Dec-8-2009

Ricardo Funch – The Golden Boy is Ready to Shine

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By Martins Denis

It seems that the US National soccer team lost a potential great talent as Brazilian born Ricardo "The Golden Boy" Funch - who is going to make his UFC debut against Johny Hendricks this weekend at UFC 107 - instead discovered MMA.

Living in Springfield, Massachusetts for last nine years, Funch, a native of Bahia, Brazil who possesses dual citizenship, as his father is American, got a scholarship to play soccer at American International College, where he got a bachelors degree in Biology. He even could have been an excellent biologist, but the excitement he encountered in MMA only four years ago spoke louder to him.

"A friend of mine in University was a wrestler, and once he knew I was Brazilian, he asked me if I was a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner," he says. "I wasn’t and then he showed me a few Royce Gracie videos in the UFC and I got fascinated. After that we looked for an academy to train in and I ended up in Marco Alvan's school, where I am still today."

The intention was to become an MMA fighter, and as soon as the first training session was over, he made that clear to Alvan.

"I told him I wanted to fight," he says of his first contact with the Team Link head coach. "Alvan told me to start training first and within six months he would evaluate me. He liked my dedication and after one year I fought MMA for the first time."

Dedication was not the only positive aspect for Funch, as his physical preparation for soccer and the athleticism and coordination from when he was a young capoeira fighter back in Brazil served him well. Also key was the patience of training partners with the MMA rookie, and the special attention given by Alvan to help Funch’s development.

But as the changes in the life of Funch happened quickly, this speed was followed by the difficulties of the new life that he opted for. In the beginning of his career, he could not count on his family, because he did not know their reaction to the new path he was taking. So he only knew one word during that period - work.

"The biggest motivators were my teammates; I feared that my parents would reject the idea at the start," he says. "I only told them when I was in my second or third fight, and though my mother still does not like the idea, my father supports me a lot. When I started I had to juggle work and training, I did not have a car, and my transportation was a bike. So after my job on the building site and in landscaping, I pedaled five or six miles to go to the gym and then the same to return."

But he has no regrets, as he enters the UFC with an unbeaten record of 7-0.

"It was all worth it, man. I got my UFC contract and today I live close to the place that I train. Since 2008 I have Malevilynce as sponsor and this helps me to pay my bills."

With the majority of his victories coming by technical knockout, the Funch’s strength appears to be his striking. But this Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt admits that the ground his specialty, even though the way he imposes his game leads to much more wins by TKO and less by submission.

"I think a fighter, independent of his style, needs to be quick and lethal in his fights," he says. "I felt myself well-versed in grappling, and I train more BJJ than anything else, but I feel comfortable dealing with strikes too."

These are the same strikes that saved him from the most curious and toughest match of his career to date. In 2008, Funch was going to fight in Texas against XFC champion Anthony Waldburger, and before the ring entrance of both fighters, Waldburger's father sent a message via satellite, displayed in a big screen in the gymnasium, direct from Iraq. Waldburger Sr. was a war hero and the patriotic feeling was high. At this moment, the fact that Funch had been living in the US for eight years was forgotten as he walked into the ring and was greeted by loud boos.

"I felt like the man with black hat, the nation’s enemy."

But this was only the start of long night for him.

"I ate a straight in the first seconds that left me dizzy the entire round," he says. "I just survived in the initial round, but in the second I put my hands on him and earned a TKO."

Entering a UFC weight class full of hungry, up and coming fighters, Funch takes on a man with a similar style to his own in Hendricks (6-0), a wrestler with heavy hands.

"In the fights I watched he was very dominant and he is very good, but who is not?" he asks. "The UFC is the field of the best fighters. I will go with my all."

The seven wins of Funch will collide against the six wins of Hendricks, and the probability of one of them having their unbeaten record soiled is evident. But for Funch, a perfect record is not a boulder on his shoulder and not a problem to face, either.

"I faced other undefeated fighters and I say that the pressure is not his or my record, the pressure is fighting in UFC. He already has experience inside the Octagon that I do not, but I know I will be well psychologically. Obviously I have been training more wrestling to face Johny than I did before, but the rest is the same routine that put me in UFC. It means sharpening my technique in strikes and submissions at once."

So it’s safe to say that the preliminary portion of the UFC 107 card has a good dose of electrifying action in store for fans, as Funch taking on Hendricks is a meeting of unbeaten fighters who are good on the ground and capable of knocking each other out.

"I will fight pretty well, because my intention is not only to reach the UFC, but to eventually beat my opponents and get into the top ten," he says. "People told me it is better to debut on the undercard, because there are less people watching. I say that I can't feel the difference of twenty thousand or one million of people. For me, the pressure is the same, but I will shine."