Viviane Araujo made quite the statement in her UFC debut.
And she will look to ride that momentum when she takes on former UFC bantamweight title challenger, Alexis Davis this Saturday at UFC 240 in Edmonton.
Araujo (7-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took out Talita Bernardo at UFC 237, stepping in on only four days’ notice at bantamweight, two weight classes above what she’s been fighting at throughout her career. She will take on Davis (19-9 MMA, 6-4 UFC) in a flyweight contest.
Ahead of UFC 240, get to know more about Brazil’s Araujo below:
Full name: Viviane Araujo Gomes
Nickname: Vivi
DOB: Nov. 21, 1986
Height: 5-foot-5
Weight on your next fight: Flyweight
City of birth: I was born and raised in Ceilandia, in Brazil’s Federal District.
Team: I represent Cerrado MMA. And I’m a black belt from the Checkmat academy in Brasilia.
How did you become a professional MMA fighter?
Since I was very young, I’ve always loved sports. I’ve always been very athletic and did well in any sort of competition. I started out in soccer. I played soccer for a few years. Around age 19, I started in jiu-jitsu. I was invited to a class by my first master. He saw that I had several physical attributes that would favor me in fighting. I was very explosive and strong. He saw that from watching my soccer matches.
I joined the CEI Jiu-Jitsu academy, which is in Ceilandia, in the Brasilia metropolitan area. I fell in love with the sport from my first class. I immediately dropped soccer so I could fully dedicate myself. I won several competitions. I won Brazilian, South American, Panamerican, and world competitions.
By 2015, I was the top-ranked brown belt under 64 kg (141 pounds) in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. I did start practicing muay Thai at the end of 2014. I was invited by master Rodrigo Aguiar. He liked what he saw on my first class, and started to encourage me to practice MMA. That’s how I got into MMA.
I’ve had a lot of emotional support from my family. Financial support, I had to find elsewhere. There were costs, such as transportation. I started teaching so I could make ends meet.
Can you recap your professional MMA career up to now?
I started out my MMA career with two wins in Brasilia. For my third fight, I went to Sao Paulo for Jungle Fight. It’s Wallid Ismail’s promotion. I won that fight, too. The fourth one was against Sarah Frota. Unfortunately, I lost that one. But I did learn a lot. It helped change my mindset about fighting. It’s something I had been struggling with. I started work with a sports psychologist. We addressed several issues.
After that, I went to the state of Bahia, where I beat Deize de Lima in the Iron FC promotion. That’s when I signed a contract with Pancrase. It was a great experience to fight MMA outside Brazil. I had only traveled before when I went to the word’s jiu-jitsu tournament in Abu Dhabi, 2014.
At Pancrase, I won my first fight. On my second fight, I won the strawweight belt. I definitely grew as a fighter after my loss to Sarah Frota. We like to say that there are no losses, only lessons. There was also a fight against Virna Jandiroba that never happened, but now she’s in the UFC’s strawweight class, and my goal is to stay at flyweight.
Can you talk about your impressive UFC debut, this May?
Regarding my last fight, which was my UFC debut, we had been expecting to be called up ever since I won the Pancrase belt. I had already been training since the beginning of the year. Once Melissa Gatto dropped out against Talita Bernardo, my team and I had no hesitation. We took that fight, even though it would be two weight classes above my usual. The booking took place four days ahead of the fight.
I could have also made it down to strawweight in four days. My nutritionist does an excellent job and we normally keep me at a low weight, so I can feel well during training and don’t have a difficult time making weight. I feel it’s an advantage, that I never show up on fight day suffering from an aggressive weight cut. It’s what happened against Talita. I came in four pounds below bantamweight. I felt great on fight day.
I didn’t train specifically for my opponent, but I had been training all facets of the sport. Mentally and physically, I felt great. I was able to show my work. The fight played out the way we expected.
What can you say about facing Alexis Davis next?
I was very happy with to start out in the UFC on a win. I’m also happy to have signed on to face a very experienced fighter – Alexis Davis. She’s ranked No. 7. Unfortunately for her, she’s coming off two losses. I feel she’ll give everything to win. It’s going to be an excellent fight. I like explosive, technical fights. It’s going to be exciting for the fans.
How do you see the fight playing out?
My job is to trust in my coaches and follow their strategy. That’s what we did in my last bout. This time won’t be any different. My submission game is an excellent weapon. I’m training with a wrestling coach from Cuba (Luis Alessandro Hernandez Frades). I’m also sharpening my muay Thai and boxing. And I’m always working on my mental and physical conditioning.
Plans for the future?
If I beat Alexis, people will notice me in the promotion. I’m not in a big hurry to fight for a belt. After Alexis, I want to fight one more time before the end of the year. I want to finish out the year on a high note. I want to make my name, and climb up the rankings one step at a time. I wish to be among the best. Now, I’m focused on putting on another show.
For more on UFC 240, check out the UFC schedule.
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