Bruna Brasil entered the UFC with a fair amount of hype. Dana White had called her Contender Series KO of Marnic Mann one of the greatest in women’s MMA history. However, her UFC went less than ideal – a losing effort against power punching Denise Gomes.
Following that defeat, Brasil went back to the Fighting Nerds team and got back to work. She decided some changes were needed to make sure that her second effort would go better.
“So, the one thing that happened was that from the first to the second fight – I started to train a bit more hard. I was always trying to escape the punches. I was always trying to get the distance control,” Brasil explained through teammate and interpretor, Caio Borralho. “So I was losing a little bit of my tempo.”
The willingness to be hit was an instant benefit to her abilities in the next fight. She got in Shanna Bannon’s face and worked her way to a mostly easy decision. For that victory, she credits the mental change of her training camp.
“Now I was like, let’s bang!” she said. “The willingness to take a punch to give a punch back. And then I was more tough in day, and that’s why I got the victory. This is what I’m getting better at every day. Take a punch and then respond right away.”
Now with all the changes made, she feels that she’ll ride them to success this weekend at UFC Vegas 86.
“It doesn’t matter how it ends. It just matters that my arm is gonna be raised at the end,” Brasil said. “That’s all that matters for me and my team.”
You can see Brasil’s next fight, a showdown with Loma Lookboonme, as part of the prelims of UFC Vegas 86. Those fights begin this Saturday at 4pm EST on ESPN+.
You can also hear the entire audio of this interview at 24:09.
