BJJ and ADCC world champion Rodolfo Vieira’s much awaited debut has a date and a place! Rodolfo will fight at Real Fight 6 in Sao Paulo Feb 11. He will be facing Daniiar Zarylbek of Kyrgyzstan in the light heavyweight division. The fighter is unknown to the MMA community but it is said that he has seven professional MMA fights which make him much ore experienced than Vieira. The 2015 ADCC champion has been quite dedicated to honing in his MMA skills. He told MMAFighting:
“I’m training hard every day here,” he said. “Training boxing, wrestling, muay thai, and the transition to my jiu-jitsu. I’m sparring two or three times a week. I’m getting better. I’m getting more comfortable, and the fact that the fight was postponed will help me evolve and get there more prepared.”
Vieira plans to move down to middleweight in the near future:
“It’s my debut, so I don’t want an extra pressure of having to cut more weight, all that tension, the diet,” Vieira said. “I think it would be a torture to focus on that now. I’ll go at 205 pounds now. I’m feeling fine, strong. It’s a good weight for me. It won’t be too much.”
Even though he’s a BJJ legend, Vieira’s said that his first weeks at ATT were so tough, that he nearly broke down:
“I’ve evolved a lot here at ATT,” Vieira said. “Kelson (Pinto) has helped me a lot with my boxing. Katel (Kubis) also helped training Muay Thai. That’s where I have more trouble working on. I had no confidence in striking, my timing. I’m training everything here, but I’m focusing on my striking most of the time.”
“I cried in the gym once,” Vieira said. “I thought I didn’t train well. Katel said ‘what happened? You did well,’ but I thought I didn’t do that well. I got desperate. I was so tired, I sat on the mat and started crying. The guy that I sparred with came to me and I thanked him. I don’t know what happened. I was so desperate. ‘F*ck, I can’t do anything.’ I only took him down once, and he got right back up. That was the worst day for me.
“It was horrible,” he continued. “Everybody here is so experienced. When I was lucky enough to get the takedown, it was a good sparring session for me. But when I couldn’t secure the takedown, I’d just get beat up and get exhausted. But I knew it would have to go through this. I’m more confident standing now, I’m more conscious about what I have to do, throwing strikes, and I don’t get scared when I get punched and kicked. I’m getting better.”
About his goals in MMA:
“My dream is to fight in the UFC and become champion,” Vieira said. “I don’t want to get there just to say I’m a UFC fighter. When I get there, I want to be the champion. But I’m not in a hurry. It will take some time. I will get some fights out there, make some money, get experience, so when I get to the UFC, I’m ready.
“Maybe in five or six years I’ll be there fighting of the title, or being a top contender. I don’t know. That’s what I work for.”
Arzalet Fighting Globe Championship’s card:
Rodolfo Vieira vs. Zarylbek Daniyar
Ildemar Alcantara x Markus Perez
Jorge Patino “Macaco” x Andrew Fisher
Gustavo Wurlitzer x Nemat Abdrashitov
Carlos Toyota x Zamirbek Syrgabaev
Marcos Satoshi x TBA
Ary Farias x Baraca Ernie
Dmitriy Parubchenko x Hosing Daisuke
Vladislav Parubchenko x Ashida Takahiro
