early forties, has fought three times in MMA and will once more tonight on the World Series of Fighting 4 card in California. The striking legend is also the President of WSOF.

I asked Sefo the question and he began to tell me of how he was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA by his friend Royce Gracie, the first ever UFC champion, back in 2000 in Japan where they were both competing at the time. He then went on to describe his next step into MMA, then his next, but I felt I had to politely interrupt and reiterate my initial question. I wasn’t asking for a step by step process of how he got into MMA but why he ever decided to.

He had made a name and good living from kickboxing. He transitioned into a full-time career coaching other elite fighters and now Sefo is a top executive at a major MMA organization.

He understands me quite well. Turns out that I was the one that didn’t understand Ray Sefo. “Listen, I’ve always fought,” he explains patiently.

“I’ve been boxing since I was a kid. I did Kung Fu for years. Back home when I started kickboxing my family all thought it wasn’t that big of a deal, they were suspicious of it because boxing was so big. But then they saw me fight and their minds changed. I love to learn and love to develop and challenge myself as a martial artist and fighter. MMA was the next natural step in that.”

I had been confused. To Ray Sefo, fighting isn’t a means of procuring and then protecting status at all costs. He wasn’t afraid of stepping out of his strength and comfort zone and fighting MMA. He isn’t afraid to continue to fight MMA now, in his forties and against younger opponents and risk losing.

For Ray Sefo, fighting is breathing. He fights, that’s it. The particular rules he does so under are incidental.

Even though Sefo always respected MMA enough to view it as a new and unique challenge, at first he says he underestimated certain elements of it.

“I always had respect for submissions because of my friend Royce Gracie but when I started training for MMA I honestly kind of dismissed wrestling at first. I thought that stuff was easy,” he says with a chuckle, acknowledging the profound ignorance of his old attitude.

“Then I met Randy [Couture] back in 2005 and started training with these guys in wrestling. Man, wrestling is one of the hardest workouts you can do. There’s so much skill involved in it.”

Sefo tells CagePotato that, heading into tonight, he’s gotten a full training camp behind him. He’s had a chance to work on just those skills and others needed to fight his opponent, twenty five fight veteran Dave Huckaba. He partially blames an abbreviated training camp for his 2011 Strikeforce loss to Valentijn Overeem.

Sefo says that the plan is for this bout to be the final fight of his career. He says a sense of finality has not permeated his training camp, however.

“This possibly being my last match isn’t something that I’ve been thinking about each day. It’s the same thing it always is,” Sefo says.

“I go into the gym and train with the guys each day like always. I do that when I’m not fighting, I do it now training for my own fight and even if this is my final fight, I’ll do it every day afterwards. I first put on a pair of boxing gloves when I was a kid. I put them on today and I’ll keep putting them on the rest of my life.”

[EXCLUSIVE] Nick Newell Steps up at World Series of Fighting 4


(Photo via World Series of Fighting)

By Elias Cepeda

Like many kids, young Nick Newell dabbled in a number of sports as a child. First, there was soccer, then karate and baseball.

Nothing really stuck with him, however, until he joined his high school’s wrestling team as a freshman. The fact that he was missing the lower portion of his left arm didn’t seem to matter to Newell.

His family had always encouraged Nick to take part in whatever interested him, like all the other kids, and now his interest was in combat sports. “I really loved one on one aspect,” he tells CagePotato in the days leading up to his fight against Keon Caldwell on tonight’s World Series of Fighting 4 event in California.

“I don’t like depending on anyone else to get the job done. At the end of the day, you have no excuses no one to blame.”

That Newell lost his first fifteen wrestling matches didn’t put a damper on his enthusiasm for wrestling, and it also didn’t bring scorn of teammates mad that he was losing so much. “I was the team’s only 103 pounder so if I went out there and got a forfeit win it was better than nothing,” he tells with a laugh.

“I got my balls busted because I was a freshman but that was about it. The wrestling team is a family. And the coach had a lot of faith in me expected a lot out of me, even when I sucked. He always believed in me. Everyone saw how hard I worked as well. You’re together six days a week and you develop a bond.”

During college Newell decided that he wanted to fight MMA because, well, he saw MMA fights and knew that he could be good enough to do it. “I knew that I wanted to fight when I went to see fights for the first time,” he says.

“There were some fights around where I was training wrestling in college and some friends asked if I wanted to go see some fights. I said, ‘yeah, I’ll go.’ When we were watching I thought to myself, ‘I could beat these guys.’ So, instead of just talking about it, I went out and started training and did it.”

