MMA fighter Rodolfo Vieira is focusing on honoring his late coach Diego Braga, who was killed by a criminal organization, with a strong performance at UFC Vegas 86.
Rodolfo Vieira was in the midst of training for UFC Vegas 86. He was working with MMA veteran Diego Braga for the first time. Davi Ramos, the head coach, was also part of the team. Then, tragedy hit.
Diego Braga was murdered. The culprits? Members of the notorious criminal organization, Comando Vermelho. The incident happened in January.
Vieira’s focus now? To honor Braga with a stellar performance on Saturday. He’s all in.
“He was a special man, really nice guy,” Vieira shared with MMA Fighting. He recalled the moment he found out about Braga’s death. “No, it’s not possible,” he remembered thinking. He stared at his phone, hoping for a mistake. But there was no mistake. It was real.
“We were very, very sad, man.” Vieira confessed. He never saw it coming, especially since they were so close at the time.
Vieira was set to face Armen Petrosyan at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. He moved his camp from Orlando to Rio de Janeiro after his 2023 fight with Petrosyan was abruptly pulled from UFC Sao Paulo. He then brought in UFC veteran Ramos as his head coach.
Ramos suggested bringing in Braga to help with the prep for the rescheduled match. Vieira didn’t hesitate. Braga had coached some of Brazil’s top fighters, including Anderson Silva. He was also leading his son Gabriel Braga in the PFL.
“Davi and I spoke, and we thought it would be better if we called him,” Vieira said. They weren’t super close, but they had a good rapport. “I always liked him, he’s always treated me really well,” Vieira added. They had been training for three weeks when the tragedy occurred.
Vieira had planned for Braga to be in his corner at UFC Vegas 86. But after the tragedy, he called Mano Santana, his head coach in Orlando, to join him during fight week. Prepping to face Petrosyan twice has been tough, Vieira admitted. But he’s just glad that they’re finally meeting inside the octagon after back-to-back camps.
“We tried to do the same thing in Rio,” Vieira said. They focused on takedowns and jiu-jitsu. He found the change beneficial, even though he was used to training in Orlando.
Petrosyan has an 8-2 record as a professional MMA fighter. He’s had several early-career knockouts, but all his decisions in his 3-1 UFC stint have been victories.
Vieira, a jiu-jitsu legend, has won all his four UFC matches by submission. “I see myself submitting him, of course,” he said, laughing. He knows it’ll be a challenge to beat Petrosyan on the feet. “He’s really good on the feet, so it’s going to be a fight,” Vieira added.
He expects Petrosyan to do everything he can to get back on his feet if taken down. “We’ve watched his fights, and he always gives his back when he’s trying to get back up,” Vieira said. He’s prepared to do everything he can to keep him down. That’s been the focus of their training.