mma / News

Thiago Jambo Goncalves Almost Retired Before Signing With Bellator

June 15, 2016 | Posted by Joseph Lee

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Thiago Jambo Goncalves (18-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) spoke about his upcoming Bellator debut at Bellator 156, almost a year after he signed with the promotion. He will fight Chidi Njokuani (14-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA). Here are highlights:

On almost retiring from MMA: “The only thing that was missing for me was fighting for a big promotion. Although WSOF is big, it’s not as big as Bellator or the UFC. Before getting this contract, I told Patricio (Freire, former Bellator featherweight champion) I was retiring. I said I was done, that I was nearing 36 and just couldn’t do it anymore. I had already made peace with that in my head. But he told me to wait, that he’d get me signed with Bellator. I agreed but said that if it didn’t happen, I was done. He did. And I thought, ‘After 11 years of MMA, you finally get there, and you won’t even see what it feels like?’”

On fighting friend Matt Baker: “The night before the fight was the worst of my life. Matt paid for my ticket to go to Canada to help him out. In that time he suffered a car crash, had a baby daughter, and was already in debt. He paid for my trip with a ticket advance from the promotion, so he already owed them money. I went there hoping to get an opponent, with $100 in my wallet. He looked at me and said, ‘We’re going to have to fight. We need this money. We’re (expletive). If we don’t fight, I owe the promotion, and you’re broke.’ And we slept in the same room. To make matters worse, when he suffered the car crash, he had a concussion. So he couldn’t get hit in the head. And I was like, ‘How am I going to hit him in the head? If he drops dead, I’m going to kill myself.’”

On taking advantage of this opportunity: “I might never have made money off MMA, but the great thing is how much I’ve traveled and the friends I made. I’ve never been one to create expectations because you set yourself up for disappointment. I’ve already fulfilled a lifelong dream: I got a black belt from my biggest idol, ‘Big Nog’. Then I fought in Japan, which was a professional dream of mine. And now I get to fulfill another one. I’ll keep fighting, but I feel accomplished. Finishing my career with a belt would be awesome, but even if it doesn’t happen, I’m happy already.”