Rodolfo Vieira is one of the best grapplers to ever transition to mixed martial arts, but knows it’s not smart to overlook anyone’s ground skills. That said, he’s not particularly impressed by Tresean Gore’s jiu-jitsu game.
Vieira and Gore face off Saturday on the preliminary portion of UFC Vegas 108. Ahead of that matchup, Vieira commented on Gore’s submission game, which has helped him to two submission wins in the UFC over Josh Fremd and Antonio Trocoli.
“His jiu-jitsu doesn’t impress me, but the guillotine is definitely a position I’ll have some respect,” Vieira told MMA Fighting, “I know he catches with the right arm and he’s very confident. Every fighter that shot against him, he gave them the right leg to get around their neck to attack, and got his two submissions. I won’t see for myself because it’s a dangerous move. He’s proved to be good at that. But I’m more complete than him on the ground. I have many more weapons to dominate him on the ground.”
A five-time jiu-jitsu world champion and ADCC gold medalist, “The Black Belt Hunter” is 5-3 in the UFC with five submission victories. Before that, he went 5-0 in the sport with a 100 percent finishing rate. One major change Vieira has made going into UFC Vegas 108 was a six-week camp at Fighting Nerds in Sao Paulo, working with coaches Pablo Sucupira, Flavio Alvaro and Wagner Motta.
“The camp was wonderful,” Vieira said. “They put me in incredible shape. I think I’ve never felt this good before, and this confident in my striking, my takedowns, my jiu-jitsu. … I got the hunger back, the desire to train.”
Motta, the man leading the jiu-jitsu practice, was for years the coach of Demian Maia, who made his name as one of the best pure grapplers in UFC history.
“He knows a ton, the basic stuff that works,” Vieira said of Motta. “When he teaches you that, you know it will work. Also, training with the team here makes you want to evolve more on the feet. Not that I want to become a striker, I would much rather continue using my jiu-jitsu, but I’m getting confident with the distance, movement, calibrating my strikes and working on my defense. I’m becoming more complete. But, of course, always focused on going there and taking them down to use my jiu-jitsu.”
Gore was finished by Chute Boxe middleweight Marco Tulio in his most recent appearance in April, and Vieira aims to rebound from a decision setback to Andre Petroski in February. Vieira plans on submitting Gore at the UFC APEX, and expects his opponent’s aggressive style to make things easier.
“He’s a bit flat-footed and has a huge heart, he can take a punch and still come forward, but I don’t know how he will fight this fight,” Vieira said. “Last time around he got beat a lot by Marco Tulio and continued to walk forward. It’s good if he does that against me [so I take him down], but I’m ready for everything. I won’t stop in that octagon. I got good movement and will use that to my advantage until I find the right moment to take the fight where I’m best.”
