#UFCVegas6 @turmanmma: The Dark Knight Rises
Tweet
Wellington Turman makes his third trip to the octagon as he takes on Andrew Sanchez in the Apex. After picking up his first win in his second fight in the UFC, the 24 year old looks to continue to build his momentum in the middleweight division.
Turman’s start in mixed martial arts was not intent on becoming a UFC fighter. He started the sport for health reasons. But, when he started, he fell in love with the sport.
“I entered the world of fights because I was overweight and needed to lose weight. It was the only sport I was interested in doing at the time. Then, I found in it my profession and what I want to do the rest of my life.”
Besides fighting, Wellington Thurman is a family man. He is also somewhat of an outdoorsman. “Outside of training I am a very calm guy, I like to enjoy my family and friends and also go hiking in nature,” says Turman.
When Turman got the call for the UFC, it was a dream come true. He was stoic and knew he was there, but on the inside, he was ecstatic.
“It was one of the happiest days of my life, I was left without any reaction. I always fought hard to work for this company and I knew I was going to get there, but when I got the news, I didn’t even react,” he said with a laugh.
Turman’s emotional bottle up was well understood by his coach. He wasn’t concerned about his apparent lack of excitement, even though Turman was overflowing with it on the inside.
“It was my coach who gave me the news. He understood because at the time I didn’t know whether to scream or cry or run away. Itwas a very good feeling.”
Wellington Turman and the UFC
While the dream was realized by Turman and his team, the debut fight didn’t go his way. He lost a very close split decision to Karl Robertson that really could have gone either way. The debut was a blur for Turman, however. With all the new things to him, and the size of everything, he doesn’t remember everything and feels it affected his fight with the tough Robertson.
“In my debut I ended up getting a little blurry due to the size of the UFC. I never saw any of that here in Brazil. I ended up losing a lot of submissions that I don’t miss in training. A lot of people say that I won that fight and I think so too. But if I could do it differently I would go back in time and go in more focused. Surely the result would be different.”
He continues saying if given the opportunity to change his fight, he would. Turman also says he’s learned from his mistakes in his debut and is working on fixing the problems.
“I would go more focused but I believe that everything that happens in this life has a reason. I think God does the right things. I hate to lose, but I’m quite young and I have a long way to go and I’m going to work hard so it doesn’t happen anymore.”
Wellington Turman continues saying he isn’t dwelling on the loss, instead he’s growing from it. “As I said, a lot of people say that I won that fight, but I’m not crying. I went back to the gym and trained more. The fans can be sure that I will always come back better. I have evolved a lot.”
Turman then picked up his first win in the UFC against Markus Perez at UFC São Paulo. One of the highlights of the weekend was when Perez came out dressed as the Joker from The Dark Knight. Turman thought it was super awesome.
“It was really funny and really cool, it made me want to laugh right away. That drew a lot of attention to our fight and I thought it was amazing. But in the end the Joker always loses,” Turman laughed in saying.
Preparing for What’s Next
In preparing for his next fight at the Apex, Wellington Turman is ready for the fight and is excited for the stylistic matchup.
“UFC fighters only have a good face, so I’m training a lot for this fight, as in all others. I think our fighting style matches a lot and let’s see who has the best grappling.”
With the pandemic crippling camps everywhere, Turman recounts the struggles he’s had in preparing for the upcoming fight. He credits his awesome training partners for getting him ready regardless.
“With the pandemic, our training is more isolated. I’m training with two training partners only, Augusto Sakai, heavyweight of the UFC, and Thiago Frason, my teacher, and also my coach, Gile Ribeiro. We are doing a great job, the training is very strong, but with fewer people, so there is no risk of contagion.”
If you don’t know, Augusto Sakai is a monster of a heavyweight with incredibly heavy hands. Training with someone so strong is an advantage, Turman feels. “Augusto sakai has always been my training partner,” says Turman. “He is one of my biggest tests and I always say that if I train with him, fighting with the middleweights will be easy.”
The Future for Wellington Turman
Turman has the highest goal in mind, UFC Champion. But at the same time, he wants to entertain fans. He looks forward to a long career in the UFC.
“My goal is the belt for sure, but I’m coming to the UFC. I want to make good fights and please the fans and make a lot of money with the UFC. I am very young and I have a lot of wood to burn.”
Never miss an interview, fight analysis and opinion piece by signing up for the mailing list below!
Wellington Turman takes on Andrew Sanchez at UFC Vegas 6. Be sure to follow him on Twitter Instagram, and Facebook to follow his journey through the UFC.
