Alexia Thainara ignores loss to Bruna Brasil ahead of UFC Seattle rematch: ‘I was fighting more for aesthetics’
UFC Seattle contains a rematch between Brazilian strawweights Alexia Thainara and Bruna Brasil, however so much has modified since their first encounter in 2019.
Thainara began coaching martial arts to look good and be in form earlier than finally deciding to begin a profession as an expert MMA fighter. A 12 months into that new journey, she took the street to Sao Paulo to face Brazil on the Thunder Fight 20 card. They have been two inexperienced athletes battling in entrance of a small crowd, Thainara at 2-0 and Brasil with a 2-2-1 document, and Brasil acquired the victory with a third-round guillotine choke submission.
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Six years later, they enter the octagon Saturday in Seattle to run it again as two fully totally different fighters. Thainara beat Molly McCann and Loma Lookboonmee within the UFC after topping Rose Conceicao on Dana White’s Contender Seriespushing her win streak to 11, whereas Brazil has bounced between wins and losses for a 3-4 post-DWCS document.
“It was the only loss of my career so it comes in as a kind of revenge,” Thainara advised MMA Fighting. “But the game has reset. Back then I was a different Alexia. I have more experience now, a better mindset, more intense training. I have better people around me and a much more focused mind. Not that I wasn’t focused then, but now I’m truly locked in on reaching the top.”
“We were both at the beginning of our careers,” she continued. “Back then I didn’t even dream about being in the UFC, I was fighting more for aesthetics, to have a good body and all that. But my mindset completely changed after I moved to Varginha. My coach told me, ‘You have potential, you’re going to make it, so let’s work on that.’ “I believe now we’re two very experienced fighters, both hungry to compete.”
Now part of the Ribas Family team alongside UFC talents Amanda Ribas and Ketlen Souza, Thainara originally agreed to fight Stephanie Luciano as a replacement for Carol Foro, but the bout was changed one more time with Brazil stepping in for Luciano.
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“We basically live in a constant training camp,” Thainara said. “My coach all the time says an athlete has to be prepared always. When the cellphone rings, we now have to be prepared. It was only a matter of making a couple of changes to my recreation, staying sharp, enhancing my cardio and weight-reduction plan to make the burden reduce, and now it is time to go ahead and produce the struggle.
“I have the best team in Brazil, and Alexia is much better than she was before too. I need to reset everything and stay calm because we’re two completely different fighters now. More experienced, more evolved. I just have to go in there, reset the game, and show my work and why I belong in the UFC.”
Thainara admits she anticipated a higher-ranked foe after a 2-0 begin within the UFC, however understands the circumstances of a short-notice name. At the identical time, she sees Brazil as an excellent “test” to present the matchmakers the place she’s at in her profession.
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“The UFC is testing Alexia to see what her level is,” Thainara mentioned, “and I believe this fight is about renewing my contract, staying active and not taking too long to fight again. I have faith in God that we’ll renew the contract because every time the phone rings, I’m ready to fight.”
