One of the great Brazilian promises on the until 77kg division of UFC, Paulo Thiago has a fight scheduled for June 12 on Canada, and he is ready for the war. Before going to Vancouver, the tough guy talked to TATAME about his fight against Martin Kampmann, commented his preparation for the duel and the trainings in Rio de Janeiro, besides analyzing his division and commenting his dream of disputing UFC’s belt. Check below the exclusive interview with the cop-fighter.

What are the expectations for your next fight on UFC?

The expectations are high… I trained hard and did my best on the trainings, I’m prepared to get there and win this fight. I know this will be a tough fight, but I believe I can get off there with a win.

What was your main focus for this preparation?

Martin Kampmann is a complete athlete, won seven times by knockout and six times by submission, so he is a dangerous guy both standing and on the ground. I had to train it all, I trained a lot my ground game, my boxing, my takedowns, fall defenses and a lot of Wrestling so I don’t get surprised by something I didn’t train.

Have you had a season of trainings in Rio de Janeiro or did you do your whole preparation in Brasília?

I started my trainings and I did most of it in Brasília, then I when to Rio and stayed there for two weeks on X-Gym training with Rogério (Camões), (Josuel) Distal and all their team, then I came back to Brasília, where there were lots of fighters with scheduled fights, so the trainings were pretty intense, so it was good for me and for them.

Martin used to fight on the middleweight division. Do you think it can be an advantage for his this weight thing?

I don’t believe so, he has to be on the same weight as I am… My first six fight were on the middleweight divisions as well, so I believe that after the weight, he must come just I will do.

He was the first to beat Thales Leites, still within the middleweights… You gave some training on Nova União. Did you talked to Thales about your opponent?

This time I didn’t go to Nova União, so I never had this opportunity to talk to Thales about him, but I talked to Jacaré and André Galvão, who already knew him from Randy Couture’s gym in Las Vegas, and they gave me some tips.

How do you see your division on UFC?

There are lots of tough guys, and it seems that Jake Shields, Strikeforce’s champion on the middleweight division, is coming to UFC to fight on the welterweight, do it’ll be another tough one in the dispute and I’m waiting for my opportunity. I try to win one fight at a time and I’ve been waiting for my chance, and I’ll sure get one. This fight will be very tough, I’m aware of that, but I’m trying to focus only on my win… I have to win this time and wait to see what they will say.

What did you think about the fight between Paul Daley and Josh Koshckeck, besides that situation that happened after the fight end?

Paul couldn’t hold his willingness. He has three rounds to do that and didn’t manage to do so, and when the belt rang he act cowardly and lost everyone’s respect. He is a tough guy and all of the other athletes may be celebrating for having one less tough guy on the division (laughs). Koshcheck showed he is a great fighter, knows how to follow a settled strategy… He could lead the fight standing, but he stuck to his strategy and won convincingly, was best on the three round and proved he has conditions to fight for the belt.

You knock him down and he will have the chance to fight for the belt… DO you get upset by this situation?

Not at all. Koshcheck is much more respected than I am and deserves this opportunity more than me. He has a long history, has beaten much more tough guys and will be a tough one to fight against (Georges) St. Pierre… He will get there with chances to win.

How do you think this fight will be like?

I believe Koshcheck is better on the trade of punches than St. Pierre and is as good as him on Wrestling… I think that the Jiu-Jitsu will be the decisive part, maybe one of them got the other… I believe Koshcheck has chances, because he has great takedowns and Georges is more aggressive on his standing game.

GSP and Koshcheck will be on the next season of the reality show of UFC, so it might take a while so that another fighter has a chance to fight for the belt. Do you believe that, during this time, doing two more fights besides this duel with Kampmann, you can volunteer for this fight?

I try not to think about it otherwise it’ll disturb me on my fight against Kampmann, but I think it’s coming close… Winning this one and two more, maybe I’ll get there, but I try to do a fight a time, I could risk to lose this duel is I kept that thought in mind.