Paulo Thiago Happy To Be Back Fighting In Brazil

Source: Sherdog

UFC welterweight Paulo Thiago is undefeated fighting in his native country of Brazil.

Thiago (13-3) will hope that trend continues this Saturday when he meets David Mitchell at UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Thiago-Mitchell fight is set for the preliminary card, as the main event features Anderson Silva defending his UFC middleweight title against Yushin Okami.

It was a trying 2010 for Thiago, who lost both his matches to Martin Kampmann and Diego Sanchez. Now, he gets to fight in his home country.

"This camp was the best I've ever been on since I debuted in MMA. I knew of the fight in big advance, I'm training with great partners, so I'm really confident," Thiago said. "Beyond that, I will fight in my country, and it will be awesome. Since I knew UFC would return to Brazil, I dreamt of being part of that lineup.

"It's going to be great, because I will have fans on my side, won't need to worry about traveling, time zone, nor food."

With two straight losses on his resume, Thiago knows that his bout with Mitchell (11-1) is very important to his future career in the UFC.

"I know this fight is determinant for me. It's hard to see someone surviving under Zuffa banner after three losses, so it's a delicate moment for me," Thiago said. "But I don't even think about another loss, I'm motivated and trained hard to make a good fight and I will."

Mitchell suffered his first career loss just less than a year ago to T.J. Waldburger at UFC Fight Night. He owns nine submission victories to his credit, including his last three wins.

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