UFC Fight Night 29's Alan Patrick went from poor shoeshine boy to UFC debutant

Alan Patrick grew up poor. So poor, in fact, he often left his small and crowded family home with five brothers to hang around in the streets, which he said were actually “more peaceful.”

He scratched out a few meals by shining shoes (using a polish called Nugget, which earned him his current “Nuguette” nickname). But it didn’t provide enough for every meal, and it certainly wasn’t enough to fund his true dream: seriously pursuing a professional sports career.

The 30-year-old Patrick lived all over Brazil during his childhood, but wherever he went, the country’s sporting heroes were revered. They were his idols, and though none of his brothers shared that sentiment, Patrick desperately wanted to join his heroes.

“Ever since I was schoolboy, I was very eager to be in a sport, but I had no money,” he told MMAjunkie.com. “I wanted to find a place where I could train.

“My friend knew some guys who did capoeira. He told me that they were good guys and they’ll even feed you – that you only need to wash your feet and they’ll let you train with them. So I asked him to bring me there one day.”

A couple decades later, Patrick (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his UFC debut later today at UFC Fight Night 29, where he meets fellow lightweight Garett Whiteley (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC). The event takes place at Jose Correa Arena in Barueri, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Patrick competes on the FOX Sports 1-televised preliminary card.

To get to this point, where he’s fighting for the world’s biggest MMA promotion in his home country, Patrick admits he had a lot of help. Perhaps none, though, has been as pivotal as the help provided by UFC middleweight contender Ronaldo Souza.

After first focusing on performance-geared capoeira, Patrick shifted toward the combat aspects. He was good, but he often found himself on the mat, so his teachers encouraged him to also take up jiu-jitsu. He grappled with many people, including the federal police, “And I got beat up a lot, but I never gave up,” he said.

After sleeping in the academy headquarters (“I was training there every hour of every day anyway,” he said), and with the police officers helping to feed him, Patrick then saw the man who would change his life in 2007.

“I saw Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ fighting, and I decided I wanted to be just like him,” he said. “He’s also from my hometown of Manaus. Once I learned that he actually got paid to fight, then things got even better.”

After striking up a friendship and eventually moving to Rio de Janeiro at Souza’s urging to train at X-Gym, Patrick quickly became one of the sport’s brightest prospects. He turned pro in 2008 and has racked up a 10-0 record with five stoppages. However, were it not for Souza, he wouldn’t have gotten tonight’s opportunity.

“After reaching 10-0, ‘Jacare’ helped me get a slot in the UFC,” he said. “The UFC is my life now. I am super excited to be in the UFC. It’s the World Cup. I’m training hard, and I’m going to give my best. If my opponent makes any mistake, I’ll be sure to finish him.”

Patrick has yet to accomplish anything in the UFC, but the journey itself has been an inspirational one. So if he claims a win tonight and extends his storybook career with a new chapter, he hopes it’ll motivate other Brazilian youngsters who strive for big things.

“You should always follow your goals,” he said. “Don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t achieve something. People kept telling me to quit and find a ‘real’ job. Even if the world tells you no, anything is possible. There’s always a way.

“And I think for us in Brazil, it’s three times as hard. For a Brazilian to achieve something, he has to be very good, have great luck, and know the right people who will guide him to the right place.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 29, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.