“I think I grew a lot from that loss and I saw how I grew as a fighter,” Motta said of the Miller fight. “I remember when I had my first experience with UFC, I was 21 years old and I didn’t know how to deal with losses. I was depressed and complaining all the time. But now, I’m a pro for ten years and I feel like I’m totally different and I feel like I learned how to enjoy the journey and how to stay in the present moment because sometimes I would think too much about the past, and that’s not good. The only thing I can do to create a better future and create what I want to be successful in the UFC is by doing my best now in the present. And I feel like I got so much better.”
It sounds bizarre to think Motta started this whole quest as a teenager, but he laughs when the topic is brought up, because he hardly recognizes the fighter that walked into Nova Uniao all those years ago. And it may have taken 16 pro fights and appearances on TUF and Dana White’s Contender Series to arrive at a certain conclusion, but better late than never.
“I think now it feels like it’s time to stop fighting with my balls and fight with my head and use my experience,” he laughs. “I have a friend that says that’s the Brazilian curse.”
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Maybe, but it’s also made the stereotypical reckless Brazilian warrior beloved around the fight game. Motta knows this, so he won’t be turning into a grappling-focused grinder, but he does realize that a little restraint and a little more defense are never bad things to utilize on fight night, especially when he plans on taking this to the top of the lightweight division one day. Plainly put, he’s not here for a good time; he’s here for a long time, and that’s always been the goal, much to the chagrin of parents who wanted him to go to school instead of the Nova Uniao gym at 18.
“My family wanted to pay for me to go to college, and I could have done any degree I wanted, but I wouldn’t be as happy as I am as a fighter,” Motta admits. “Everyone can go to school, but only a few people can live this life, and I didn’t want to just be another person in the world. I want to make a difference and I want to be different. Even my fight style, you can see that I’m always looking for knockouts. I never had one boring fight, I’m like a showman, and I think I’m like that because I had on my mind that I didn’t want to be just another guy. I didn’t want to be just another fighter.”
To make that a reality, Motta had to make sacrifices – a lot of them – and he’s still making them. But that’s the life he chose, and he has no regrets.
“I’ve been away from my family and friends for ten years and it’s like that samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, said, ‘It’s the path of the ronin,’” said Motta. “I’m living the path of the ronin and it’s not easy. On a personal level, it’s very rough, very tough to live like that, but when I left home when I was 18, I said that I would do anything to make it happen, and I’m kind of making it happen now. I made it to the UFC, and now it’s time to get my first win.”
