00:00My career in martial arts started when I was really young. I was 12, 13, 14 when I shifted
00:12between arts. But in MMA, it actually started in 2003 when I fought my first event in England.
00:22I started Jiu-Jitsu 18 years ago just because I thought it was nice and I never planned
00:31to be a fighter. Then I started to watch fights from Wanderlei Silva, Minotaur and Pride.
00:41Then I was thinking, yeah, I should try to do MMA. Then I started 7 years ago.
00:53Royce Gracie was the first one to step into the octagon. He was an average body guy, like
01:0280 kilos, fighting massive guys. I'm Brazilian, so I follow a little bit more of these guys.
01:09Their life is inspiring. They got into the sport to change their life or their family
01:15lives and they succeeded.
01:17I have a lot of friends from my city, which I saw when I was young and I wanted to be
01:24like this guy. They have famous inspirations like Minotaur. Another guy is Wanderlei Silva.
01:33I started MMA because I was watching these two guys.
01:39Here in UAE, we got UAE Warriors. That's becoming an amazing event. But UFC is today the main
01:50goal of any MMA fighter.
01:53My goal is to find some big competition to fight like UFC or One FC or Bellator or anyone.
02:02I wish I get a chance to fight there.
02:09I moved to Dubai almost 9 years ago and that's when I was first exposed to the UFC. We were
02:16watching it on OSN and I was like, what is this? This is amazing. I was immediately a fan.
02:25Royce Gracie, who coincidentally I've met and he knows my name.
02:31And Uriah Faber, who I met. Stefan Strove, who I met. Baz Rutten, although he was before
02:37my time, but I went back and watched some of his. And then today it would be the Anthony
02:43Pettises and the Jose Aldo. There's so many. It's basically whoever's exciting to watch.
02:51A few years ago, there was a UFC fight in Abu Dhabi. But in attendance, just watching
02:58the fight were some of my favorite fighters. And then at the end of the evening when we
03:02made our way out to the parking lot, we saw a bus. And I don't know how we got it in our
03:07head that this was the bus that was going to transport the UFC fighter guests like Uriah
03:13Faber and Stefan Strove back to their hotel.
03:16We did get on and there were some people on there. I don't know who they were. And they
03:19were kind of looking at us and we were trying to act like, you know, we're supposed to be
03:22there. And we just eventually got bored and we're like, I guess this is not their bus.
03:26And then we got off.
03:32I understand that some people think it's brutal and aggressive, but you could say the same
03:36for boxing, for rugby, for American football, even for football.
03:39I understand that some people think it's brutal and aggressive, but you could say the same
03:43for boxing, for rugby, for American football. Even though it is a hardcore combat sport,
03:48it's still an art and it's still a discipline. And I respect that. And, you know, it's just
03:54thrilling to watch and the fighters know what they're getting into.
03:58We can't lie about it. It is brutal. It is violent. It's a fight. It's a fight. You have
04:06to get trained for years and years to be able to perform and protect yourself. Before, we
04:13used to have barely any rules. At first, UFC, it was more like a gladiator and now it became
04:21a real sport, you know, where people really prepare.
04:25I believe, you know, you're going to get there. In the cage, only you and another guy. And
04:32the judge is there to stop the fight any time if you cannot, you know, defend yourself,
04:38you know, protect yourself. So everyone which is there to fight is ready to do.
04:47MMA means mixed martial arts. It means that you have to mix different styles and get into
04:55a ring and prove yourself against another guy that is doing the same. They should get professional
05:01first in a few other subjects, a few other martial arts like boxing. Their background
05:06needs to be solid.
05:08To be a fighter, you have to, you know, you need to learn many things about you, about
05:13yourself, about respect, about respect your body, about respect the others. If you want
05:18to try MMA just for having fun, yeah, you can find a good gym and punch some bags. And
05:27if you want to do for professional, you have to work hard because it's not easy. Every
05:33day is a challenge, you know.
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