Gabriel Santos dreamed of being a cowboy, and he now will get to journey the world punching individuals within the face for a dwelling.
Chute Boxe featherweight “Mosquitinho” reenters the octagon Saturday to face Australia’s personal Jack Jenkins in enemy territory at UFC 312 in Sydney, however appears to be like again at every day battles he’s fought since his childhood as a testomony of his coronary heart and willpower.
Born in Beberibe, a small city situated simply outdoors state capital Fortaleza, the Brazilian expertise was raised by his mom in a small farm, the place she labored as a housekeeper.
“I used to be a really handful baby, and I beloved my animals,” Santos advised MMA Preventing. “My dream was to be a cowboy, however my mother didn’t have cash for such factor. We couldn’t purchase something, think about shopping for bulls and cows. Someday she managed to purchase me a bit horse and that was the world for me.”
His life took a flip when a cousin began taking jiu-jitsu lessons and confirmed as much as the farm seeking to train him some strikes. Santos’ solely connection to combating on the time had been via motion pictures and cartoons, particularly Bloodsport and Dragon Ball Z. They bought a big canvas on the bottom to make use of as mat, and started practising. Santos was taught one single transfer in these improvised grappling lessons, which proved helpful when his mom’s bosses determined to promote the farm, leaving them no different however to maneuver to the town.
“He taught me to cross the guard, knee on stomach and Americana,” Santos mentioned. “After I moved to the town, I made a decision to hitch a jiu-jitsu health club and tapped all people with that very same transfer [laughs]. I needed to compete in a event instantly, however the coach mentioned it was too quickly. Months later I bought to compete, although, and I by no means stopped since.”
Santos added extra strategies to his arsenal and began gathering medals within the native circuit as a result of falling in love with a unique sport: blended martial arts. The yr was 2013 and the UFC was touchdown in Fortaleza for the very first time for a card headlined by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum that additionally featured a trio of native skills, Rony Jason, Godofredo Pepey and Caio Magalhaes. For a 16-year-old grappler, that was an indication that he might have a future within the sport.
“I nonetheless love competing in jiu-jitsu, but it surely wasn’t paying good a reimbursement then, so I began specializing in doing MMA as an alternative,” mentioned Santos, who made his MMA debut 2014. “It’s loopy to look again and see that in 2014 I used to be strolling out to the identical walkout track Charles ‘do Bronx’ [Oliveira] did, and now we’re on the identical group.”
Santos gained 10 in a row within the Brazilian circuit to earn a shot within the UFC, claiming titles at LFA and Future MMA with wins over the likes of Jose Delano and future UFC fighter—and now teammate—Elves Brener. His first octagon look got here as a alternative for Nathaniel Wood, shedding to Lerone Murphy in London. Santos had his again towards the wall after a stoppage defeat to David Onama, however rebounded with a choice win towards Yizha a yr later.
Santos’ first son is due 5 weeks after UFC 312, and the Chute Boxe athlete joked he’s anticipating an ideal night time in Australia “to finish the toughest camp of my life after which begin a brand new one.” Jenkins is 3-1 below the UFC banner and victorious in 10 of his final 11, and Santos is aware of he’s in for a conflict.
“I came upon I used to be going to develop into a father proper earlier than my final struggle and that gave me extra fireplace. It’s extra motivation, You’re combating for extra now,” Santos mentioned. “It’s a dream for me to struggle in Australia, so I’m going with all the things I can for this struggle. We’ve to be prepared for all the things in a struggle. You simply can’t plan one factor, actually, however I do imagine I’ll faucet him.”
