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Discovered in a social project at age 11, Brazilian Rafael"Coxinha" Barbosa won the Pancrase lightweight belt on March 14 by knocking out Japanese champion Tatsuya Saika in his third fight in the organization.
At only 28 years old, Rafael already has 22 MMA fights (17-5) and even with a contract for three more fights with Pancrase, he already dreams of fighting in Rizin Fighting Federation or Dana White's Contender Series
"The Pancrase contract allows me to fight in these two events and return to defend the belt if I am not signed. So I would really like this opportunity," Barbosa told Sherdog.com.
A black belt in karate and a brown belt in jiu-Jjtsu, Barbosa has lived in Los Angeles since 2023 and trains at California Mixed Martial Arts.
“I first came to the USA in 2021, invited by Lyoto Machida to teach at his academy, but I had to return. In 2023, Eddie Soares got me a fight with Mairon [Santos] at LFA in New York. I barely had time to study who Mairon was. I lost the fight but decided to stay, and today I teach at Black House, CMMA, and other academies.”
According to Rafael, the training at CMMA is helping him change and improve his wrestling.
“Wrestling is the strong point here. They have a lot of human material, which has allowed me to evolve a lot in the last three years,” he said.
Known in karate for his excellent distance control and good reach for the division, Barbosa believes that reach and distance control are the way to dethrone the current UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.
“Topuria is champion for a reason, the guy is complete in all areas, but Mauricio Ruffy brings something he has never faced in MMA — distance control and reach precision,” Barbosa said. “He can touch without being touched. I consider him the worst matchup for Topuria today.”
Continue reading...
At only 28 years old, Rafael already has 22 MMA fights (17-5) and even with a contract for three more fights with Pancrase, he already dreams of fighting in Rizin Fighting Federation or Dana White's Contender Series
"The Pancrase contract allows me to fight in these two events and return to defend the belt if I am not signed. So I would really like this opportunity," Barbosa told Sherdog.com.
A black belt in karate and a brown belt in jiu-Jjtsu, Barbosa has lived in Los Angeles since 2023 and trains at California Mixed Martial Arts.
“I first came to the USA in 2021, invited by Lyoto Machida to teach at his academy, but I had to return. In 2023, Eddie Soares got me a fight with Mairon [Santos] at LFA in New York. I barely had time to study who Mairon was. I lost the fight but decided to stay, and today I teach at Black House, CMMA, and other academies.”
According to Rafael, the training at CMMA is helping him change and improve his wrestling.
“Wrestling is the strong point here. They have a lot of human material, which has allowed me to evolve a lot in the last three years,” he said.
Topuria’s Kryptonite?
Known in karate for his excellent distance control and good reach for the division, Barbosa believes that reach and distance control are the way to dethrone the current UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria.
“Topuria is champion for a reason, the guy is complete in all areas, but Mauricio Ruffy brings something he has never faced in MMA — distance control and reach precision,” Barbosa said. “He can touch without being touched. I consider him the worst matchup for Topuria today.”
Continue reading...
