Francisco
Trinaldo seems to have found a new passion in the world of bare
knuckle MMA.
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One of the most popular fighters on Season 1 of “The Ultimate
Fighter: Brazil,” Trinaldo parted ways with the UFC in 2022, some
10 years after his debut. Thirteen months later he made his bare
knuckle foray at Gamebred Fighting Championship 6, where he
defeated Sasha
Palatnikov via technical knockout 1:55 into Round 1 when his
opponent suffered a knee injury.
“I love to fight MMA without gloves, but I have to recognize that,
after 13 months without fighting, I was nervous in the beginning,”
Trinaldo told Sherdog.com. “But as soon as my opponent hit me, I
woke up and started to have fun. I was prepared for a bloody war,
but it was not necessary. I loved the experience and I can’t wait
for [Jorge] Masvidal to decide who will be my next opponent.”
“Massaranduba” had no problem revealing a list of names he has
targeted as potential adversaries.
“I’m 45 [years old]. I already did 39 MMA fights with a [good
showing] in the UFC. I think I deserve to face opponents to make
great shows,” he said. “I would love to shut up Mike Perry.
I saw his sparring with Lyoto [Machida] and could see that he has
problems with southpaw fighters. I’m sure he would have problems
with my left hand.
“Another guy I would love to face is Anthony
Pettis. I already called him out many times in the UFC, and he
always ran from me. Kevin Lee
would also be a great name. He beat me in 2017, and I would love to
have revenge without gloves in 2024.”
No matter who he faces next, Trinaldo plans on returning to action
soon.
“I must fight at the same event [where Junior dos
Santos] will fight for the belt in January,” he said. “I truly
hope one of them accepts [the offer] to face me and after beating
my next opponent, I will have a chance to fight for the belt just
like ‘Cigano.’”
Three of Trinaldo’s American Top Team stablemates will be competing
for $1 million at Friday’s PFL Championships: Renan
Ferreira, Joshua
Silveira and Magomed
Magomedkerimov. The Brazilian predicted victory for two of his
three teammates.
“Since Renan arrived at ATT, he is finally having real heavyweights
to train with and he is evolving a lot. His hands are precise and
powerful. I believe he will surprise [Denis] Goltsov by controlling
the distance, knocking him out and getting the heavyweight title,”
Trinaldo said. “I consider Joshua as the guy who evolved
[significantly] at ATT in the last two years. He will bring
surprises to [Impa] Kasanganay and get the win. In the welterweight
division, Maga is such a tough dude, very hard to fight against,
but I believe Sadibou Sy
evolved a lot last year and I think he will be able to win.”