Andre Lima’s UFC debut will go down as one of the memorable and weird moments in firm historical past, however he desires to depart it within the rear-view mirror.
In March, Igor Severino was infamously disqualified for biting Lima within the second spherical of their UFC Vegas 89 bout. Lima determined to tattoo the chunk mark and the phrases “I Obtained F*cking Bit Bonus” on himself hours later, celebrating the $25,000 verify awarded to him by UFC CEO Dana White for the incident. White then doubled that after the tattoo was inked the identical night time in Las Vegas, awarding Lima with $50,000 atop his present and win cash.
The chunk went viral and was the subject of the week, and Lima was sensible sufficient to profit from it. “Mascote” stated he was acknowledged all week by followers in Las Vegas and have become common in his hometown Guarulhos. Now, although, he desires to be greater than only a meme.
“I’m very lively on-line and determined to maintain posting about it for a couple of days,” Lima informed MMA Combating forward of his UFC 302 battle with Mitch Raposo. “Some movies I did hit 200,000, 300,000 views on Instagram, one hit 1,000,000 views. UFC life is nice, man. The tattoo and the chunk modified my life. That’s additionally why I’m on a pay-per-view card, I believe. That and my combating potential.
“Dana White favored my efficiency on the Contender Collection though I didn’t get the knockout. The battle within the UFC was good up till that time [of the foul], and the chunk made it go viral. However I’m not within the UFC due to a chunk or a tattoo. I’m right here as a result of I’ve heavy arms, I’m striker, and I’ll present my potential. That is the right alternative for me to point out what I’ve been doing my entire life.”
Lima was initially slated to face Hyun Sung Park on June 1. Nyamjargal Tumendemberelm then briefly stepped in as a substitute earlier than the spot in the end landed with Raposo, who held flyweight titles on the regional circuit earlier than answering the decision to make his UFC debut on quick discover.
Lima likes the matchup and sees Raposo as having the same combating type to his essential sparring accomplice for UFC 302, so the modifications had no main affect in his preparation.
“I’m a jiu-jitsu black belt, however folks will all the time attempt to take me down once I begin hitting them on the ft,” Lima stated. “I believe he’ll attempt to grapple with me. I’ve 82 fights in kickboxing and Muay Thai mixed so, I’ll by no means selected to do jiu-jitsu in MMA. I’ve confirmed that in Brazil already. My purpose is all the time to face and commerce. I’ve a few of the greatest arms within the division, if not the very best, and I imagine in them.”
