‘Formiga’ Ready for Another Challenge in U.S.

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Unbeaten in his MMA career, Jussier da Silva is set to return to the cage of Tachi Palace Fights this Friday night at TPF 8 “All or Nothing.” Widely considered the best flyweight in the world, the 25-year-old Brazilian will face Ian McCall, a veteran of WEC, in one of the most anticipated fights on the bill. With the event also featuring a promotional flyweight title fight between champion Ulysses Gomez and challenger Darrell Montague, “Formiga” might be one step away from a title shot.

The coach of the 125-pound beast, Jair Lourenco, recently spoke to Sherdog.com about his fighter’s challenge.

“Jussier’s training was pretty intense and diverse, since for this fight, we had over two months to prepare the perfect time for him to be 100 percent for the day of the fight,” said Lourenco.

“Ian McCall is a good wrestler. He likes to throw a right cross and go for the legs, and then, when he gets the takedown, usually works from half-guard to enforce the ground-and-pound. So, we worked a lot on takedown defense, both standing and against the fence, and I believe he has good balance and takedown defense well established,” Lourenco added.

In Da Silva’s December stateside debut, he won a unanimous verdict over another WEC veteran, Danny Martinez. The Natalense fighter dominated the first two rounds, but slowed in the final frame and struggled with Martinez’s elbow attack, something new for the Brazilian who had not fought under the unified rules before.

Accordingly, Lourenco says that Formiga has been working hard on all the basics and will be ready for any situation that might happen in the fight.

“We trained a lot with Jussier on his back, always looking first for the submission, which is his forte, and to sweep or stand if he can’t do the first option,” Lourenco said. “However, Jussier has an excellent boxing trainer, Netinho Pegado, father of Renan ‘Barao,’ who has been doing a very good job, greatly increasing Formiga’s knockout power.”

Lourenco was also keen to stress Da Silva’s work with strength and conditioning coach Thiago Macedo in transforming his fighter. Since December, Da Silva -- who daylights as a motorcycle delivery man in his home of Natal -- has intensified his training, as he’s slowly getting the chance to live as something more closely resembling a full-time fighter.

Lourenco expects to see another victory for his fighter, but is already looking forward to a potential future when his charge can join other Nova Uniao standouts in the UFC.

“Jussier is the first in the world in his division, which is another Brazilian on top of another category in the MMA world,” commented the Nova Uniao Kimura leader. “Unfortunately, the division it is still not as recognized and valued as others, but we hope that one day he enters the UFC; it would be a dream come true in the life of Jussier.”