Vinicius Queiroz
Vinicius Queiroz got a little bit of a gift when Augusto Sakai had to pull out of a heavyweight matchup with Cheick Kongo at Bellator 150.
Queiroz (8-3 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) stepped in to face Kongo (23-10-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) at Friday’s event, which takes place at Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan., with a main card on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie. And it’s a fight that is big enough for him that he believes it might be the most important moment of his career.
“Kongo is a great adversary,” Queiroz told MMAjunkie. “I have a lot of respect for him as an athlete and as a person. I’d say he’s one of the legends of the sport who’s still active. He already fought great names in our weight class. He’s highly experienced. He fights well on the feet and on the ground.
“I always look for great challenges. He probably is my greatest challenge in Bellator. I’m very excited for this. It will be a great fight. I believe I have the key skills required to win, though he does have the ability to pose problems wherever the fight goes. It will be a great fight.”
Queiroz has all three of his Bellator wins by stoppage, including his most recent victory – a second-round submission of Ewerton Teixeira at Bellator 143. That fight came after a layoff of nearly two years due to injuries.
But it’s also a fight that was supposed to take place before Queiroz got hurt, and it’s one that has Queiroz highly motivated as he trains alongside the likes of UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.
“I’m happy with this opportunity to face him,” Queiroz said. “We were already supposed to have fought in 2013 in the (Season 9) heavyweight tournament final. I ended up hurting my knee. Thankfully, I’m fully recovered now. I’ve been training hard. I haven’t stopped training since I faced Ewerton Teixeira. I train alongside Fabricio Werdum – I’m ready for this.”
Bellator’s heavyweight champion, Vitaly Minakov, has not fought for the promotion in nearly two years, when he beat Kongo in a title defense. Bellator hasn’t made many comments on what might happen if Minakov doesn’t defend his title soon, or the official reasons why he’s been idle so long, but fighting elsewhere.
But if given a chance, Queiroz would love a crack at the belt – after he gets through Kongo.
“My plan was to always be champion, he said. “I’m not sure the details regarding Minakov. … I also don’t know if there could be an interim belt. But for now, my focus is Kongo. And after beating Kongo, then I can think about fighting Minakov or someone else for the belt.”
And while he’s not putting the cart before the horse, he does believe he has what it takes to get past Kongo. And along the way, he hopes he’ll put on a performance that will be remembered for the ages.
That might be appropriate, given his nickname is “Spartan.”
“Victory is never a sure thing, but I guarantee I’ll be giving my best,” Queiroz said. “It will be an excellent fight. I always look for the greatest challenges. This challenge has me very motivated. I’m always looking for hard fights – fights that will go down in history. I don’t care about easy, forgettable fights.”
View full post on News | MMAjunkie