Geraldo de Freitas On Brazilian Heritage, UFC Fortaleza, and His Proper Weight Class
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Check out our latest interview with Geraldo de Freitas here!
UFC Uruguay marks the UFC’s first visit to the South American nation. The card is headlined by a championship fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Liz Carmouche. Opening the card is Geraldo de Freitas taking on Chris Gutierrez. De Freitas has already notched a dominant win inside the octagon at UFC Fortaleza in February. In the fight, Geraldo de Freitas took a one sided decision over Felipe Colares with two 30-27 scores and one 30-26 from the judges. Now he moves back down to bantamweight, his natural weight class, as he takes on Gutierrez.
Being fairly new to the UFC, most people have never heard of Geraldo de Freitas. Starting at a young age, de Freitas had a head start on most professional athletes today.
“I started training and competing in jiu-jitsu at the age of 11,” says de Freitas. “At age 12 I started to dream of being a professional MMA fighter. At 15 I started to practice Muay Thai and at 19 I moved to Rio de Janeiro to live and pursue the dream of being a professional MMA fighter.” As history would have it, he did become a professional mixed martial arts fighter. Little did he know, it would be on the biggest stage in the world.
Brazilian heritage runs deep. From Renzo Gracie and Anderson Silva to Amanda Nunes, the Brazilians are the pioneers of the sport. De Freitas feels a connection to his forefathers of MMA.
“These guys have fed and continue to feed my will to fight and to win. By seeing their stories I realize that I can also achieve all my dreams and goals, just like them.”
Watching him fight, you can tell de Freitas started multiple martial arts before he was an adult. Geraldo de Freitas is crisp on the feet and dangerous on the ground. In his UFC debut, he completely dominated the fight almost from the bell. Aside from a slam in the first round, de Freitas would go on to completely dismantle Colares. Early in round two, he caught and rocked Colares with a 1-2 combo and then controlled the ground. Geraldo de Freitas was happy with his performance, but sees room he can improve.
“I thank God I was very well prepared. Everything I went through in my life and career prepared me for that moment. In that fight I lost some opportunities to end the fight and was a little anxious to quickly finish. So, I ended up wasting some moments in the fight. Now I come more focused and attentive at all times to identify and define the fight at the right time.”
Continuing Success In The UFC
Geraldo de Freitas made his UFC debut on short notice. Because it was a two week notice fight, de Freitas had to fight a weight class up at featherweight. De Freitas is glad to be back at bantamweight in his second fight inside the octagon.
“My first UFC fight was featherweight, but my real weight class is bantamweight, the category I will do my fight next August 10th,” says de Freitas. “I am very confident in all the work done and now I get even better, fighting in my category!”
As of now, de Freitas is riding a seven fight win streak. The former Shooto Brazil world champion looks to keep on rolling with the momentum. He looks to make a statement opening up one of the biggest mixed martial arts cards in South America’s history.
“I am the best version of myself so far, not only from the winning streak but from everything I went through until I am now. I am in my best physical shape, in my best psychological shape, with the optimum weight for my life. I am sure I will do a great job and I will seek victory with all my strengths and abilities gained so far.”
Make sure to tune in to UFC Uruguay as Geraldo de Freitas takes on Chris Gutierrez on August 10th. Also follow Geraldo on Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on all his latest fight news!
