Matheus Mattos, Kicking into High Gear

Matheus Mattos is known as a big hitter, so it may come as something of a surprise that initial foray into sport came not through muay thai or capoeira, but another, very Brazilian pastime.

As he prepared to face 14-1 Dagestani prodigy Kasum Kasumov at Bellator Champions Series 3 in Dublin on Saturday, Mattos talked about his decision as a teenager to shift to fighting. “My first sport was soccer,” the 32-year-old bantamweight told Sherdog. “My mother was always passionate about soccer. So, I ended up following her dream. It also became my dream to become a soccer player. I played from 5 or 6 years old until I was 14, almost 15. My first contact with martial art was when I was still a child. My mother took me only to watch a jiu-jitsu class. I didn't get to practice then. When I was 14 years old, I left the soccer team in which I played, which was Zico’s club in Rio. Then, in my building, a jiu-jitsu academy opened up. I started to practice there. It was there that I had my first contact with martial arts. Then I joined another soccer team, Federado, at Castelo Branco University. After I was cut, I entered Team Nogueira and started training muay thai. I had three fights as an amateur, from age 15 to 18. When I turned 18, in 2010, I had an MMA bout as an amateur. That's when I started my career in MMA. Then, in 2011, I started as a pro. And from that time, I'm still here.”

Unlike many aspiring combat sports athletes, who face indifference or even outright disapproval from their loved ones, "Adamas"—a nickname taken from the Greek word for diamond—claims his family was on board with his choice. “In relation to sports, I've always had a lot of support from my family,” he said. “I started playing soccer when I was a kid, but I also had support when I switched to fighting. My mom didn't like it at first. She became very nervous when I would fight. She still can't watch me fight. I've always had my support from my father and mother, from my family and from my friends. I was born to do sports. So, I ended up managing to bring people to help me. People always appreciated my dedication. They would always see me training, training, training. They ended up getting caught in that wave, my MMA wave. These same people who supported me back then are still with me to this day.”

That family support was practical as well as moral. “For a long time I managed to keep myself going with the financial support of my mother, father and family. I never really had a sponsor. I even worked teaching muay thai at Team Nogueira for about a year and a half. Then I met my wife. We got married. Another person who started supporting me in the martial arts was my mother-in-law. She saw my dedication, my passion for the sport. For a while I managed to live from fighting only, but when I had some injuries and had to go through surgery, I had to do other work. I worked at a market with my mother-in-law. More recently, I worked with my father-in-law, who is a landscaper. I had two surgeries so I couldn’t fight for two years. After the surgery on my knee, I moved to Sao Paulo. I knew I would need to work to keep myself afloat. I worked with my in-laws. I was able to pay for the physiotherapy, so I could recover as quickly as possible, to be able to fight again. My wife is now also working here in Sao Paulo. I still can't live 100% from fighting.”

Mattos believes that his setbacks as well as his triumphs have brought him to this point and made him into the fighter he is today. In discussing some of his past fights, he reveals moments of hardship that may not have been obvious to fans watching in the arena or on their television screens.

“My most important fights were all of them,” he said. “I've always been a guy who delivered good performances in fights. I don't usually leave the fights to the judges' decision. In all fights I always give my best to knock out or submit. And even if I lose, I give my best. There was a fight that had great value for me. It was my penultimate fight. I knocked out C.J. Hamilton. I was coming from a knee injury. I thought I wouldn't have been able to fight. I couldn't train. I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that. I had ice baths every day, and physiotherapy twice a day. I thought I couldn't do it. And in the end, I managed to get a knockout. It was a big accomplishment for me. My knee injury had really affected my mental state. I thought I couldn't do it. And in the end, thanks to my wife, my mother, my mother-in-law, my family, my physical therapist, my entire team – they all managed to help me fight. Though I was injured, I had a very good performance and scored a great victory. And my favorite fight was the one I did here in Sao Paulo. I was in the ACB promotion [against Nashkho Galaev]. It was considered the best fight of the year in 2018. That one was a real war. And I think people don't know, but in that fight, in the third round, the punch I took broke my chin. I don't remember the third round. I don't remember the interview. I was out for like 20 minutes. I was on autopilot. It was a very hard fight, and it was a very good performance, until the moment I took that punch and almost lost the fight. That fight took a lot of heart. I don't even remember what happened. It was a real war.”

