A little fame earned UFC 163's Jose Maria some family respect

When the UFC signs a fighter, it’s for more than one bout in all but rare cases. That way, the promoter gets to protect its investment, and fighters get (somewhat) steady work.

According to Jose Maria, he’s one of the exceptions. That, or he hasn’t read his contract very closely.

“After the fight, I hope to have a contract,” Maria (33-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who fights John Lineker (21-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) tonight at UFC 163, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I don’t know what the future holds. Since this was a last-minute booking, we’re merely thinking about the fight.”

Of course, that’s the way it should be if you’re a guy fighting on MMA’s biggest stage under less-than-ideal circumstances. Perhaps Maria, who took the fight on 15 days’ notice, has convinced himself that this truly is a one-shot deal. To approach it with another mindset, he might not fight with urgency – even though he has plenty of reasons to fight that way.

Maria, who meets Lineker on the first pay-per-view bout at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, didn’t have the support of his family when he decided to become an MMA fighter. Growing up in the city of Alto Santo in the Brazilian state of Ceara, he said there was discrimination against fighters.

“Some of my own brothers also used to train,” he said. “But because of the difficulties involved, they stopped fighting. I’m the only one who stuck with it.”

Sticking with it proved to be a challenge, but Maria was willing to make the sacrifices that most do when trying to fight at the highest level possible. He left Alto Santo to join the Renovacao Fight Team in Rio de Janeiro, and he found work to support his passion.

“I had to take leave from my job when I was notified of this booking,” he said. “Besides training, I had been working at a restaurant in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. It’s not far from my home and from the gym, which is in the Botafogo neighborhood.

“I think training and fighting full-time would be an easier life for me. Fighting is what I do best.”

That’s what makes Saturday so important for the newcomer, who gets a tough challenge out of the gate. After a setback in his UFC debut, Lineker has won two straight and finished his most recent opponent, Azamat Gashimov, by second-round TKO at UFC on FX 7.

“I foresee a very active fight,” said Maria, who’s won his past 12 on the Brazilian regional circuit. “The fans will love it since Brazilian fans love the smaller fighters. And I always look for the fight; I don’t hold back. He’s the same way. I think his strength is in his hands, his knockout power. But he doesn’t go to the ground too much.”

Despite the fight’s main-card status, Maria said he hasn’t managed to get any new sponsors for the fight. For now, his sole backer is a samba school in Rio that provides him with a monthly stipend and medical insurance – generous gesture, indeed. But he does have support where he once didn’t.

“From the time I moved to Rio and I started becoming nationally famous, being interviewed by TV and web sites, now [my family] started showing me respect,” Maria said. “They consider me their idol.”

And now, the task is to earn the admiration of his promoter.

“I’ve been working hard for a long time to get in the UFC,” he said. “I’m not in the UFC just to be another fighter. I’m there to fight top competition.”

For more on UFC 163, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.