Antonio Carlos Junior, known as “Shoeface,” is set to return to the Professional Fighters League (PFL) cage, hoping to boost the popularity of the sport in Brazil following his increased fame from participating in the reality show ‘Big Brother Brasil’.
Antonio Carlos Junior is gearing up for a comeback. He’s set to re-enter the PFL cage, and he’s now a much bigger star in Brazil.
“Shoeface”, as he’s known, has a history with UFC. He won the third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, a reality show that aired on Brazil’s largest network TV Globo in 2014. Fast forward nine years, and Junior took a different route. He entered ‘Big Brother Brasil’, an insanely popular program that has garnered billions of fan votes and 10-figure advertisement deals for Globo in just over two decades.
Junior’s thrilled about the new followers he’s gained. “I’m glad to see people that weren’t following the sport but are now following it [after BBB],” he said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast. He feels he’s represented the sport well and helped make it more popular. That alone makes him happy. Plus, he’s got more fans now, which is a bonus.
After his stint on the TV show, “Shoeface” gained over 2.2 million followers on Instagram. He hopes to use this influence to bring the Professional Fighters League to free-to-air Globo in 2024. The MMA organization has already signed a deal with Globo-owned pay-per-view network Combate in 2023. This channel also broadcasts Bellator, ONE, KSW, and other events after ending its contract with UFC in late 2022.
“That would be great, man, I’d love it,” said Junior, the 2021 PFL light heavyweight champion. He believes Globo partnering with PFL is a smart move. The UFC’s popularity has declined since leaving Combate. Many people have switched to watching PFL, Bellator, ONE. Junior believes PFL has all it needs to grow in Brazil.
“Shoeface” had a good run in the 2022 season of the PFL. He won back-to-back fights before a knee injury forced him to sit out the rest of the year. This injury cancelled a match with Omari Akhmedov. Junior took a year off in 2023 to rehab his knee and be part of Big Brother Brasil. He’s itching to get back in the action.
Junior’s been toying with the idea of competing on the first PFL card of the year. He might do so in February when PFL and Bellator champions collide. But his team advised him to wait for the start of the regular season in April. Currently, “Shoeface” is training in his hometown of Salvador, Brazil. He’ll return to Florida in January to start his camp at American Top Team.
“I can’t wait to fight again,” Junior said. He notes that the PFL format is different from other promotions. The season starts in April and ends in November, so fighters have to be ready to fight four times in a matter of months. With some Bellator fighters coming in and joining the PFL roster, it’s going to boost the company’s market presence. It’ll also make the sport more competitive.
“The UFC will never concede, it will always say they’re the best, that they have the best fighters,” he continued. He acknowledges that UFC is the older organization and PFL is younger. But he’s seen many UFC champions or contenders migrate and lose. He believes there are many fighters that aren’t known by fans but are actually way tougher. UFC has great fighters, no doubt, but PFL and Bellator are not far behind.