Outside Source
Guilherme Pat overcame adversity to win his UFC debut. | Getty/UFC
Multiple visa denials left Guilherme Pat without any butterflies for his UFC debut.
Pat (6-0) was originally scheduled to fight Anthony Guarascio on Dana White’s Contender Series this past September. However, Pat was denied a visa for the fourth time just a week before the fight. However, Pat’s manager called him soon after about a potential UFC debut in December. While Pat wasn’t very optimistic, his manager was, as they had more time to prepare. Pat finally made his debut against fellow debutant Allen Frye at UFC Vegas 112 on Saturday. Pat put on a dominant performance to earn a unanimous decision win against Frye (6-1), who displayed tremendous heart in refusing to go out.
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“I had [visa] denials four times. I wasn’t able to do it. And then the fourth one was about a week before my Contender fight,” Pat said at a post-fight media scrum. “So I wasn’t able to get it. Then my manager calls me, ‘Listen, just stay cool for a second, trust this. You have a fight in December in Las Vegas.’ I was like, ‘No I just got denied for the fourth time for a visa. So how is it that I’m fighting in December.’ He was like, ‘No we got more time for this visa, we’re gonna work on it and everything is gonna be all right.’”
I Belong Here
Pat didn’t have butterflies in his stomach heading into his UFC debut. After multiple visa denials, the Brazilian already considered himself a part of the UFC, and his Octagon debut a mere eventuality.
“I was way more nervous in all of my fights in Brazil throughout my career, than here,” he said. “All those visa denials and the fact that I wasn’t able to get in, that was proof for me that it was just the final details. That means I belonged here. All those chances and opportunities that were being given for me to get the visa… for my mind I was already in here. It was just the final step to be taken. So no butterflies.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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