Brazilian police officer Paulo Thiago landed without his consciousness at UFC on Fuel last Saturday. Photo: UFC publicity.

Caught by surprise just 42 seconds into his encounter with Siyar Bahadurzada, Paulo Thiago hit the ground unconscious at UFC on Fuel TV last Saturday in Stockholm. The officer on Brazil’s elite police force BOPE took a hook to the tip of the chin and crashed to the canvas, resulting in a long hospital stay thereafter. When such potent blows like this occur, the UFC requires that fighters go through a complete battery of exams to be sure no serious injury was incurred.

His teacher, Ataide Junior, discussed his preparations and the lessons that come with such misfortune.

“BAD LUCK”

“There’s no way to analyze a fight like this. Paulo was really well trained and physically well prepared. I’m positive he was in his best shape. He had the bad luck of the punch landing, and right at the beginning of the fight. That, everyone saw. The important thing is that he’s fine. We did all the exams the UFC asked for, and thank God nothing came back. Now we’re going to wait on the promotion’s decision as to how long he’ll be out of action. We’re already anxious about getting him his next fight. I don’t mean to discredit his opponent, but there was no fight,” said the coach and Jiu-Jitsu black belt.

The Afghan fighter himself was surprised by the outcome. “I really wanted to win this fight, but it never occurred to me it would go like that,” said Siyar.

Now Paulo Thiago will fulfill some other commitments in Europe before returning home to the Brazilian capital of Brasilia to pick up training again and get ready for his next obligations. What do you think, gentle reader, was it more Paulo Thiago’s mistake, or does the revelation from Afghanistan deserve all the credit. Share your take on what happened, in the comments field below.

Both were born of humble origins but made their names through Jiu-Jitsu. Fernendo Tererê and friend, from the same Cantagalo favela where he’s from in Rio de Janeiro, Alan “Finfou” do Nascimento spent five days together in Europe. Tererê and the CheckMat black belt held seminars in Stockholm, where Finfou’s academy is located.

Then the two took a three-hour trip to see another friend in Sweden, Pilo, who represents team Yamazaki. Both taught two seminars together and trained a lot before Tererê pushed on to Spain, where he is right now.

“I’ve known Alan a long time. He started training with me when I was a purple belt. He was fourteen years old and a yellow belt. To me it’s great to see his stock rising among the other competitive black belts. I came here and it brings me great joy to see how he lives and to see his newborn son. I took full advantage of his advice and will imitate some of the things he does in training for sure!” says Tererê.

“I know it’s no time to compare myself to athletes in competition rhythm, but I believe I’m becoming more and more inspired and I get more excited when I get to see those warriors like this, like seeing Bráulio Estima, in England, and Finfou. I’m so happy that they remember me!” added the black belt.

Now Tererê is in Spain, where he is visiting the academies of Professor Ezekiel, in Valencia. In Barcelona, he will teach seminars and train with Yan Cabral this Saturday. On Sunday, he heads to the Canary Islands, where he will stay at the academy of Tony Malone, a Carlson Gracie black belt. And next Thursday, Tererê heads for Switzerland.

Following a series of seminars in England, Ireland and Poland Fernando Tererê reached the town of Malmoe, Sweden, where he was received by friend and former student Leonardo Neves to conduct a seminar.

Tererê arrived one week before the event to catch up on news and to train with the gang.

“To me it’s a pleasure to be here and feel the pressure of the training,” remarks Tererê.

Besides gi training, the two wasted no time in doing physical conditioning work.

“Fernando was always a dear friend and it’s a great pleasure and joy to be able to train with him all these days and to see his evolution on the mat again,” says Neves.

Next week Tererê meets up with Alan “Finfou” do Nascimento in Stockholm.