Indeed he has. The lightweight has put together a perfect 9-0 record as a professional over the past four years and became the XFC champion.

Tonight, he makes the step up to The World Series of Fighting.


(Photo via World Series of Fighting)

By Elias Cepeda

Like many kids, young Nick Newell dabbled in a number of sports as a child. First, there was soccer, then karate and baseball.

Nothing really stuck with him, however, until he joined his high school’s wrestling team as a freshman. The fact that he was missing the lower portion of his left arm didn’t seem to matter to Newell.

His family had always encouraged Nick to take part in whatever interested him, like all the other kids, and now his interest was in combat sports. “I really loved one on one aspect,” he tells CagePotato in the days leading up to his fight against Keon Caldwell on tonight’s World Series of Fighting 4 event in California.

“I don’t like depending on anyone else to get the job done. At the end of the day, you have no excuses no one to blame.”

That Newell lost his first fifteen wrestling matches didn’t put a damper on his enthusiasm for wrestling, and it also didn’t bring scorn of teammates mad that he was losing so much. “I was the team’s only 103 pounder so if I went out there and got a forfeit win it was better than nothing,” he tells with a laugh.

“I got my balls busted because I was a freshman but that was about it. The wrestling team is a family. And the coach had a lot of faith in me expected a lot out of me, even when I sucked. He always believed in me. Everyone saw how hard I worked as well. You’re together six days a week and you develop a bond.”

During college Newell decided that he wanted to fight MMA because, well, he saw MMA fights and knew that he could be good enough to do it. “I knew that I wanted to fight when I went to see fights for the first time,” he says.

“There were some fights around where I was training wrestling in college and some friends asked if I wanted to go see some fights. I said, ‘yeah, I’ll go.’ When we were watching I thought to myself, ‘I could beat these guys.’ So, instead of just talking about it, I went out and started training and did it.”

Indeed he has. The lightweight has put together a perfect 9-0 record as a professional over the past four years and became the XFC champion.

Tonight, he makes the step up to The World Series of Fighting. In his opponent Caldwell, Newell will be facing a man previously selected for The Ultimate Fighter. If Newell wins, the plan is for him to take part in the WSOF lightweight tournament to crown a champion.

That tournament could also include Dan Lauzon, JZ Calvacante and Tyson Griffin. Lauzon and Griffin are UFC veterans and Calvacante was a top-ranked international champion for years.

Newell has said he wanted better competition and he’s certainly getting it at WSOF. “I take it one fight at a time,” he says.

“My goal is always to fight better and better competition. If keep winning I’m gonna force people to recognize me. Everyone in the WSOF is a fantastic fighter. I’m happy with any fight I get. I’m ready to raise my stock. If I win this fight and I win the tournament, I’ll definitely be up there.”

WSOF Check-In: Lightweight Tournament Announced, Newell & Spong Prepare for Fights This Saturday

(Learn more about lightweight rising star Nick Newell and the challenges he’s overcome | Video via MMA World Series Youtube page)

We’ve been following lightweight prospect Nick Newell’s unlikely and inspiring career for some time now here at CagePotato, and this Saturday he makes his next big move at the World Series of Fighting 4 event in Ontario, California. Newell will face TUF veteran Keon Caldwell.

Even though Newell hasn’t yet won his WSOF debut, the promotion announced that a win over Caldwell would earn Newell a spot in its upcoming lightweight tournament, which will crown the promotion’s inaugural 155-pound champion. If Newell does indeed enter that tournament, he’ll have a chance to prove once and for all that he’s truly a UFC-caliber fighter.

Why, you ask? Well, simply because the tournament is stacked with top international lightweights including a number of UFC veterans. Dan Lauzon will be in the tournament, as will the winner of an excellent WSOF 4 match up between Tyson Griffin and Gesias Calvacante.

Of course, all this doesn’t sit so well with Keon Caldwell’s camp, who tell MMA Junkie that they are worried of unfair treatment from the WSOF. While Newell has been publicly guaranteed a spot in the lightweight tournament if he’s victorious this weekend, Caldwell has been given no such offer. (“I just think they’re on the Nick Newell hype train,” said Caldwell’s trainer Richard Cox.)

Also fighting this Saturday will be kickboxing star Tyrone Spong, who will be headlining WSOF 4 against California-bred knockout artist Angel DeAnda. It will be Spong’s second World Series of Fighting appearance following his beat-down of Travis Bartlett in November. You can check out a lil’ video of Spong hitting people and acting cocky after the jump. Above, you can enjoy a mini documentary show on Newell’s life that takes you inside his camp, family, and home.


