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 fitness center to shut that hole.
“Cesinha” constructed an extended profession in kickboxing earlier than totally committing to combined martial arts in 2021, and it solely took him two years to get a contract with the UFC by means of Dana White’s Contender Sequence. For his most up-to-date battle, a win over Ihor Potieria, he did his camp alongside UFC champion Alex Pereira, a person he has gone 1-2 in opposition to 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’ve educated 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 quite a bit these previous 4 fights I had for the reason that Contender as a result of now I began to dedicate solely to MMA.
“Being with these guys, I get the depth and vitality they’ve, the willpower. You decide 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 nicely 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 vitality is totally 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 quite a bit this previous yr.”
The flip aspect of coaching with many fighters of your weight class, together with an occasional coaching accomplice 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 possibly can’t be egocentric,” and competing in opposition to a good friend is a part of the job.
Curtis will share the cardboard Saturday night time, taking over 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 trustworthy, you understand? And I see he’s very motivated. Sean by no means stops coaching. He turned champion and was again within the fitness center the subsequent day to coach, and that’s what makes him a champion. I believe he gained the primary Dricus battle, 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 top of the spherical is the most suitable choice for us to begin working and making him miss, make him spend vitality and go for the end,” Almeida stated. “It’s a harmful battle for each and that’s why they booked this battle. They wish to see blood [laughs].”
Almeida admits his final victory wasn’t as thrilling as he hoped for, and says generally it’s important to prioritize wins over spectacles. That’s not the case in opposition to Alhassan, although.
“We’ll must take dangers this time as a result of he’s a knockout artist,” Almeida stated. “I’ll go for a similar factor, however we’ve got to be prepared for all the pieces. The Kopylov battle was a lesson. We didn’t count on him to attempt takedowns and that caught me without warning. We’re ready for all the pieces now, the worst and one of the best. There’s no simple fights right here, however we’re prepared.”
