UFC Fight Night 74's Felipe Arantes: 'I've always enjoyed fighting violently'

Felipe Arantes

Felipe Arantes said he was still training four times a day heading into tonight’s UFC Fight Night 74 bout. He said those sessions became more focused because of some recent changes.

Most notably, he decided to make some changes to his personal life in hopes of buttoning up his professional life.

“The one thing which needed changing, which I have changed, was to be better focused and, at the same time, not to take things too seriously,” he told MMAjunkie. “I always took things too seriously. I had to learn to ignore some things that happen outside the gym.”

Arantes (16-7-1 MMA, 3-3-1 UFC) hopes that renewed commitment carries him to a win over fellow bantamweight Yves Jabouin (20-10 MMA, 5-4 UFC) tonight at UFC Fight Night 74, which takes place at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The preliminary-card bout airs on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Arantes, who suffered a decision loss to Andre Fili in his previous bout, looks to avoid the first back-to-back losses of an uneven UFC career, which began at featherweight and now heads to bantamweight. The 27-year-old Brazilian has also failed to put together consecutive wins in the octagon, though he said he doesn’t want to dwell on the negatives.

“My career in the UFC, I think, has been positive so far,” he said. “It’s the biggest promotion in the world, and I’ve been facing the best fighters. I believe that it’s difficult to go on a win streak since everyone is so technically good.

“In some of my fights, I was dealing with some personal problems. I had family problems. I’m sure everyone does. But since I’m very close to my family, that had a big effect on me. For a couple of my fights, I didn’t manage to train sufficiently. Sometimes I’d only train once a day. Some days, I was absent, since I had to deal with some of those problems. I’m looking to separate things now. Everyone has problems, so I can’t blame that. Some people have worse problems, yet they always show up to work on time. So I’m learning how to separate time for training and time for personal matters.”

He’s also learning to incorporate the advice he gets from those around him. He’s finally agreed to step back from his duties running an academy with Dhiego Lima. With 1,100 students in all, he realized he needed to take the final month of his fight camp and focus on his own preparations.

He also made the decision to drop a weight class after finding himself outsized at featherweight.

“This is a test,” he said. “I think it’s going to work out well. Personally, every fight is a positive learning experience. Some of the decisions I didn’t agree with, but that’s in the past. So I keep moving forward.”

Arantes, though, isn’t the only one looking for a fresh start. Jabouin has also faced some inconsistent results. Aside from a three-fight winning streak from 2011-2012, the former WEC fighter hasn’t built much momentum during his six-year Zuffa run. However, Arantes believes his Canadian opponent will have some factors working in his favor tonight.

“Yves is fighting in his own country with all the fans in his favor,” he said. “But when the octagon gate closes, it’s just the two of us. The fans don’t make much of a difference. Whoever is most ready, physically and mentally, will win.

” … I’ll take home that victory, even if it kills me. He just lost to Thomas (Almeida), so I’m sure he’ll come hard after me, to avoid two losses in a row. I’ll be going after him just as hard, for the same reason. I’m looking to start out in this weight class on the right foot.”

And against the hard-hitting Jabouin, who registered a number of knockouts prior to his UFC run, he expects his preferred kind of fight.

“I’ve always enjoyed fighting violently,” Arantes said. “We should enjoy what we do, but at the same time, we should take it seriously since it is our job. I’ve always fought for the challenge of it. I like to fight hard, and I like it when people fight back just as hard. That’s what motivates me. That’s what makes me love this sport. It’s what makes me get up early in the morning. It’s this yearning I have to engage in personal combat.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 74, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.