In a division in a lot want of a lift Portugal’s rising star Mario Pinto is able to explode into the rankings.
Mario Pinto Profession So Far
Pinto made his skilled MMA debut again in 2021 and now finds himself 10-0 inside touching distance of the UFC prime 15 rankings. Coaching out of London, the Portuguese star made a reputation for himself upon the European MMA scene. Becoming a member of LFL in March 2023 on a Heavyweight match struggle night time in Amsterdam. He received the match and have become Heavyweight champion in LFL, defending his crown twice within the subsequent 12 months.
At 8-0 in 2024 he acquired his shot on the notorious Dana White Contender Sequence in opposition to fellow undefeated prospect Lucas Camacho. He starched his opponent with a textbook left hook in violent trend and earned a UFC contract.
After such a unbelievable begin to his profession on the massive stage his extremely anticipated full UFC debut got here with big quantities of expectation and strain. In March this yr he made the stroll in opposition to Austen Lane at UFC Combat Night time Kape vs Almabayev. Lane had been within the UFC for a while and was a well-known title. Pinto scored an exceptional knockout within the second spherical and picked up a efficiency bonus for good measure.
This weekend at UFC Rio he faces a large step up in Jhonata Diniz whose solely defeat got here in opposition to extremely ranked Marcin Tybura. Diniz is 4 fights into his UFC tenure with a document of 3-1 and likewise has a second spherical TKO over Lane.
At 27 years of age Mario Pinto has a brilliant future forward of him and a win in opposition to a Brazilian in Rio may nicely land him a spot within the heavyweight rankings. Moreover the division has gone barely stale and new blood is required for the way forward for the game.
