Ask any foreigner what sport Brazilians are best known for, and they’ll likely say soccer. A few years ago, walking around the favelas of Bahia you’d see children kicking a ball, pretending to be Brazilian soccer star Neymar or even legendary striker Ronaldo. But today the streets in the ghettos of the capital city Salvador are barren, and the ball has been left to deflate between the makeshift goal posts. 

Today the street kids of Bahia have an all together different superstar to emulate. Step inside Champions Gym in the heart of the favela today, and you’ll find the majority of the former soccer-playing kids now wrapping their hands and shadowboxing. They’ve replaced Ronaldinho with a new homegrown idol: UFC heavyweight star Junior Dos Santos.

Once he walks into the room, the place goes silent for a second, then erupts in to cheers; the champ is here, after all. Dos Santos greets the packed-out gym with a wide grin that lights up an already bright room. He clearly loves the adoration he receives and the fans love to give it to him. He’s this neighborhood’s real-life Rocky Balboa. And judging by his boxing-heavy performances in the UFC, it’s evident the men who competed in the ‘sweet science’ were the ones who’ve both inspired and paved the way for ‘Cigano’ to become the champion he is today.

“The fighters who influenced me the most were the boxers who I have trained with,” during our two-day trip to the state of Bahia. “Erivan Conceicao is a talent, and Luiz Dorea too, because he was a fighter and knows what fighters go through, this is why he’s such a good teacher. He has lived everything we live, so his expertise comes from his experience. Erivan is an exceptional middleweight who couldn’t show that outside of Brazil because he didn’t have the opportunity to get the visa to fight overseas, but he is still a person who is able to become a world champion.

“I really like to watch Muhammad Ali performances; the way he boxed, his footwork, it’s what I try to do. I also try not stop in front of my opponent, moving a lot to find an angle to look for the knockout, I admire him so much. I think Mike Tyson was a great fighter also, but his style was unique, something that worked only for him. You can’t be Mike Tyson or fight like him because his style and he himself are an exception.”

Cigano, meaning gypsy in Portuguese, has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the MMA world since he entered into the UFC. Of his first nine fights, he was only taken to a decision twice, and they were both lopsided thrashings of his opponents. When the fans inside the gym watch him hit pads with head coach Luiz Dorea, he looks cool, calm and collected, but, perhaps most importantly, he looks comfortable. Many may watch him and call him a natural, but according to Dos Santos things hadn’t felt easy in the striking department until recently.

“I began to feel comfortable (with boxing) when I entered the UFC,” he admits. “There I noticed that my main focus should be boxing because it was what I developed faster and where I felt better fighting. I began to see the business more professionally after arriving in the UFC. I had the chance to face a great name at the time (Fabricio Werdum, UFC 90), so for me that was the moment when I figured out that boxing was my secret weapon to get to the top.”

After he finishes hitting pads with coach Dorea, he continues to shadow box, sweating profusely all over the mats in the gym. Whilst most athletes would need an oxygen mask after the sort of striking session Dorea just put the champion through, Dos Santos continues to train as if he hasn’t even got started – which is actually how it is. You see, training sessions at this gym are well known for being hard on the fighters. They’re put through their paces every day without fail, so they need to eat well to ensure they’ve got enough energy to keep working. And Cigano reveals his diet has always been taken very seriously.

“When I’m in camp, we look at healthy foods with low salt amounts to show good conditioning. We want a low body fat tax with high body mass index,” he says. “We have created new experiences with each camp in which we acquire new data and new conceptions. We change it depending on what is better for me and the supplements that fit better for me, and so is the diet. Not only eating healthy food but also food I like to eat. I eat a lot of vitamins, protein and carbohydrate that maintains my structure and body mass.”

Does that mean out of camp he stays on the same diet? Not quite. “Right after a fight I am permitted to relax and eat at will, as any human being. The diet is one of the most difficult parts of the preparation, with a tough routine combined with training. I don’t have the problem to cut weight but I can’t eat everything because it damages my conditioning. A healthy diet elevates my conditioning.”

Asked if he does anything incredibly different to other heavyweights Dos Santos replies, “Normally we run, I don’t do much swimming. I use water to relax and so my conditioning is based on running,” he offers. “I don’t know whether I do something different, better or worse. Actually, it doesn’t matter at all because I have to do my workout. 

“What I know is that I train hard and do my best even though I’m tired or very worn out. I continue training and giving my maximum because I believe in it and I love to be who I am. It was something God gave me as a gift, something God placed in my life and I am grateful for everything that is going on. Training is like an escape valve for me, so I am always at my prime when training. I don’t do anything better or worse than the others, I only do my best.”

Even though he’s a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Junior’s rarely used his grappling skills in the cage, attempting only three takedowns since he’s been in the UFC. In a sport where a lot of fans desperately want knockouts, hearing people use that sort of criticism must be incredibly frustrating, but Dos Santos seems to take it in his stride.

“I train a lot of jiu-jitsu, but my main weapon is boxing. I would rather knock people out, I want to knock them out. I like to see my opponent falling in front of me, but it doesn’t bother me because when it is necessary to show my jiu-jitsu, I will use it. But as I love boxing,” he says, “My first strategy always will always be to knock my adversaries out. When somebody takes me down and holds me on the floor, people will have the chance to check my jiu-jitsu. I am an MMA fighter, so I can finish and I can pull off the knockout.”

Unlike a lot of Brazilian fighters, Dos Santos is known for his fantastic takedown defense, which has allowed him to keep the fight standing and in the area he wants it to stay the most.

He says: “I’m evolving my wrestling as quickly as I evolved my boxing, as it is a way to get defense and attacks too. With wrestling you’re always able to place yourself in an advantage during the fight. I try to update my game in boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu but I do have a good development in wrestling.”

And with all the improvements he’s made over the years he’s been competing in the sport, not to mention the fact he’s been the UFC champion, Dos Santos still believes there are improvements he needs to make in his overall game. “What is working today might not work tomorrow, so you have to stay updated by improving your skills,” he says. “Life is about learning. Each day I learn something new and you have to continue learning because you’ll never know enough to say you no longer need to. I need to evolve in boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, Muay Thai and even in MMA.”

As the sky starts to get dark, fans of Cigano, young and old, begin to leave the gym. Being the gentleman and fan favorite he is, Dos Santos makes a point of saying goodbye to as many of them as he can, but once they leave and the gym is empty and dead silent, he sits alone, readying for the next challenge.

Having suffered shoulder, knee and leg injuries, as of November 2019 Dos Santos has a 21-6 record, 15 of those wins by knockout, and is ranked 4 in the heavyweight division.