Luis Henrique Taking His UFC Career One Step at a Time

Luis Henrique spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of his fight with Thiago Santos at UFC 209. Some highlights are below:

On Santos: “‘Marreta,’ man, he’s an example at our gym (Rio de Janeiro’s TFT team). To me, he was the biggest example because he was the first guy from our crew to make it to the UFC. I took him as an example for myself. I looked at him, making it into the UFC, and nothing was impossible for us. I saw if he made it, any of us could make it. I even tried to follow in his footsteps. Wherever he was training, I wanted to go train, too – take him as an example in order to make it.”

On his training regimen: “I have other examples at the gym that I see to this day, with my friends, and I know how hard it is to run after your dream, fight for tickets and all, and (having) the dream feed you, really, when you don’t think you’ll be able to make it. And when you do make it, you must hold on to it tooth and nail. And that is what I’m doing. At the gym, I give it my blood and sweat. I train like hell, so when I get to the fight nothing comes as a surprise.”

On his future: “Right now, I’m a guy who’s getting there. Getting there slowly, taking one step at a time. I’m the youngest in the division, and I got into the UFC young, and I hope to fight until I’m 40 for them, hopefully. Do it like Anderson Silva, (who’s) 40-something and still fighting. I want to climb up the ranking. I want to win this fight, get my third win in a row, if God allows another submission – ascend the ranks slowly, making my way slowly to the belt.”