By Adam Martin
MONTREAL – Antonio Carvalho might just be the most brutally honest fighter in the entire UFC.
The 33-year-old featherweight, who is currently riding a two-fight winning streak in the UFC, fights for the fourth time in the big show this weekend when he takes on the surging Darren Elkins in a Sportsnet preliminary bout at UFC 158, which takes place Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Even though he’s been competing in MMA since 2002 and has compiled a solid 15-5 record, even though he has a win over the world-ranked Hatsu Hioki on his resume, and even though he’s a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Shotokan karate, the native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., knows that he’s up against a very stern test this weekend and that’s why, even though he’s excited to test his skills, he’s also nervous.
“Tough fight,” Carvalho told Sportsnet.ca of the matchup with Elkins. “He’s on a four-fight win streak and some people would call him one dimensional but it’s been one dimension that’s worked against all kinds of opponents. Some of those guys are the most dangerous. He knows what to do, he’ll rifle through any strategy I might have just to get to where he wants to be. It’s just a wrestler’s mentality where you go and put your work in. I think he’s that kind of guy, and he’s quietly put together all these wins. I’m excited, but at the same time I’m scared because I’m not sure whatever I’m working on is going to work against him.”
Carvalho said that while he was warming up for his UFC 154 fight against Rodrigo Damm (a fight he won via split decision), he remembers watching Elkins beat up Steven Siler on the card’s opening bout, and he remembers being extremely impressed with his American opponent.
“I was actually back stage (at Bell Centre) and watched Elkins vs. Siler while I was waiting to go out,” he said. “I remember thinking this guy is impressive — just a lot of pressure, constant improvement. I was just really impressed with his pressure and his ability to always move forward and improve himself. Some people say he’s just a grinding wrestler but he’s a grinding wrestler who punches to pass and he’ll continue to do something so the referee doesn’t have an excuse to stand it up because he’s constantly working for something. He breaks people down, and that’s a scary thought. I can think of so many techniques to try on him, but if he just shrugs me off and continues like he’s did to other opponents, I don’t know. So hopefully one of my techniques works against him.”
Despite the fact that he’s a black belt in BJJ, Carvalho is well aware of the fact that Elkins has only been submitted once in his whole career and he knows that it won’t be easy to coax the tapout on someone with such a strong wrestling base.
“If I feel something and I can get him, then yes, it’s just a matter of being confident and going for a submission,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting. I don’t know. I have all sorts of strategies in my head but I don’t know if it’s going to work. Sometimes you feel these guys with their pressure, things change quickly, so hopefully I can execute what I’ve been training to do.”
If he can execute his gameplan and pick up the win, Carvalho will have a three-fight win streak in the UFC and will have won six of his last seven fights.
But he’s still not sure that will be enough to get him recognized by the fans and the media, who have been talking about Elkins — who could become the first fighter to pick up five wins in the UFC featherweight division — as a possible featherweight contender but never Carvalho, and he admits there’s a reason for that.
“I’m not consistent,” he said. “Elkins has been more consistent and he’s won four fights in a row. Me? Not so much. This is a sport. It’s whatever you’ve done for me lately. Unless you’re a super-hardcore fan that is involved with looking at the fighters’ careers, it’s whatever you’ve done for me lately. For me this sport is my own personal journey but I’m also hired by this company that’s the biggest MMA promotion, so they have to make good fights for the fans. My own personal journey is completely different from that side. I have to find the happy balance between the two.”
It’s a journey that has spanned over a decade for Carvalho (and his whole life when you talk about martial arts in general and not just MMA), but the reflective Ajax, Ont., resident knows it could be over soon, and he’s prepared for the end of the road.
“I think I have three years left in me,” he said. “That’s probably it. I want to move on with my life. I want the other side of life with my family. I saw Mark Hominick go through that, fighting for a title then having a family. Your focus changes. And when your mind is taken away from the fight, you’re no longer fully committed and you have to be, it’s the only way. As long as you’re able to recognize that, it’s the right time to leave, and I think Mark was smart and said to himself, ‘I gotta let it go, this is the next stage of my life.’ Maybe I’ll get to that point one day.”
By admitting that he can see the finish line, there’s no doubt Carvalho knows that if he wants to make a run for the UFC featherweight title he has to do it now, even though he knows how deep his division is.
“It’s a stacked division,” he said. “That why when people ask me where I stand, I don’t know. Look at all these guys ahead of me – Aldo, Pettis, Edgar, Mendes, Guida, Hioki, even Elkins is ahead of me. I’d like to think I’m a dark horse, so let’s see.”
And that’s why Carvalho knows he needs to make a statement on Saturday night. He knows he needs to not only get the win over Elkins, but he needs to finish him to prove to everyone that he’s a legitimate title contender.
“I need to finish Elkins for my place in the company so people want to see me fight,” he said. “It’s a spectator sport, people want to see good fights, and if I don’t perform, well, that’s the reason they can fire you. It’s not personal and some people take it too personally. It’s a business, a show, and the UFC wants to put on the best fights in the world, and that’s what they do.
“I’m not thinking about the title right now – I take it one fight at a time – but of course winning the title is my end goal.”
