Arlington, TX — PFL champ Antonio Carlos Junior is continuing to evolve.
The defending 2021 PFL light heavyweight champion, Carlos Junior (13-5) kicks off the 2022 season by welcoming Delan Monte to the PFL.
“Shoeface” took a trip to Thailand eight weeks ago to decompress and get some training in. The Brazilian has always been an elite grappler, and now he is trying to add to his game. Muay Thai, to be exact.
With Junior adding Muay Thai to his skill set, he told Cageside Press during Monday’s PFL 1 media day that the light heavyweight division should be even more scared.
“I think you need to mix it up. It’s MMA. You cannot be just a jiu-jitsu guy or just a Muay Thai; you need to mix up everything,” Junior told us ahead of the season opener. “I think when you mix it up, you make things present themselves— if it’s a takedown or punch or whatever. So, just use it at the right moment.”
“If you saw my last season, I had to strike against a striker, Emiliano Sordi. I had to grapple against a grappler, you know, I took the wrestler down, Martin Hamlet. I didn’t force anything. I just made things happen. Make him think I was going to take him down and then strike. Make them think I’m going to strike and then take them down. When you do that, you don’t force and don’t waste energy. You have to be smart in this sport.”
Junior is looking to make a statement on April 20.
A new name added to the 2022 PFL season is Junior’s teammate and training partner Josh Silveria. Junior isn’t too worried about fighting Silveria because he says so much happens in MMA. However, if the fight happens, business is business.
Watch the rest of Antonio Carlos Junior’s media day appearance above. PFL 1 takes place this Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at the ESports Stadium in Arlington, TX.
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