Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. Count teammate Warlley
Alves among those that believe the sky is the limit for
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Raoni
Barcelos. Alves (13-4) is preparing to fight Mounir
Lazzez (10-1) on short notice at
UFC on ESPN 20 on Jan. 20 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates. Champion of Season 3 of “The Ultimate
Fighter: Brazil,” Alves is expecting a violent encounter with the
Tunisian striker nicknamed “Sniper.”
“Undoubtedly, he made a great UFC debut against Abdul
Razak Alhassan last July,” Alves told Sherdog. “Very
aggressive, sharp attacking with knees and elbows and great cardio.
That’s the type of fighter I like to face; I’m expecting three
rounds of violence.”
Coming off of a submission defeat by triangle choke to Randy Brown
14 months ago, Alves guaranteed that he is bringing back his best
for his 12th UFC fight.
“I’m coming from a sequence of two wins and two losses. I don’t
like to give excuses, but in the last two years I had a sequence of
injuries that prevented me from giving my best in [my] training.
Now, besides fixing everything, I’m having great support from
Pedro
Rizzo in USINA / RVT. We are working hard every day. Soon I’ll
be back in the rankings.”
Concerning Rizzo’s team, Warlley commented about one of his best
sparring partners, Raoni
Barcelos. His fellow countryman will be facing top-10
bantamweight Raphael
Assuncao on Feb. 27 in Las Vegas.
“When a soldier goes to the war, he normally uses a gun and a
rifle,” Alves stated flatly. “Raoni is like a Robocop. He is the
most complete fighter I’ve ever trained with. It’s just
unbelievable that he is not in the bantamweight rankings. I have no
doubt he will be the next UFC bantamweight champion.”
Alves also confirmed a rumor of a sparring session in Nova Uniao in
2016, when Barcelos gave current champion Petr Yan a
hard time.
“Raoni [doesn’t] talk about sparring, but I know two guys who
witnessed that and confirmed. Of course, it was four years ago, and
both evolved a lot, but [from] what they told me, Yan will not
forget who Raoni is.”
Warlley also recalled the excellent experience he had in TUF Brazil
3 when Chael Sonnen
was his trainer.
“Wanderlei was my idol since childhood, but as a professional I
knew Sonnen would have [many] more tools to complement my game, and
that’s what happened in the house,” Alves admitted. “But my biggest
surprise was about the human being Chael
Sonnen. He was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in the
fighting world. I have no words to express how much he helped me
after TUF. Thanks to his management, I got in fights with Colby
[Covington] and [Kamaru] Usman.”
