UFC has seen an enormous development in Latin American expertise over the past decade. However, not all international locations have contributed equally to that development.
Apart from Brazil, which has at all times had a powerful grip on the game, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and Ecuador have seen many fighters excel in cage, and even enter the UFC rankings, title competition and grow to be champions. However, different international locations like Colombia have struggled to to make their imprint, and that is precisely what Javier Reyes desires to change.
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Colombia’s Reyes (17-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who’s been preventing professionally for nicely over a decade, makes his long-chased UFC debut this Saturday in the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 267 – which works down at Arena CDMX in Mexico City. He takes on UFC veteran Douglas Silva de Andrade (29-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC).
This is a dream come true for Reyes, nevertheless it carries greater than a private really feel. The Bogota native feels he is preventing for a whole nation.
“I’m very happy because I’m making the dream a reality, and not only for me, but for all the Colombians who dream of this,” Reyes informed Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “We’re giving the example that dreams come true. If you work hard, you can make them a reality. I’m very excited for this opportunity of opening the doors for Colombia.”
Colombia does have a brief historical past in the UFC. Reyes will not be the primary Colombia-born fighter to set foot in the octagon. Alex Torres and Fredy Serrano, who like Reyes are each from Bogota, the nation’s capital, have been the primary to enter the promotion. They did so after competing in the primary season of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America in 2015.
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Unfortunately their stints did not final lengthy. Torres was reduce after dropping his UFC debut, and Serrano did handle to keep virtually two years, going 2-2 earlier than not getting renewed to a brand new deal. Since, there have been simply a few fighters from Colombia in the UFC – Sabina Mazo, who fought in the UFC for 3 years, going 3-4, and Juan Camilo Ronderos, who went 0-2.
Reyes’s aim goes past simply debuting and finishing a contract. He desires to keep there for lengthy and build a UFC legacy.
“The idea is to stay there and represent Colombians,” Reyes stated. “We see a lot like, ‘Oh, I have a grandparent or uncle who was Colombian, and they come out as Colombian, but they don’t know what’s it like to be there. I think that’s a big difference. We want to leave our footprint in the UFC.”
Reyes stated he is felt the love from his fellow Colombians forward of this monumental second for preventing profession – which has stunned him given the final curiosity in MMA.
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“This has been incredible,” Reyes stated. “Every day I get 30-50 messages of new people supporting me. I also feel like this is a big step not only for me, but for Colombia. I don’t know if the public is aware, but Colombia is a country where people only watch soccer. It’s soccer, soccer, soccer. Thanks to this, we’re in the media, on national TV, we’re on social media – so those things that you didn’t see before, we’re now seeing them. It’s an opportunity to bring light to the sport. Us Colombians, we have a tough time leaving the country to train outside because of the dollar and the salary is low here in comparison to a lot of countries. I hope this helps the development of MMA in Colombia.”
It’s vital to maintain in thoughts that Reyes’ plans to put Colombia on the map all hold on whether or not he’ll get previous Silva de Andrade. The Brazilian has been preventing for the UFC since 2014 and has fairly a good run, beating former UFC interim champ Renan Barao and ex-UFC title challenger Marlon Vera, whereas additionally going the space with high contender Lerone Murphy.
Reyes likes this matchup for his UFC introduction. He feels it is a more durable matchup than the standard debutants get, and it ought to get him off to an enormous begin.
“I know he’s a tough opponent, but I’m not surprised that I got someone like that,” Reyes stated. “I knew coming in that if I got in, my record is way too big – I’m 22-5 – I’m not going to be fighting against someone who’s 7-1 or something like that. It has to be someone with a lot of experience, so I did expect someone like this, someone close to 20 fights. I’m not surprised. I think I have all the experience and all the motivation. I’m on the rise. I think he’s now 40, so I think he’s on his way out and we’ll be making a transition. I feel excited. I also don’t have a lot of time being 32, so I want to show that I have the level for bg things. This opponent is like a shortcut. If i beat him, I jump up to fight someone higher up.”
This article initially appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Mexico: Javier Reyes out to build Colombian legacy
