Outside Source
Vitor Petrino enjoyed a successful heavyweight debut. | Getty/UFC
After beginning his UFC career with four straight wins at 205 pounds, Vitor Petrino decided to end his struggle with the scale when he lost back-to-back bouts in 2024.
A few hours after scoring a first-round submission of Austen Lane in his heavyweight debut at UFC Nashville, Petrino discussed his debut in the new weight class.
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“There is nothing better than being able to eat and enjoy fight week,” Petrino told Sherdog.com. “I already lost almost 65 pounds for one of my fights. I started to have ligament and even blood pressure problems. So I couldn’t have made a better decision.”
The CM System product, who weighed 260 pounds on the day after his fight, is in no hurry to face a ranked opponent after seeing how fellow Brazilian Tallison Teixeira suffered a first-round TKO loss to Derrick Lewis in this past Saturday’s main event.
Petrino in No Rush to Climb Heavyweight Ladder
“I’m only 27 and already have eight fights in the UFC. Look at Tallison. He had just one win over Justin Tafa and faced a Top-10 ranked guy with almost 30 UFC fights. Of course the experience plays an important role in the cage. I’m sure Teixeira is a pretty talented guy and will return stronger,” said Petrino, who believes his speed and athleticism will set him apart at heavyweight.
As far his next opponent, Petrino says he needs some time to study the landscape of the division.
“I used to study a lot all the ranked guys of my former division. Now I’ll start to do the same at heavyweight,” he said. “As soon as I do, I promise to give you a name.”
The only certainty Petrino has is that he wants to be on the rumored UFC card in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 11. That card has yet to be officially announced by the promotion.
“Right after the fight we met [matchmaker Mick] Maynard and I asked him to put my name there,” Petrino said. “I would love to return in Brazil and especially in Rio.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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