In-shape 'Feijao' says cardio no issue, looking for UFC Fight Night 32 finish

GOIANIA, Brazil – Rafael Cavalcante‘s UFC debut didn’t go exactly as planned, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to change a thing about his fighting style. “Feijao” is looking for the finish, plain and simple.

“It doesn’t matter always if you won or lost,” Cavalcante told MMAjunkie.com Radio. “What matters is the way you fight. I think I fight the way everybody likes. I step up there, and I finish the fight. I think this makes my style more exciting and makes my time shorter than another opponent to get a title shot.”

Cavalcante’s first UFC fight was against Thiago Silva at June’s UFC on FUEL TV 10 event. “Feijao” handled himself well in the early going before he said a late first-round bodyshot changed everything. Some critics accused the former Strikeforce champion of gassing out, but he insists that was not the case.

“I was doing good,” Cavalcante said. “He hit me hard in my stomach, and I felt that shot. … That took me out of the fight. I don’t even remember what happened after that shot.

“A lot of people say, ‘You got tired.’ That’s not what happened. … I’m always training hard.”

Silva capitalized on his opportunity and followed up with additional strikes that earned him a TKO finish. The 32-year-old Cavalcante said it was a frustrating result.

“After that fight, I came back home and tried to figure out the problems I saw in the fight and come back stronger,” Cavalcante said. “I prepared so good for that fight, but it didn’t work. I’m trying to do it another way right now.”

On Saturday, Cavalcante (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) returns to action at “UFC Fight Night 32: Belfort vs. Henderson” at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Goias, Brazil, where he meets Igor Pokrajac (25-10 MMA, 4-4 UFC) on the FOX Sports 1-broadcast main card.

The Croatian light heavyweight is also a finisher, and the fight could end in devastating fashion, regardless of who wins. “Feijao” said he’s studied his opponent’s techniques and is prepared for victory.

“I started looking for his fights because I just remembered the one fight I had seen of his against Fabio Maldonado,” Cavalcante said. “I started to look to his fights and see the way he fights because I do believe in that. I need to study my opponents a lot. I see everything he does. I see the way he reacts. I see the way he bleeds. I see everything. After that, I started to do my strategy for this fight to see what I’m going to do when he does this or he does that. Always, I start training and then do my gameplan.”

Of course, anyone that’s seen Cavalcante fight knows that gameplan is likely to involve aggression and hard striking. The fight with Silva was setting up to be an enjoyable affair before Cavalcante was felled by the perfect shot. This time, he expects to be able to finish what he started.

“I don’t care how he’s going to fight; I’m going to do my gameplan and push harder and make it work,” Cavalcante said. “I don’t care how it ends, but I’ll go in there to finish the fight, for sure. I’m a very aggressive fighter. I want my fights to finish before the final bell.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 32, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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