Cyborg Santos embraces ‘human cockfighting’
Evangelista Santos: “You have to die fighting, never run away from a fight. The rooster that runs from a fight doesn’t come back to the stable.”
This is a little bit of a weird weekend. Friday night, Benson Henderson will try to become the first person to win titles in WEC, UFC, and Bellator, at Bellator 135. Saturday night, the two greatest pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts, Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones will headlining and co-headlining. Fans do not seem overly excited about either card.
However, the hardcore fanbase has got to be interested in Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos making his debut vs. coming welterweight Brennan Ward.
Cyborg began his career fighting in a one-night, 8-man Vale Tudo event. He won the first two fights, and then had to fight Pele.
In an intense interview with Guilherme Cruzfor MMA Fighting, Cyborg talked about his origins. Mixed martial arts was unfortunately saddled with the phrase ‘human cockfighting in the mid 90s. But Santos is so hardcore and old school, he embraces it.
“When I was 12, I started working with cockfighting,” said Santos. “I took care of the roosters. When I became a fighter, I had this spirit. You have to die fighting, never run away from a fight. The rooster that runs from a fight doesn’t come back to the stable. A fighter that runs from a fight is not a real fighter. That’s the spirit. My best quality isn’t my technique, but my heart, to never give up. I can identify with the rooster because he’s there to kill or be killed. If the guy is breathing and the referee didn’t stop the fight, we’re going to fight.
“(Cockfighting) is illegal in Brazil now, but it was normal back in those days. I was born and raised in Rondonopolis, and there were more than 20 cockfighting stables in the city. The breeders needed someone to take care of their roosters, and I worked for one of them. I stayed there all day taking care of the roosters. That was my mission. I woke up in the morning and went to the stable to feed them, to train and prepare them for the fight. We prepared them for two months for each fight. We did sparring every Saturday, and they would fight each other using protection. During the week, we did conditioning training and eat the right food.
“It’s a real fight, with three 15-minute rounds with iron beak and spur. The rooster could become blind, but kept fighting. That’s the spirit I was born with. I see me as an extension of that. If the rooster runs from a fight once, it will run again if put in the same situation, and the human being is the exact same thing. A fighter may have all the technical qualities, but if the chickens out once, he will chicken out again. When I decided to become a fighter, I already knew that. Running away? No f***ing way. If you chicken out, you don’t need to come back home. That’s how I teach my students. You see a lot of fighters that are technical, but run from tough fights. Sonnen, McGregor, they are only good when they are winning. You don’t truly know a fighter when he’s beating someone, but when he’s getting beat. Wanderlei, ‘Minotauro’, those are real roosters. I have the cockfighting spirit, it’s in my blood, and will be like that forever. Never give up.”