Now that Vinicius Queiroz has now been able to train without significant knee injuries for the first time in a long time.
Queiroz, who has a record of 7-3 MMA and 2-1 BMMA, will be going up against fellow Brazilian Ewerton Teixeira at the Bellator 143 event. Their fight is slated to be the main card of the said event. This is the first time he’s going to fast in almost two years. Now that he has completely healed his knees, Queiroz admitted that it feels like he is starting a brand new career.
“All my Bellator fights were done without good knees. I couldn’t train throwing kicks or knee strikes. I could only box, wrestle and do jiu-jitsu. I made a commitment to only come back when I could use my entire muay Thai arsenal of kicks and knees. Now I feel great after a lot of therapy and pilates. Now is my time,” Queiroz said during an interview with MMAjunkie.
Bellator 143 will be held in Hidalgo, Texas at State Farm Arena. The mixed martial arts main card event will be aired on Spike TV after the prelims on MMAjunkie.
Almost five years ago, he was able to get a chance to fight in the UFC and make a statement there. However, he lost to Rob Broughton during the third round of their fight on the UFC 120 event through submission. A few years later, Bellator gave him a chance and allowed him to join the heavyweight tournament. He was able to win over Mark Holata, however, he lost once again to heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov during the second round.
Queiroz managed to get back into the limelight the following year when he was able to knock out Lavar Johnson with just a single punch in less than a minute. This took place during the Season 9 tourney semifinals. Unfortunately, his injuries prevented him from fighting until the final end, and after that, he’s been on the sidelines ever since. They said his contender on the final would’ve been Cheick Kongo, one of the fighters that would be the toughest for him to beat. Queiroz, however, admitted that he will not ask Bellator to give him a chance to go against Kongo.
“I leave it to the promotion and my manager. But people know I have the skills to be champ, and I always want opponents who can bring be closer to the belt. I don’t choose, but I enjoy facing well-known opponents. It motivates me. Ewerton Teixeira is someone who’s very well regarded in kickboxing. I think it’s a great challenge for me,” he said.
Queiroz revealed that he will be anticipating a lot of MMA strategies from Teixeira that’s why he’ll need to be ready to face anything that can possibly happen inside the octagon.
“Besides his kickboxing and K-1 wars, he’s had thousands of kyokushin karate bouts. He’s highly experienced on the feet. But I feel that, good chin or not, just like Lavar Johnson, I can also knock out Ewerton Teixeira in MMA. Even though Ewerton has less MMA experience, I don’t doubt he has takedowns and submission skills. So I have to be ready everywhere. I have to train as if I’ll be facing the best fighter in the world, on both the feet and on the ground. On paper, he’s better on the feet. But I think once the cage door closes, those stats don’t matter anymore. It’s just the two of us, strength vs. strength,” Queiroz added.