We at arearnakedcoke.com think you need to meet someone. His name is Bernardo “Trekko” Magalhaes and we think that he is the next big thing from down under.
Bernardo Trekko Magalhaes
Bernardo Magalhaes is a talented up and coming lightweight prospect who lives in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia. He is 5 ft. 9 inches tall. He was born in August 4,1981 (age 30) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His MMA record is 11-2 and nine of his wins have come by way of decision. The other two have come vie rear-naked choke and arm triangle choke. With those stats it is no surprise that he is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and Muay Thai specialist. He is also a professional kick boxer who has had one pro boxing match. His stand up is no joke and has some background in wrestling and has nasty take downs. With all that, his ground and pound might be the best part of his game. This makes him one of the most well rounded fighters coming out of Australia today. Find him on Youtube and you will not be sorry. He is well worth watching. All of his fights but one have been in Australia. He has been a dominating fighter there since 2009. His last fight did not go the way he wanted. At UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger in Omaha, Nebraska he lost a decision to Tim Means. His next fight is against Henry Martinez at UFC on Fox 3 June 8, 2012. He is Australia’s Cage Fighting Championship’s lightweight champ. He won that title in March of 2010. He defended it once in 2011.
First of all, Bernardo, thanks for taking time out of your training schedule to do this interview. How is your training going? Are you doing anything differently for this fight than your first UFC fight? How was the jet lag from the first fight?
The training is going very well, thanks. This time we have 10 weeks notice, plenty time to work strategies, skills and conditioning. We’re very confident and hopefully we’re gonna come back to Australia with one more victory in my career. Last time we have a issue with the short notice cause I was in Brazil, 3 days before come back to Australia and only 4 weeks and half to the fight. I stayed 2 weeks in Australia and then went to America so jet leg was a bit hard u know but no excuses Means was better than me on that time and that’s it.
All of the writers here at arearnakedchoke.com study BJJ. You being a black-belt is just as impressive as making it into the UFC. How long did it take you to earn your black belt? Who is your black-belt under?Do you ever compete in BJJ tournaments? If so, tell me about that part of your life.
Took me 9 years to get my black belt. My BJJ master is Vinicius Aieta (Vini), Gracie Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro and my current trainer is Marcos Nevel, Gracie Bronte, Sydney. BJJ has a big part of my life, I’ve competed since I was 14 years old and whenever I get a chance I jump in the mat and compete. Last year was pretty quite with MMA, so I did compete twice in Australia, NSW and Pan-Pacific (gi and nogi) and won all of them. I’ve got my Australian citizenship and I wanna compete on the next ADCC aus trials.
Lots of fighters from Brazil move to the states. Why did you choose Australia?
I was supposed to move to America too however my master came to me one day and told one guy from Gracie Humaita, Bruno Panno, was looking for somebody to help him out in Australia. Vini pushed me to try Australia first and here I am.
What gym do you train out of?
I train at TP GYM. This is gym belongs to Alex Prates and me. We’ve been working very hard for the last 4 years and we’re one of the main BJJ and MMA gym in Australia at the moment. We have many top ozzy mma fighters and bjj competitors. You’ll hear about these guys pretty soon…
It is very impressive that you are a black belt in BJJ. Why fight in MMA?
MMA pushes me to increase my knowledge as a martial artist cause you have to train so many different stuffs to become a mma fighter and this is very exciting you know, training against your weakness. Last year I had my first pro-boxing fight, it was awesome you know, jump in the ring and I just could use my hands, you understand?
Who are your coaches?
BJJ – Marcos Nevel, Kickboxing – Mick Spinks and MMA – Alex Prates.
What is the highlight of your MMA career to date?
I’m one of the first mma fighters in Australia to make UFC so I represent this generation and I’ll be an example for the next ones. I like to show to be a mma fighter you have to dedicate a lot of time of your life to reach yours dreams and it’s not impossible cause if I made anyone can make it.
Who are your favorite MMA fighters past and present?
Fedor, Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo. What these guys have done is unreal!!!!
If Dana White called you and told you you could fight anyone, who would you choose?
Whoever holds the tittle mate, that’s the goal…
What would you like your fans to know about you?
Don’t know, tell them to ask me…
What advice do you have for younger people who would like to become professional MMA fighters?
Take this as a lifestyle, work very hard to aim yours goals, respect to be respected, never forget who helped you at the begin and love your family!
With Alistair Overeem’s positive test for testosterone; PED’s are in the news. I recently interview Phil Baroni and asked him how he felt about steroids. He said he did not care if fighters used performance enhancing drugs. How do you feel about them?
Cigano will kick his ass with or without steroids, go Dos Santos!
All of us here at arearnakedchoke.com hope to one day go to his gym in Australia and train with him, if only for one day. We can dream, can’t we?
You can follow Bernardo “Trekko” Magalhaes on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/BernardoTrekko
Find him on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/bernardotrekko
His fighter profile at UFC.com
http://br.ufc.com/fighter/Bernardo-Magalhaes
His gym website is:
