UFC 125-pounder Allan
Nascimento may not have had the most traditional path to the
UFC, but he intends on making his stay count.
The 31-year-old nicknamed “Puro Osso” trains at the vaunted Chute
Boxe camp helmed by coach Diego Lima, famously dying his hair
blonde in support of teammate Charles
Oliveira in the past. Nascimento (19-6) will be squaring off
against fellow Dana White’s Contender Series vet Carlos
Hernandez (8-1) at
UFC Fight Night 217 on Jan. 14. A submission specialist by
trade, with 13 of his 19 career victories coming by tapout, he is
well-prepared for an opponent that celebrates all of his own
finishes by sub. Nascimento spoke to Sherdog about his upcoming
matchup, and also discussed what has brought him to this point.
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“Carlos
Hernandez is my next opponent,” Nascimento stated. “He’s on a
great winning streak. He won his Contender Series bout as well as
his UFC debut. I feel he’s a complete fighter. He’s very dangerous.
But I’m very ready for this fight. I’ll be a completely different
Allan in the Octagon. I feel it’s going to be a good fight for
everyone watching. I’m confident I’ll walk away with a
victory.”
A lifelong member of the Chute Boxe team, Nascimento is trained for
wherever the fight may take him. A recent promotion to black belt
in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu bolstered the Brazilian’s confidence even
further. Feeling on top of the world, Nascimento believes that this
is truly his best training camp, and that he will earn the win by
stoppage.
“Everyone knows I belong to Chute Boxe Diego Lima,” the flyweight
explained. “I’ve always belonged to Chute Boxe. I’ve always trained
in their style. Our head coach is Diego Lima. Alireza
Noei is our wrestling coach from Iran. The only outside
training I do is with jiu-jitsu master Marco Barbosa. He just
promoted me to black belt. Hopefully that will give me that extra
push to score my next win. My training partners at Chute Boxe are
Daniel
Santos, Charles
Oliveira, Daniel da
Silva and Felipe
Efrain. We have a very strong team here. Without a doubt, my
preparations have been great during this fight camp.”
Nascimento will come into this pairing against Hernandez on the
heels of his first UFC victory, one he claimed in May by decision
over Jake
Hadley. The Brazilian made his first appearance on a major
stage several years prior, first stepping into the spotlight with a
trip to Rizin Fighting Federation in 2016, only to fall
short to UFC vet Yuki Motoya.
Nascimento turned things around to get a call to the Brazilian
season of DWCS, but that did not go his way either.
“In 2018, I fought Raulian
Paiva at Dana White’s Contender Series. I ended up losing by
split decision. After that, I had a knee surgery and required some
time off. That’s when the coronavirus pandemic started, adding to
my time away from the cage,” Nascimento remarked.
A one-off quick victory in a small organization in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, catapulted Nascimento back into the focus of matchmakers
and recruiters. The rear-naked choke of Elivaldo
Lima Martins in 2021 proved to be the tipping point to a callup
to the big leagues.
“Thankfully, I came back with a submission victory on the Punho de
Aco promotion,” a relieved Nascimento expressed. “I signed my UFC
contract and fought Tagir
Ulanbekov on my debut. It was another split decision loss. It
was a questionable result, in my opinion.”
While the
lion’s share of scoring media members awarded the victory to
Ulanbekov at UFC 267, a large contingent of fans posited that
Nascimento had pulled off the win. Nascimento was not one-and-done
with the promotion, and stepped in nearly seven months later
against British submission artist Hadley.
“Next, I got to face Jake
Hadley. He’s really good and was undefeated at that time. I
knew I had to put in more effort to win by a good margin,”
Nascimento admitted. “I won every round. It was a unanimous win.
Things are back on the right track. I’m doing great, training for
this next fight. I’m feeling very happy with this moment in my
life, and being in the UFC.”
The adjustment Nascimento made following the razor-close defeat to
Ulanbekov proved to be enough to upset the Englishman known as
“White Kong.” Believing that judges favored Ulanbekov due to top
control time, Nascimento made certain that he would not allow that
to happen again.
“The bout against Ulanbekov was very active on the ground. I ended
up losing a split decision,” he lamented. “In my opinion, he had a
home advantage. Most people I talked to thought I won. But he had
top control. So maybe that was my mistake, to have my back against
the mat for too long. That’s what I changed when I next fought
Hadley. If I ever find myself in that situation, I look for a sweep
so I can take top position. I’m starting to better understand the
scoring criteria used in the UFC.”
Nascimento knows that he cannot look past his adversary, one that
has strung together eight straight wins since his unsuccessful
professional debut. Fully expecting to take home the victory, the
Brazilian is not considering calling out big names in the division
quite yet. Instead, he wants to make sure the UFC will feel
compelled to keep him on the roster, as his first contract ends
following his fourth UFC appearance. After that, according to him,
the sky is the limit.
“I take things one step at a time,” Nascimento concluded. “Of
course, we have much loftier goals. This is the third bout on my
UFC contract. I have one more to go. My work now is focused on
getting my contract renewed. After that, I’d like to face ranked
opponents, to be ranked myself, and showcase my work and the name
Allan ‘Puro Osso.’ By the end of 2023, I’d like to make it into the
top 15.”