Luana Pinheiro’s star appears to be on the rise in the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s strawweight division.
In this exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Pinheiro details the route she took from judo to MMA, discusses the reasons behind her extended layoff and focuses on her upcoming battle with Waterson-Gomez at 115 pounds:
Sherdog.com: What fights do you consider to be the most important in your career?
Pinheiro: I believe that all my fights are learning experiences, both wins and losses. Each fight is against an opponent with a different specialty, so we’re always learning and evolving. One of my goals in MMA is to always improve, since MMA is the fastest-growing sport in the world. It’s still a new sport. If we don’t find ways to improve, we’ll be left behind. I believe that one of the fights from which I learned most was the loss to Cris Macfer Ferreira Macedo. It made me and my coaches stop and see what mistakes I’d committed and see what had to be improved. Since my strong suit is judo, we felt that was my edge. It wasn’t enough. I didn’t know how I’d deal with my first MMA loss. Judo is different—you compete every weekend. An MMA loss can have a high price. I was afraid I’d deal with the loss as a negative, but it was just the opposite. It gave me even more hunger to train more and fight again. It gave me a high motivation to return to the mats, learn, evolve and return to the cage.
Sherdog.com: How did you get started in MMA?
Pinheiro: In truth, I started out in judo at 2 years old. This was due to my father being a judo instructor, and I already had three older brothers in it. We’re a total of five kids. My uncles and my mother are also practitioners. I come from a family of judokas. By age 17 or 18, I moved to Belo Horizonte. I was hired by the Minas Tenis Clube and stayed there for six years. There, I went to the Olympic Trials in 2016. After I lost, I started feeling unmotivated. At the same time, Ronda Rousey was at the peak of her fame. Everyone in judo always talked about her. I started watching her bouts. That’s where my wish to migrate to MMA came from. I saw her take everyone down with her judo. I saw it as a new challenge. It reignited the fire in it. Since I had been in judo since a very early age, I no longer had the motivation to wake up and train every day. MMA came into my life like that. Ronda gave me the inspiration. That’s when I started looking for an academy. I went to train with Cristiano Lazzarini [Titi] in Belo Horizonte. We started training jiu-jitsu and then MMA. That’s how it went.
Sherdog.com: Did you have much support once you chose to pursue an MMA career?
Pinheiro: My parents at first didn’t love the idea since MMA is a very aggressive sport. In judo, the philosophy is to use technique over strength. They supported me since it was something I wanted. They had previously supported all my other sports pursuits in Joao Pessoa: swimming, gymnastics, team handball and indoor soccer, although my primary obligation was to judo. When I switched to MMA, I lost all sponsorships I had earned in judo, such as the “bolsa atleta” (a grant from the Brazilian special secretariat for sports). When I joined my MMA academy, my parents were there to help me. I also worked there as a receptionist for one year to be able to help with the costs. That’s because I had moved alone from Joao Pessoa to Belo Horizonte. After that, I found other investors who helped me for the next three years. That’s when I finally was able to dedicate myself to MMA on a full-time basis. I no longer needed a job, so I could stick to training.
Sherdog.com: Can you describe the emotions of winning on Dana White’s Contender Series and guaranteeing a slot in the UFC?
Pinheiro: For all my fights, including the one at the Contender Series, I’ve always focused on giving my best during training. If I give 100% of myself in training, victory is a mere consequence of that, and even if I don’t win, I know in my heart that I did my best. That’s how it was at the Contender Series. I trained hard and won. It was the first time I fought without fans present due to the [coronavirus] pandemic. It was very quiet. I figured if I won, I wasn’t going to jump up and down screaming since I’d be doing it alone, but when I won, the emotions that came over me were so strong. I was screaming like a crazy person. Stephanie Frausto is a muay thai champ as a jiu-jitsu black belt. I imagined we’d have a three-round war. It turns out I won in the first, so it was a big surprise. I was super happy.
Sherdog.com: All your pre-UFC wins were finishes, you have yet to stop anyone in the UFC. What are your thoughts on that?
Pinheiro: The most important thing in a fight is to win. Of course, we always want to get a knockout or submission. The bout against Hughes was a last-minute change. I was supposed to face Jessica Penne, who’s a jiu-jitsu specialist, instead. There were five opponent changes, and Sam was finally brought in two weeks beforehand. I wasn’t ready for her, or vice versa. It was different to train for someone for two months and then have a late change. It was a challenge for me. I was feeling great. I wanted to fight. I hadn’t just trained jiu-jitsu. We always expect our opponents will evolve and will bring new weapons compared to the last time we saw them. Of course, I would have loved to have knocked her out or submitted her, but the important thing was that I got the win and my arm was raised in the end.
Sherdog.com: Were you surprised to be ranked in the Top 15 after only two UFC bouts?
Pinheiro: I didn’t expect that it would be so quick. Someone commented on one of my old photos: “Congratulations on being ranked!” “How so?” I thought. I didn’t understand. When I went to the UFC site, I was happily surprised. I think that’s due to the work I put in. I came to the UFC to be champion. To be champion, I have to fight the best, so that is what’s happening; if I have a great objective, my challenges will also be great. Without a doubt, Michelle is a very experienced fighter. She’s above me in the rankings, so it’s going to be an excellent challenge and a good opportunity for me to keep climbing up the rankings.
Sherdog.com: Your last UFC appearance was in 2021. Could you have returned before now?
Pinheiro: The first time I was supposed to face Penne, I think she got hurt and dropped out. Then we rescheduled, and I hurt my knee and dropped out. It took some months to recover. I asked to fight in November or December of last year, but those cards were already full. I only get to fight now, but I’ve been ready since the end of last year.
Sherdog.com: What can you say about your next opponent?
Pinheiro: Michelle is the biggest challenge in my professional life. She’s very experienced. She used to be the Invicta champion, and she’s been in the UFC for a very long time. It’s a big challenge, but like I said, it’s what I need to face so I can work my way up the rankings and to be able to capture the belt. Michelle’s best attribute is striking. She has excellent kicks. She’s also been improving her grappling and ground game, but I believe I’m ready for her. I have training partners who can imitate her game. I’m personally always looking to make my striking and grappling better. I’ll be ready to fight her, on the feet or on the ground. I believe that my best attributes are aggressiveness and explosiveness. That’s true not only in takedowns but in boxing. My aim is to get a finish, but as always, the priority is really to get my arm raised in the end.
Sherdog.com: What can you say about your preparations for this fight?
Pinheiro: All my training is focused on Michelle. We train MMA since all the disciplines are there: boxing, grappling, kicks and jiu-jitsu. We train all my weapons and get ready for the ones she’ll bring against me. What can’t be denied are her kicks. I believe that’s what she does best, so my training sessions were done with that in mind.
Sherdog.com: What are your plans for the future?
Pinheiro: My plans are to simply win this fight. I can’t think about what’s next. I believe that with a win I’ll take a few steps up the rankings and then we can see what the UFC gives me next. Now, it’s Michelle’s turn. I’m training hard to bring the best version of me against her.