UFC hopeful Leandro Higo learning flyweight is a tough way to make a living

For an otherwise pleasant guy, Leandro Higo (13-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) wouldn’t really mind if one of the flyweights from the upcoming UFC Fight Night 38 card has a fall, tweaks an injury or otherwise becomes incapacitated.

When you’re a Brazilian UFC hopeful – especially one who wants to make his promotional debut near his hometown in Natal – there’s perhaps no clearer path to the cage than as an injury replacement.

So if Jussier Formiga (15-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) or Scott Jorgensen (14-8 MMA, 3-4 UFC) – the only flyweights on the March 23 card at Ginasio Nelio Dias – end up needing a replacement, Higo said he’s ready to step in as a UFC Fight Night 38 replacement.

“I recently signed up to fight in Ed Soares’ RFA (promotion), but my focus, as is true of all fighters, is to fight in the UFC,” he told MMAjunkie. “And since the UFC is coming to my state, Rio Grande do Norte, and Natal is near my home, it would be a dream come true to fight on that card.”

Another reason he wants a UFC contract? A guarantee he’ll actually be able to fight, which has been a rarity in recent years. It’s an issue he’s discussed with MMAjunkie in the past as he hoped to catch the UFC’s attention.

“I’ve had some difficulties,” said the 25-year-old fighter, who went 2-0 in 2013 to push his current win streak to four. “Several of my scheduled fights fell through last year. Either my opponents were injured or didn’t make the required weight, and there were a few who wouldn’t take the fight. My fight record should be a lot more extensive. But that’s life.”

To combat that issue, he bulked up to 135 pounds, though he wants to return to his normal weight at 125.

“I used to be a flyweight, but there were very few fights at that weight,” said Higo, who trains with the likes of Rony Jason and Bellator’s “Pitbull” brothers in Brazil. “So I did some work to bulk up to bantamweight. I did well. But now I’m putting in the effort to go back to flyweight. I wish to debut in the UFC with the right foot. I want to do everything the correct way.”

He was hoping he’d get noticed in 2011, when he scored a decision victory over well-regarded Wagner Campos in a nationally televised fight in his native Brazil.

“After that win, many doors opened for me,” he said.

It just wasn’t the door he wanted with the UFC. But if the opportunity arises – either at UFC Fight Night 38 or a future card – he wants UFC officials to know he’ll be ready. He’s even worked out recent visa issues and can travel anywhere in the world the UFC would want him to fight.

“We’ve been working on this for a while, so if an opportunity appears outside Brazil, there won’t be any problem,” he said.

For the latest on UFC Fight Night 38, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.