Pedro Carvalho – Bellator 226 – “I’m not only the future, I’m the present”
The third edition of Bellator’s World Grand Prix is set to launch with 16 featherweight athletes vying for the 145-pound championship and a one million dollar grand prize.
Streaming exclusively on DAZN, the world’s first truly dedicated live sports streaming service, the first round of pairings includes former champions, undefeated elite prospects, European standouts, athletes moving up a weight class and a fighter currently in the midst of the longest winning streak in company history. Fans can catch all the action, either live or on-demand, by downloading the DAZN app and watching on their connected device of choice.
It all begins with Bellator 226 on September 7 at SAP Center at San Jose, Calif., headlined by a heavyweight world title fight between Ryan Bader and Cheick Kongo, where four opening round bouts will take place:
Daniel Straus (26-8) vs. Derek Campos (19-9)
Pat Curran (23-8) vs. Adam Borics (13-0)
Emmanuel Sanchez (18-4) vs. Tywan Claxton (5-0)
Sam Sicilia (16-9) vs. Pedro Carvalho (10-3)
MyMMANews.com spoke with Carvalho ahead of the fight:
Pedro Carvalho – Bellator 226
“I just keep myself busy and try to focus on everything. I try to be the most well-rounded fighter possible. Better striker, better grappler.”
“SBG is the best in the world period. I always have the best guys to train. Whatever the style of my opponent is. This camp was really, really perfect. I’ve been working in sparring matters with Artem and Peter Queally. We are talking about two absolute warriors.”
“I’m still young, I’m recently 24, so I’m naturally growing. I’m naturally getting heavier. I can make featherweight in a pretty, easy healthy way.”
Financial Hardships
“I feel absolutely deserved about it. I sacrificed all my life since I was 13 years old for this sport. I’ve been away for my son’s first year of life because my girlfriend and son are in Portugal. It was the toughest year of my life. I just feel like I truly deserve this moment and I’m proud of myself. I keep myself and my family proud as I keep going and keep winning. And soon, really soon, I’ll be featherweight champion.”
“I come from Portugal and when I started I was 13 years old, I never had an example of a successful Portuguese MMA fighter. Me and my girlfriend finally decided to go to Ireland. I stop training for a year so I could go for factory work so I could get some money. It was absolutely one of the toughest years of my life. Almost everyday I cried about it. It was awful. It was like eight hours straight. Eight hours breathing smoke and chemicals. The heat, high-temperature heat. It was like a living hell. It was a new country. We didn’t know anyone there. All we had was belief and faith that this might work.”
He finally found a job as a cleaner, cleaning toilets in a hospital. For a year, every day began at 7 AM with heavy MMA workouts. What would follow would include an eight-hour shift, more MMA workouts, and a schedule that took him until midnight every day. Finally, Carvalho got a crack at a hot European prospect for Bellator 200. The rest has been history……
Bellator run
“I’m not going to be a hypocrite. Of course, the money is really appealing. My focus here is on my legacy. On making myself become an icon. I’m always hungry. I’m always starving for more. Money is easy to get. But legacy that’s a different story. This tournament, the men ad heboys will be separated and I know for a fact that I’ll end up on top.”
“I really don’t care. For me it doesn’t matter who the name is. I believe that I am the best in the world. Sam Sicilia, Pitbull, AJ Mckee, doesn’t matter the name they will throw at me first. I’ll go fight all the favorite guys. I’m here to prove that I’m the best in the world. I know that in a year time, how many fights I’m going to make. That’s what really makes me happy. For the rest, they’re just names to beat. Nothing more.”
“I’m not only the future, I’m the present.”
