Bellator MMA has retained the services of a
high-flying, hard-swinging Brazilian.
A fighter billed as one of the more talented featherweight
prospects of Brazilian MMA, Jonas
Bilharinho (11-2-1) will make his Bellator debut on May 17
against Frenchman Yves Landu
(20-9). The 33-year-old first made a splash on the big stage in the
2021 season of Dana White’s Contender Series. While he won by
spinning wheel kick, he was not signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Bilharinho
spoke to Sherdog about this new fight, where he discussed his
expectations of competing in a major organization and about the
fight at
Bellator Paris itself.
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“I’m very anxious for that debut and it will be against a Frenchman
in Paris,” Bilharinho told Sherdog. “It just recalled my debut in
Jungle Fight where I fought a local from Sao Paulo in his homeland
with all the cheering against me. But I really love to fight in
that position because I like to use that mental game against my
opponent. The cheering against me is something that motivates me a
lot.”
After his triumphant appearance on the Contender Series, Bilharinho
instead went to Legacy Fighting Alliance, where he
unsuccessfully vied for the promotion’s featherweight title. The
Brazilian has since won two fights in a row, but this will be his
first outing in nearly 16 months. Excited to compete again,
Bilharinho had plenty to say about his opponent and new
organization.
“Landu is a very experienced opponent who has 30 fights,”
Bilharinho analyzed. “The guy [has won five fights in a row], [is
a] southpaw, [a] striker and has a very similar game to mine. It
will be a clash to see who plays that game better and what
strategy, the one who had disadvantage on that game, will take. I’m
anxious for that debut, [because] I love Bellator and I’m really
[excited] to take part of the history of that amazing event. I’m
doing a great camp lead by my head coach Rafael
Feijao with amazing sparring partners. Definitely I will bring
my best version on [my long-awaited] Bellator debut.”
A fan of Bellator, Bilharinho watched the lightweight grand prix
closely. The finals will take place on the main event of Bellator
Paris between Usman
Nurmagomedov and Alexandr
Shabliy, and he weighed in on the closely matched affair.
“That one is hard to choose,” the Brazilian noted. “Both are very
tough, it will be a war, but I believe Nurmagomedov will win
because it will be an endurance fight and I see Nurmagomedov being
more durable.”
With the merger of Bellator and the Professional Fighters League, the new recruit
has seen other Bellator fighters cross over into the 2024
tournament. While he is not looking past his upcoming opponent, he
would not say no to joining a future million-dollar PFL
tourney.
“That would be like an amazing dream coming true,” Bilharinho
explained. “But it has to be step-by-step. Now I’ll focus 100% in
Landu, who will be a tough challenge.”