Victorious in Brazil once before, UFC 212's Eric Spicely relishes heel role

Middleweight Eric Spicely already has spoiled a Brazilian party once before, when he finished Thiago Santos inside three minutes of their UFC Fight Night 95 bout in Brasilia last September.

Spicely (10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will try to do it again this Saturday as he takes on Brazil’s own Antonio Carlos Junior (7-2-1 MMA, 4-2-1 UFC) in an FS1-televised preliminary card bout at Rio de Janeiro’s Jeunesse Arena. And while he’s seen first-hand just how intense the local crowd can be, he has no problem being a villain.

“I used to do a lot of pro wrestling,” Spicely told MMAjunkie Radio. “I used to wrestle a lot with Chuck O’Neil (former pro wrestler and ‘The Ultimate Fighter 13’ cast member), who was in the UFC, and Matt Riddle (former UFC welterweight and current pro wrestler). So I’m very into that, kind of playing the heel role and kind of taking that all in. When I came out there, I kept being like, ‘I can’t hear you guys’ and they were getting even more mad.

“Even at weigh-ins, someone was trying to jump over the guard rail because I kept being like I couldn’t hear them or something. It was intense. I was like, ‘Oh, man, I was just kidding.’ But, yeah, I feed off that. And I’ve had a friend, I think he made his debut down there, and he was like, ‘Man, that was the scariest.’ That really threw him off. And for me, it doesn’t bother me. It really makes me motivated.”

After an unsuccessful UFC debut opposite Sam Alvey, which also represented the first loss in his pro career, Spicely is now riding a two-fight streak – both first-round submissions. He has in Junior a fellow grappling specialist who also carries his first pair of back-to-back octagon wins, as well as a “TUF: Brazil” crown.

Add those qualifications to the current climate among their fellow middleweights, and Spicely foresees good things stemming from a win on Saturday.

“It’s actually really exciting. It’s a good time,” Spicely said. “Especially for me, I’m on a two-fight win streak and I feel like the top-15 is kind of wide open. Guys are retiring, Tim Boetsch just lost, and he was No. 15. And Sam (Alvey) was in there, and he just lost. A couple of quality wins, and you can get in the top 15.

“I already have a win over Thiago Santos, who was No. 15, so that puts me kind of right on the cusp. So I think a couple more big wins, and I’m kind of in the picture to make a run at the title.”

To hear from Spicely, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 212, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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