Cesar Almeida would possibly nonetheless be too inexperienced to compete with the elite of the UFC, particularly those that come from a wrestling background, however he’s doing his finest within the health club to shut that hole.
“Cesinha” constructed a protracted profession in kickboxing earlier than absolutely committing to blended martial arts in 2021, and it solely took him two years to get a contract with the UFC by way of Dana White’s Contender Collection. For his most up-to-date combat, a win over Ihor Potieria, he did his camp alongside UFC champion Alex Pereira, a person he has gone 1-2 towards in kickboxing. Now, to battle Abdul Razak Alhassan at UFC Vegas 101 on Jan. 11, he returned residence in Las Vegas to coach with the likes of Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis.
“I used to be doing a flashback of my profession one among lately and I’ve skilled with [Nogueira brothers] ’Minotauro’ and ‘Minotouro’, with ‘Jacare’ [Souza], so I’m studying for a very long time now,” Almeida instructed MMA Combating. “I’m a brand new man in MMA, I believe I’m the much less skilled on the [UFC] roster, however I’ve been studying loads these previous 4 fights I had because the Contender as a result of now I began to dedicate solely to MMA.
“Being with these guys, I get the depth and power they’ve, the willpower. You choose up one thing from all of them and develop much more. It’s nice to be round them as a result of I really feel they need me round as effectively as a result of they see that I’ve one thing. They see that I’ve a future within the UFC. It was nice to be a part of all these camps as a result of the power is completely different. They’re champions. You see how they work and the way they take care of adversities in camp, and it motivates you. I’ve discovered loads this previous 12 months.”
The flip facet of coaching with many fighters of your weight class, together with an occasional coaching associate in Caio Borralho, is that you just may need to face him down the road within the UFC. Almeida stated that coaching collectively means you all evolve as athletes so “you may’t be egocentric”, and competing towards a buddy is a part of the job.
Curtis will share the cardboard Saturday night time, taking up Almeida’s former opponent Roman Kopylov, and Strickland is booked to rematch Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight crown at UFC 312 on Feb. 8.
“He deserves it,” Almeida stated of Strickland. “He works so onerous. He’s kinda loopy, however he’s very sincere, ? And I see he’s very motivated. Sean by no means stops coaching. He grew to become champion and was again within the health club the subsequent day to coach, and that’s what makes him a champion. I believe he received the primary Dricus combat and I believe he’s coming again higher this time. I believe he will get the belt again.”
Almeida sees his 185-pound conflict with Alhassan this weekend on the UFC APEX as a harmful match-up, particularly within the first minutes of each spherical, however doesn’t count on Alhassan to maintain up the identical tempo for for much longer.
“The tip of the spherical is the most suitable choice for us to start out working and making him miss, make him spend power and go for the end,” Almeida stated. “It’s a harmful combat for each and that’s why they booked this combat. They wish to see blood [laughs].”
Almeida admits his final victory wasn’t as thrilling as he hoped for, and says typically it’s important to prioritize wins over spectacles. That’s not the case towards Alhassan, although.
“We’ll should take dangers this time as a result of he’s a knockout artist,” Almeida stated. “I’ll go for a similar factor, however we have now to be prepared for all the things. The Kopylov combat was a lesson. We didn’t count on him to strive takedowns and that caught me unexpectedly. We’re ready for all the things now, the more serious and the most effective. There’s no simple fights right here, however we’re prepared.”