(Learn more about lightweight rising star Nick Newell and the challenges he’s overcome | Video via MMA World Series Youtube page)

We’ve been following lightweight prospect Nick Newell’s unlikely and inspiring career for some time now here at CagePotato, and this Saturday he makes his next big move at the World Series of Fighting 4 event in Ontario, California. Newell will face TUF veteran Keon Caldwell.

Even though Newell hasn’t yet won his WSOF debut, the promotion announced that a win over Caldwell would earn Newell a spot in its upcoming lightweight tournament, which will crown the promotion’s inaugural 155-pound champion. If Newell does indeed enter that tournament, he’ll have a chance to prove once and for all that he’s truly a UFC-caliber fighter.

Why, you ask? Well, simply because the tournament is stacked with top international lightweights including a number of UFC veterans. Dan Lauzon will be in the tournament, as will the winner of an excellent WSOF 4 match up between Tyson Griffin and Gesias Calvacante.

Of course, all this doesn’t sit so well with Keon Caldwell’s camp, who tell MMA Junkie that they are worried of unfair treatment from the WSOF. While Newell has been publicly guaranteed a spot in the lightweight tournament if he’s victorious this weekend, Caldwell has been given no such offer. (“I just think they’re on the Nick Newell hype train,” said Caldwell’s trainer Richard Cox.)

Also fighting this Saturday will be kickboxing star Tyrone Spong, who will be headlining WSOF 4 against California-bred knockout artist Angel DeAnda. It will be Spong’s second World Series of Fighting appearance following his beat-down of Travis Bartlett in November. You can check out a lil’ video of Spong hitting people and acting cocky after the jump. Above, you can enjoy a mini documentary show on Newell’s life that takes you inside his camp, family, and home.

– Elias Cepeda

Anderson Silva Is Back on The Troll Train, Says He’ll Include Chuck Norris In Training Camp

In the moments and even days following his stunning loss to Chris Weidman last month, fans of long-time UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva wondered if perhaps the Spider we had all come to know and love might never return. Silva initially balked at a rematch with Weidman, after all, and said that he didn’t want any more title fights.

As we all know by now, Silva reconsidered that decision and will indeed face Weidman for a second time this December. Still, was Silva burned out at 38 years of age? Had he been pressured into accepting the rematch with Weidman? Did he even have the desire to be Anderson Silva anymore?

Perhaps the clearest indication that Silva is back to his old, weird self came recently during a Brazilian radio interview. “I had a nightmare with Weidman, but I don’t fear him,” Silva said.

“He is determined, but has two arms and two legs just like me. Now I’ll bring Chuck Norris into my training camp]. I’ll bring both, Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal.”

There you have it, nation. Anderson Silva, super troll, has always preceded Anderson the devastating fighter. Here, in coded language, is Anderson Silva telling all his fans throughout the world, “I am once more ready to fuck with you, mentally, the way I have always fucked with you.”

In the moments and even days following his stunning loss to Chris Weidman last month, fans of long-time UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva wondered if perhaps the Spider we had all come to know and love might never return. Silva initially balked at a rematch with Weidman, after all, and said that he didn’t want any more title fights.

As we all know by now, Silva reconsidered that decision and will indeed face Weidman for a second time this December. Still, was Silva burned out at 38 years of age? Had he been pressured into accepting the rematch with Weidman? Did he even have the desire to be Anderson Silva anymore?

Perhaps the clearest indication that Silva is back to his old, weird self came recently during a Brazilian radio interview. ”I had a nightmare with Weidman, but I don’t fear him,” Silva said.

“He is determined, but has two arms and two legs just like me. Now I’ll bring Chuck Norris into my training camp]. I’ll bring both, Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal.”

There you have it, nation. Anderson Silva, super troll, has always preceded Anderson the devastating fighter. Here, in coded language, is Anderson Silva telling all his fans throughout the world, “I am once more ready to fuck with you, mentally, the way I have always fucked with you.”

For years, Silva has entertained himself with the elaborate ruse of pretending that Endurance Eating World Champion Steven Seagal was a martial artist, and that he respected him and relied on him for coaching. Now, Silva is indicating that he’s taking his real training for the Weidman rematch to another level by making up a new fake training narrative, in which he will be studying under a 73-year-old living meme.

Chuck Norris + Steven Seagal = an Anderson Silva who is once again ready to not tell you a darn thing about what really goes into his training. Are there any other action stars you think Anderson should throw into the mix for his UFC 168 training camp, ‘Taters?

– Elias Cepeda