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After being knocked out by Ante Delija
in his first bout of the PFL 2022 regular season, Matheus
Scheffel was considered the biggest underdog in the
quarterfinals against former heavyweight champion and fellow
Brazilian Bruno
Cappelozza.
But Curitiba native shocked the world, defeating Cappelozza via
unanimous decision in the quarterfinal before knocking out UFC
veteran Juan Adams
in the semifinals. On Friday, some seven months after being knocked
out by Delija, Scheffel will get a chance to avenge that defeat and
win a $1 million prize in the
PFL Championship at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in
New York.
“This will be the first time in my career that I had the
opportunity to dedicate myself 100% to my camp,” Scheffel told
Sherdog.com. “As a personal trainer I always needed to share my
time between MMA training and my classes. This time, however, I was
able to train exclusively for Ante for the last six months.”
It’s well-documented that Delija is a protege of heavyweight legend
Mirko
Filipovic. Scheffel admits that pedigree affected him somewhat
in their first meeting.
“I respected him a lot and didn’t show my game and all my potential
in the first fight,” Scheffel said. “Now he will face a totally new
opponent.”
Currently training at CM System alongside Thor Silva,
the son of Wanderlei
Silva, Scheffel says he has received valuable advice from the
Pride Fighting Championships veteran.
“When I was 10 years old, Wanderlei was already Pride champion. I
grew up seeing my city, Curitiba, stop to watch his fights and
later Shogun [Rua’s] and Anderson
Silva’s. Getting advice from your biggest idol is
priceless.”
The recent PFL history of other Brazilian underdogs like Raush
Manfio and Capelozza inspires Scheffel to capture the $1
million dollar prize. More than the prize itself, he dreams to have
his name remembered along with the greatest fighters to come from
Curitiba. That has served as his greatest motivation in camp.
“I did everything I could to get to this point in my best shape,”
he said. “No doubt Delija will face my best version and I’ll do
everything possible to get this prize. More than anything I want to
honor the history of the Curitiba greats.”