BJJ and ADCC World champion Rodolfo Vieira has an incoming MMA fight and now in a new organisation. After confirming his contract signing with Absolut Championship Berkut, an organisation that has Jiu-Jitsu and MMA tournaments, Rodolfo already has a date and opponent scheduled. Information is from Combate.com .
The black belt of GFTeam will be on the card of the ACB MMA 82, scheduled for March 9, in São Paulo. His opponent will be German-Serbian BJJ black belt Alexander Neufang, who has five MMA fights in his career, with three wins and two defeats. Rodolfo has a unbeaten record of two wins, both by submission (RNC and arm triangle). The Neufang fight will be his first time fighting as a middleweight, since in his two previous the Brazilian fought as a light heavyweight.
Vieira is cutting down in weight and is looking in tremendous shape:
Neufang is a recently promoted BJJ black belt with an unorthodox submission style. He is known for his reverse triangles.
He is also known for his sense of humor:
And his crazy Gis and rashguards:
In the main fight, Thiago Silva faces Mikhail Kolobegov, while other well-known stage names such as Daniel Sarafian, Thiago Gaia, Ary Farias, Wendell Negão and José Maria Sem Chance will also be fighting in the event.
Late last year, Vieira ruled out returning to IBJJF tournaments as he told MMA Fighting, unless he’s paid a good amount of money for a super fight.
“ACB came with a really good offer, but we’re still thinking if it’s worthy,” Vieira said. “I’m still unexperienced, so signing with a big promotion right now, even if the money is good, is dangerous. I have to be careful with my career, especially in the beginning. My focus is to get to the UFC, where the best in the world are fighting. I know it’s a long and tough road and I have to be careful to avoid losses and screw up.”
“That’s why I decided to train really hard before my first fight,” he continued, “because I knew that a few good wins could get me in the UFC before many other athletes because of all the history I build in jiu-jitsu. On the other side, I think that’s bad because sometimes it’s too premature. I think if I win five or six fights, I think by the end of the next year I’ll be ready to enter the UFC.”
