Serious about training – on 10-fight streak – Rodrigo Cavalheiro set for Bellator debut

Rodrigo Cavalheiro is a late bloomer, and he knows it. But if things go as planned for him on Friday, you’ll know exactly who he is.

Cavalheiro didn’t get his MMA start until he was 25, and started training seriously at 27. Now 31, and riding a 10-fight winning streak, Cavalheiro will make his Bellator MMA debut on Friday in the promotion’s Season 10 lightweight tournament.

To get there, he won four fights in 2012 and six in 2013 – with nine of the 10 wins coming by knockout. Cavalheiro (14-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) now will try to bestow the same fate on Marcin Held (16-3 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) at Bellator 113, which takes place at Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan. The main card airs on Spike TV.

Cavalheiro believes it was a 2011 win over Goiti Yamauchi that put him on the map. Plus, the only two losses of his MMA career came on less than a week’s notice to Bellator vet Thiago Michel and UFC vet Ivan Jorge.

“Goiti came to America and won his first two fights decisively,” Cavalheiro told MMAjunkie. “That showed my worth, though his victories didn’t count as much as my own. I continued beating opponents after facing him. My record speaks for itself. I was about to sign up with another promotion, but I chose Bellator’s tournament instead.”

And there, he’ll get a very quick challenge in the lightweight tourney’s opening round against a man who has been to a tournament final before. The 22-year-old Held, a leg lock specialist, will be looking to improve on his Season 7 showing, when he lost in the final to Dave Jansen.

Cavalheiro said he’s taken a look at Held and thinks his opponent will want the fight on the ground. But the Brazilian may have something to say about that.

“I expect his strategy is to try to take me down and submit me,” Cavalheiro said. “My strategy will be to put a beating on him. I’m planning to keep it on the feet and get the KO – though I’m ready for anything, since I train in mixed martial arts.”

But he refuses to look past his Friday opponent to who might be waiting in the semifinals.

“I didn’t study the other fighters because there’s no point to looking at the next opponent if you can’t beat whoever is in front of you,” he said. “I’ll take it one step at a time. My team will be watching the other fights, so we can study the winners’ strong and weak points later on.”

For the latest on Bellator 113, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.