Athletes
Lerryan Douglas | Finding The Right Fit
Streaking Brazilian Featherweight Talks Finding His Team Ahead Of UFC Debut This Weekend In Seattle
While Sam Darnold quarterbacked the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl win last month, he spent the first several years of his career being labelled a bust. After finding stability in Minnesota two seasons ago, Darnold found the right situation in the Pacific Northwest, leading to a championship and a reexamination of the importance of putting players in a position to succeed.
Fittingly, the UFC is in Seattle this week for where Lerryan Douglas will make his promotional debut against Washington-product Julian Erosa. Like Darnold, all the 30-year Brazilian featherweight needed was to be surrounded by the right people in order to tap into his full potential.
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“It was pretty hard for me because I never had guidance, somebody to take me and say, ‘You need this. You need to do this right now, get better at this and then we’re gonna put you there,’” began Douglas, who made his pro debut at age 18. “I never had anything (like that) so I’m really grateful for my team, Bloodline (Combat Sports), because you can see that was missing in my career — somebody that was gonna take care of me in my career and give me some really good guidance.”
Douglas connected with Bloodline in 2022 but was still living in Brazil. At the time, the Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt was considering walking away from the sport and working in the jiu jitsu world.
His team got him a short-notice fight with Isaac Thompson, and while he lost, he got his foot in the door with Cub Swanson’s team and the LFA, prompting him to move to California.
In the five fights since facing Thomson, Douglas is 5-0 with five stoppage wins, including a second-round finish of recent UFC debutant Javier Reyes, claiming the interim LFA featherweight title and unifying it with a stoppage win over Elijah Johns. Those combined efforts earned him the chance to compete on Season 9 of the Contender Series, and now he’s primed to make his promotional debut on Saturday.
“(Finding) Bloodline was the perfect timing,” he said. “My age, my experience, everything came together, and here I am in the UFC.”
Douglas is far from the only fighter that have travelled a circuitous route to get to the UFC. That path is actually the road most travelled by professional fighters rather than one that features little struggle and unbridled success.
For every undefeated fighter that rolls into the UFC, there are dozens that had to deal with losses, injuries, and a lack of structure around them in order to maximize their skills.
When he was sitting at 8-5 and coming off that loss to Thomson, plenty would have suggested that Douglas would never reach this level, but he’d primarily lost to quality competition such as regional standout-turned-UFC truth machine Chepe Mariscal. Just a couple years later, he’s ready to start making waves in the UFC’s 145-pound weight class.
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“It was a long journey, ups and downs, like most champions go through,” Douglas said. “I think it’s kind of weird to say, but it’s necessary — it’s gonna build you as a fighter and I think that’s what build me into who I am today. I’m really grateful for my journey as well… It was a tough road — it’s still tough — but it’s just the beginning in the UFC, and I’m looking forward to having a long career (here), having some great fights that can be (remembered in UFC history).”
He has a solid chance to start his career with such an effort this weekend as he steps in with Erosa, a tenured veteran who has his own unique journey to finding a stable place on the roster with finishes over Sean Woodson, Nate Landwehr, Charles Jourdain and Christian Rodriguez.
“He’s pretty good,” Douglas said. “He likes to exchange punches, and that’s all I need… I’m so grateful to the UFC for looking out for me and giving me this opportunity, giving me also a very tough opponent. I appreciate that. It means that I deserve to fight that guy. I did a really great camp, I’m confident and I’m putting on a show for everybody.”
Asked what fans that have never previously seen him compete can expect when he makes the walk this weekend, Douglas gave a sly smile and said, “You’re gonna see the same “Gunslinger” you saw me on the regional scene. Same guy, nothing has changed.”
That means forward pressure, fast hands, and an ability to end the fight with one clean shot.
And how will it feel to come away from his debut with his hand raised?
“My whole life I’m putting work into it, over 15 years,” he said. It’s gonna be the best moment of my life besides having my daughter.”
UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs Pyfer took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 10, 2024. See the Final Main Card & Prelim Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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