Wagner Campos Talks Fighting At UFC 147
Posted on 22 Jun 2012
by MMAScoops.com Staff

Wagner "Galeto" Campos (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) recently spoke about his fight at Saturday's UFC 147 event. Here are the highlights…

On Early Strugles: "In Brazil, there are few resources. So you may have to choose between having a job and training. I chose to only train and live from the sport. At the same time, I put my own family on a tightrope. I had no income to support them, and around the time I started to fight, my daughter was born."

On Becoming a Pro Fighter: "It was very difficult for me to become a professional MMA fighter," Campos admitted. "I've been through some difficult spots – even not being able to afford diapers. At that moment, only I believed that I could make a living at this. No one else believed in me. My first fight paid R$200 (around $100), and that was in 2006. Imagine paying for training costs and supporting a family on R$200. So one needs to have a 'real' job. People told me not to go into MMA full time, that I'd starve, but I had faith and it worked out."

On Fighting Former Student Marcos Vinicius "Vini" Borges Pancini at UFC 147: "It's been five or six years since we trained together, so our relationship is merely professional," Campos said. "Our friendship, as such, ended around the time he left my team to go train elsewhere. I was disappointed to lose a student, but we didn't fight over it. Later on, I ended up facing and beating his new teacher, so there's certainly a rivalry there. And now we go against each other in the UFC. I guess it's destiny."

On The Fight: "He's a good fighter," Campos said. "He has good standup. I'm better than him in grappling, jiu-jitsu, and I don't think my standup is inferior to his. It will be a great fight. I believe I have more tools to win. I plan to show a lot more of my skills than I did on the 'TUF' show. I've arrived at the greatest promotion in the world, so I'm being aggressive and looking for a knockout. Fighting in this manner, I expect to please the fans and Mr. Dana White."