This Saturday’s foe, Kasumov, has Mattos’ undivided attention—and his respect. In a sport where many competitors are loath to say anything positive about an opponent, or in many cases, claim not to know anything about them, Mattos stands out for his frankness and analytic approach. “Kasum is a very tough opponent,” he said. “He has 14 wins and only one loss. He's on a five-win streak. He's very talented in wrestling. I saw his fights and he has beautiful takedowns. But my team and I were able to see some of the flaws in his game. He's good. He has a good skill level, but I think he is a bit lacking in striking. I think I'm going to take advantage of that. Regardless of how many wins he has, I believe that I am more experienced than him. I've already been through a lot of wars. Even though he's very tough, I believe that I'm more complete. I'm good at striking. I'm improved in both my wrestling and jiu-jitsu. In general, I'm much more dangerous than him. I'm always looking for a knockout. I'm always looking for a submission. I'm someone who has very good physical conditioning, so I intend to impose a strong rhythm, to hurt him. At the first opportunity, I will either knock him out or submit him.”

For his own preparation for this fight, Mattos has taken a multi-tracked approach. “At the Amazon School academy, under head coach and jiu-jitsu coach Keven Santos, we are focused on jiu-jitsu competition,” he said. “There are very good people here who compete both with and without the gi. So, we are putting a lot of emphasis on this part, to improve my base, so that when I need to be ready, I can fight any opponent. We have several tough black belts. Keven is from Manaus, and he comes from a very strong school. The training here is very technical, very good. I've been evolving a lot in my jiu-jitsu game for MMA. We adapt jiu-jitsu for MMA, which is a little different. I'm really enjoying my evolution on the ground. My coach Thibault Marino, is a Frenchman who has traveled the world, trained in renowned academies, and fought in Thailand. He's a guy who studies a lot. He likes to study and follows the evolution of the sport. In every event – in Bellator and PFL – people bring new techniques and different styles. We are always following everything so we can innovate too. We’re looking for ways to improve and to make it difficult for our opponents, finding gaps where we can impose our game. And my physical conditioning coach is “Chicao” Freitas [Francisco Jose Pinto de Freitas], from the Pitbull Brothers team. He has been with Patricky and Patricio [Freire] for years. He is very knowledgeable. He has fought MMA. He’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. He has experienced being a fighter. He is also a nutritionist. I have been working with him for years. I thought that as I got older I would have more difficulty when cutting weight. But with Chicao, it is getting easier. I believe that this is very important for my energy level during fights. It's a big part of my performances. My other coach, 'Gasparzinho' [Anistavio Medeiros de Figueiredo] from Natal, is also coming to be part of this camp of mine. I really like the way he mixes all the arts. He fought in the UFC and took part in “The Ultimate Fighter” as well. He's a complete guy. He mixes jiu-jitsu with wrestling. He's also very good at kickboxing. This is the perfect team I've always wanted.”

Mattos believes, above all else, that the road to his own dreams now runs through the Bellator cage on Saturday, and through Kasumov. “My plans for the future? I want to be a champion. It's my dream. I'm always thinking about it. It makes me get up from bed every day to train, with or without pain. And I believe that this fight with Kasumov will leave me very close, or maybe it will take me straight to a title match. I arrived at a moment in my life where it’s all or nothing. Every fight for me has always been important, but from now on I'm seeing that it's all or nothing. I'm going into the cage to give my best. As I said, I don't usually let the judges decide. I go in search of the knockout or submission. That's how I like to fight. I like to have my hand raised and to feel the sensation of a knockout. That moment, that feeling in time, it's very difficult to describe. It's an incredible feeling – to knock someone out or submit them, to train to do that, and to be able to do it. I want to be a champion. I want to be champion for me. I want to have that belt. I want to sleep with it. My dream is to be a champion and I will not stop until I achieve it.”