Consider Pedro Carvalho an adopted Irish fighter at this point. Though originally from Portugal, Carvalho lives in Ireland and trains at Straight Blast Gym alongside the likes of Conor McGregor. At Bellator 270 on Friday, Carvalho (12-5) got the chance to fight in his adopted home for the first time.
He made the most of it, snapping a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over German veteran Daniel Weichel.
To the crowd in the 3Arena in Dublin goes the credit.
“This was the most beautiful and special night of my career, undoubtedly. I’m always critical but thinking about the overall [experience], it was exactly like I expected,” the featherweight told media outlets in attendance and around the world following the fight. Carvalho had his entrance, with the Portuguese and Irish flags draped over his back, set in his mind. “The crowd was exactly like I thought. It truly helped me. I cannot lie, part of my win tonight was because of the crowd. They backed me up, gave me strength, energy, pushed for me, and I was like ‘okay I have to push not only for me, for the win, but for these people.’ A special night in my career.”
While satisfied with the result, Carvalho wasn’t entirely happy with his overall performance on Friday. “I’m kind of in limbo. I’m happy that I won, but I still can’t stop thinking about my performance, because I want it to be clean,” he stated. “But at the same time, I think to myself ‘don’t be so harsh on yourself.'”
Watch the full Bellator 270 post-fight press scrum with Pedro Carvalho above. More coverage from the event can be found below.
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Patricky Pitbull
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Patchy Mix
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Pedro Carvalho
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Ilias Bulraid
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Ciaran Clarke
