Photo: Tatame
Away from the Jiu-Jitsu mats since the 2012 worlds, Antonio Carlos Barbosa, aka “Cara de Sapato (shoe face,as in ugly), is already scheduled to make his MMA debut . On July 20, he will face Vinicius “Gorilão” in the main event of Northeast MMA in Salvado, Brazil.
With his focus entirely on MMA, the black belt is in the capital of Bahia training with Junior dos Santos – who will face Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight belt at UFC 166 on Oct. 19.
To devote himself to the new challenge, “Cara de Sapato” believes that it is better to leave the Jiu-Jitsu aside, at least for now.
“I returned to live in Salvador to train with the Cigano. After the Worlds last year, I put it in my head that I came here to train MMA with him. I’ll give BJJ a break, because if I try to do everything at once, I won’t accomplish anything, “he said.
Antonio reached the pinnacle of his career in Jiu-Jitsu in 2010, at the World when he closed his division with Marcus Buchecha both in weight and in absolute. Today, at 23, the athlete of Checkmat reveals that despite the will to fight MMA, his passion is still MMA.
“I really wanted to fight in the BJJ World this year, but couldn’t because I was helping the Cigano in preparation for Mark Hunt . Unfortunately, there was no way to keep the focus on Jiu-Jitsu. I also ended up hurting my ribs, which makes it impossible for me to fight in the competition. I really wanted to go, but couldn’t, “he lamented.
