Amazing night. 4-0. pic.twitter.com/HHiWF5EdbO
— Marcos DaMatta (@ParrumpaATT)
April 15, 2023
American Top Team coach Marcos “Parrumpa” DaMatta will be a busy
man in the coming months.
Advertisement
“Next week I’m going to Sao Paulo to corner Rodrigo
Nascimento and Rinat
Fakhretdinov; two weeks later I will corner Alexandr
Shabliy against Patricky ‘Pitbull’ in the lightweight semifinal
of Bellator; one week later I’ll corner Magomed
Magomedkerimov in the final of PFL, an event where ATT will
have three finalists plus Kayla [Harrison] doing a superfight
against Julia Budd,”
DaMatta said. “In the first week of December, I’ll be with [Arman]
Tsarukyan for his fight against [Beneil] Dariush, and two weeks
later with [Alexandre] Pantoja for his first title defense against
Brandon
Royval. No doubt the agenda is full just like I enjoy.”
“Parrumpa” revealed that Muhammad
Mokaev, who is coming off a victory over Tim Elliott
at UFC 294, decided not to train at ATT anymore after Pantoja
captured the UFC flyweight crown this past July.
“A few months ago, if you asked me to point to the prospects in ATT
that could be champion in a near future, I picked Mokaev and
Shabliy,” he said. “I totally understand Mokaev’s decision. Pantoja
is like a son to me, and it would be complicated for me to train
two guys with the same goal.
“But Shabliy is here with us, better than ever. I truly believe he
will beat Patricky in the semifinal and the champion in the final.
Usman [Nurmagomedov] may be a little superior in the wrestling
aspect, but they have about the same level on the ground. What
makes Shabliy the favorite in my opinion is his better striking and
also excellent takedown defense. A good example of that is when
Usman defeated Brent
Primus via decision in a boring match. Shabliy knocked out
Primus. I truly believe Shabliy will get this million dollar
prize.”
The ATT jiu-jitsu coach also provided details about Mayra
Bueno Silva’s doping case. Bueno Silva’s victory over Holly Holm in
July was recently overturned to a no contest when the Brazilian
bantamweight tested positive for a banned substance that she
claimed was in her ADHD medication.
“That was unacceptable,” he said. “The USADA exam didn’t reveal
anything, so she was released to fight. Then the Nevada State
Athletic Commission caught her with the same exam. How come? She
has used the same medicine for ADHD since she was 10 years old.
It´s not a PED, and the biggest proof of that is that both USADA
and UFC helped our lawyer, and Mayra was suspended for only four
months, which is less than the minimum suspension of six
months.
“The UFC didn’t take her No. 3 ranking, and she kept her win bonus.
The only problem was that fight was changed to a no contest by the
commission. But she is already able to return in the first week of
December.”
The UFC will end its partnership with USADA beginning in 2024, but
“Parrumpa” doesn’t expect much to change when Drug Free Sport
International (DFSI) takes over the anti-doping program.
“I believe that nothing will change. The surprise tests will go on
and the fight week protocols will be the same,” he said. “George
Piro, one of the DFSI directors, does private classes with me. This
guy was head of the FBI for a long time. After he retired he
started to work for DFSI.
“I’ve heard people making funny jokes that ATT athletes will start
to be ‘stronger’ next year. But as far as I know Piro, it will be
the opposite. He would never put his reputation in jeopardy to
favor one team. It’s more likely that ATT fighters will be even
more tested.”