It’s the kind of joy that comes on the heels of victory, and when Motta rebounded from a stoppage loss to Jim Miller in February of last year to halt Cameron VanCamp in a single round seven months later, he could finally breathe. He had his first UFC victory out of the way, and it was time to move forward after implementing a powerful lesson.
“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 laughed when we spoke before the last fight. “I have a friend that says that’s the Brazilian curse.”
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World-renowned kickboxer, and Motta’s current coach, Ray Sefo, helped with that part of the gameplan.
“I feel that I was fighting smarter, and I think a lot of that was from working with Ray Sefo,” said Motta. “He’s a man of a lot of wisdom and a lot of times, fighting is more mental than physical, and I think he’s helping me a lot just by talking to me. At the same time, it’s a little bit of pressure. Even all the fighters, I heard them saying that because he’s a little bit of a perfectionist but, at the same time, he’s a great friend.”
