With an enviable professional record of 17 wins and only one loss, Marlon Sandro is the current keeper of Sengoku’s belt, and despite he had his wish come true, the Brazilian is motivated. TATAME met Marlon on Mega Kombat, event that happened in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and took some time to have a nice chat with the champion. The tough guy from Nova União talked about the secrets of his team, analyzed the conquest of his main goal, commented about the probable fight with Omigawa, the responsible for the only defeat of his career and analyzed the possibility of fighting on the American market after his contract expires, among many other issues which you can check on the interview below.

Nova União has been keeping its hegemony for many years. How do you keep yourself on the top for so long? What is the secret?

That’s the result of a long term work that Dedé (André Pederneiras) has been doing with the guys there and thanks God it’s been working. It’s like I always say and like we always put out there, that anyone who join Nova União will have a hard time on the beginning because the guys there work really hard and independently of the result, our athletes always go and try to do a good presentation and to be prepared.

How did it feel to have your dream coming true after the conquest of Sendoku’s belt?

It was one of my dreams which I made come true. Thanks God, I got this title herein Japan, in other organization. Now I have to keep my work going on, try to work on my mistakes and try to keep growing inside MMA’s world.

And for the future, what are your next dreams and challenges?

When we see our dream coming true, we tend to look for another one, it’s true, but I’ll keep on trying to bring more wins home, because each fight I win is like another dream coming true. I conquest an important title from a great event and I’m very happy, because it’s the result of a lot of work I’ve been doing on my prep for the fights, a work I’ve been doing a long time, and it’s the results of all battles I won in Brazil and in Japan. My intention is to fight everywhere, if that’s what God wants me to do.

Can you fight in other organizations or your Sendoku’s contract demands exclusivity?

I have my contract with Sendoku and I want to honor my contract with the Japaneses. I can’t turn back on two events which helped me to grow on MMA’sworld, which were Pancrase and now Sendoku, which is a great event and they liked me, treated me well. The audiencein Japan is great, they bring signs to the events, people come to talk to me on the streets, and I’m grateful to that, because I’ve always dreamed about fighting in Japan.

Do you intend to get in the American market?

Yeah, I do. Its another market for me to work on, but I’m pretty satisfied here in Japan, where I have this VIP treatment, which I won’t have on the U.S., so I’m thrilled to stay here in Japan and I dedicate this title to everyone who works with me and has been supporting me.

What’s your next appointment?

I have a fight scheduled to happen in September, on the event Sendoku VS. Dream, but I don’t have an opponent chosen yet. I couldn’t fight on the end of last year on this fusion of the two biggest events of Japan, but this year they’ll anticipate it to September and I’m already doing my preparation, despite not having an opponent set. I believe I’ll confront Michihito Omigawa, who is currently fighting on Dream and is the only guy who beat me, so I believe they’ll give me this rematch.

Since it’s a rematch, will this fight be a special one for you?

For sure, we’ll start to work on my mistakes and I’ve been doing this since I lost, I’ve been working on the things I did wrong on this fight and the result will be different this time, I’ve won three fights by KO after this defeat and my goal is to fight Omigawa and knock him out. I hope to keep it going, knocking my opponents out and finishing the fights as fast as I can, so that I won’t get hurt.

And after this fight, which will not be a belt defense... What can the Brazilian fans hope of Marlon to do for this title to remain in Brazil?

First of all, I’d like to thank God and then the Brazilian people who have been really supportive to me. Everywhere I go, when I’m in Brazil, people receive me well, giving me support, sending positive messages an I’ll try to do great fights and bring great results back for them.