Vinicius De Jesus Thinking About Next Step After Bellator 163

Vinicius De Jesus spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight with James Boran tonight at Bellator 163. Some highlights are below:

On getting his start in MMA: “Around that time, MMA didn’t have a good reputation in Brazil. There were no UFC events in Brazil at that time. The biggest tournaments were in Japan. Wanderlei Silva and ‘Shogun’ Rua were idols around the world, but the sport wasn’t well regarded in Brazil. So I kept training, hoping the sport would become more popular in Brazil.”

On his professional debut: “My first fight in Brazil was a blast. I knocked out my opponent in 24 seconds. There was a lot of coverage, especially since my opponent was called Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva was the UFC champion at the time. The second fight, against Jeferson Negrini was a split-decision loss. It left a bad taste in my mouth. By my criteria, I should have won that fight. I was also a big naive about MMA. I had lost a point in the first round, and that was the factor that allowed him to be victorious. But that’s fine. We also learn in losses.”

On his two-year layoff after his second fight: “One of the main reasons I wasn’t fighting at that time was the move from Brazil to the U.S. It was a major change, and I didn’t speak English at first. So I took some time to refocus and adapt to my new country. I wasn’t going to be possible do that while training full time…After that, I moved to the U.S. to join my wife. She was already here working as an instructor. She’s a jiu-jitsu black belt. Around that time, I wasn’t fighting. It was also hard for me to find opponents, since I’m a jiu-jitsu black belt myself, with good striking. I only started getting fights after hooking up with my manager Marco Alvan. He got me into better promotions, against serious opponents. I started in a smaller promotion, Premier FC. I fought for them three times. I was able to stand out enough to get an offer from Bellator.”

On what’s next after his bout with Boran: “Regardless of how I win, we’re still thinking about my next step. My manager is very intelligent and strategic with a lot of contacts. We are happy with my one-fight contract. Depending on how to fight goes, we can renew or remain free to fight in other promotions. After the fight, I’ll sit with my manager to figure out what’s next.”