Athletes
Mario Pinto | Wise Beyond His Years
Debuting Heavyweight Shares Mature Outlook Ahead Of Promotional Debut On Saturday
The makeup of the heavyweight division has been changing in recent years, led by the ascension of interim champion Tom Aspinall, a multi-tooled hyper-athlete who moves like a middleweight, but carries the devastating power synonymous with the division.
Over the last couple seasons, Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) has added a handful of intriguing names to this collection, including unbeaten Brit Mick Parkin and Brazilian Tallison Teixeira, who registered a first-round stoppage win in his promotional debut at UFC 312 in Sydney last month.
Saturday evening, another member of that oncoming wave will make the walk to the Octagon for the first time, as Mario Pinto, another member of the DWCS Class of ’24, steps in against Austen Lane to kick off his UFC tenure.
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“There is a next generation of heavyweights coming — that’s including Tom Aspinall, obviously — and it’s not the same as before,” said Pinto, who carries a perfect 9-0 mark into his promotional debut this weekend at the UFC APEX. “There is a new type of hybrid heavyweight that is coming up.
“I tell people this all the time: heavyweights break the rules,” continued the newcomer, who represents Portugal and trains at FightZone London under the watchful eye of Stuart Austin. “Heavyweights break the rules in terms of technique and positions. Sometimes they’re not the most technical, but you try to double leg a heavyweight and it's just not there. The way they escape, the way they’re built, they break the rules. They’re thick, they’re wide, you can't just get your hooks in on a back-take.
“So I wanna show how I can problem solve, how I can beat these guys,” added Pinto. “I wanna be an enigma in the heavyweight division.”
In addition to wanting to be an enigma in the division, the thoughtful and well-spoken freshman also wants to have a career that earns him a place the pantheon of all-time greats when it’s all said and done.
“I want that world title, man; I want to be one of the greats,” he said, articulating his ambitions and recognizing he’s about to start down that road bringing a smile to his face. “I said this since I started MMA, started as an amateur: I want to be one of the greats; go as far as I can.
“I didn’t come this far just to get this far, d’you know what I mean? I’m here to cement my legacy, representing Portugal, British MMA, European MMA.”
While his talents inside the cage are obvious and intriguing, what really stands out about Pinto at this stage is the maturity with which he’s approaching his career and the way he thought through how to make that journey from debuting to dominating.
Where some athletes believe they’re ready for the big stage before they’ve ever set foot in a cage and have convinced themselves they could take out the reigning champion in their division if given the opportunity tomorrow, Pinto has purposefully used his amateur career and the early days of his time as a professional to gain experience, mix in against different body types and styles, and cultivate a wise-beyond-his-years outlook to achieving his goals.
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“When I was 3-0 as a pro, I was getting offered to fight in other promotions — I had agents or managers saying, ‘You could go to the UFC now; they’re looking for heavyweights,’” began Pinto, breaking down the way he's looked at his career to this point and how he anticipates it serving him well going forward. “I was like, ‘Yeah, and get fed to the sharks too early, not have experienced anything.’
“I don’t want to take a lot of damage, but I think cage time is priceless, experience is priceless, and understanding — especially in the heavyweight division, and I think heavyweights struggle with this — understanding that I can’t always be the hammer, especially as a heavyweight.
“There is always going to be a bigger, stronger guy. There’s always gonna be a brick house in front of me, so I have to take my time, learn how to fight as the lighter guy; I’ve gotta be the one that moves, be like a cat. I can’t be the berserker all the time. That’s why I didn’t wanna rush.
“Everything has been building, building, building; getting cage time — I’ve done 25 minutes and that was a good experience for me,” he added. “I believe fighters who go to decision know how to win. It’s fun to knock someone out, but when you need to know how to win a fight, when you know, ‘I’m not gonna knock this guy out; I’m gonna have to go to a decision.’ You have to push the pace, land more shots, sequence your shots, and make sure the judges can understand that.
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“My motto is death by a thousand cuts. It doesn’t matter how long it’s gonna take to get the W, but I’ll get the W eventually.”
Having that kind of mindset and genuinely being ready for a marathon rather than a sprint should serve Pinto well going forward, especially as the spotlight begins to get brighter. Given his unbeaten record, DWCS pedigree, and abundant upside, the spotlight could get cranked up in a hurry.
But the Portuguese rookie is ready for that too.
“I just understand it’s what I signed up for; it comes with the sport,” said Pinto, again showing he understands all the beats of the sport and is prepared for all that is about to come his way. “Again, it’s what Coach Stuart has prepared me for. Even my first coach, Marvin Egan, who was my first amateur coach, he warned me about these things, said, ‘These things are gonna happen, so you’ve got to welcome it and understand it’s part of the process.’
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“My plans are now coming to fruition, and I have to take it one day at a time; I don’t complicate things. I have to live in the moment where I am right now.
“Don’t get me wrong: I have my moments where I freak out, but you’ve got to ride the waveand enjoy it, because at the end of the day, it’s just a fight,” he added with a laugh. “As much as I give my life to the this game, I’m very fortunate to have people that care about me, regardless of what happens.”
Saturday evening, Pinto returns to the site of his DWCS triumph to face off with Lane, the ex-NFL defensive lineman coming off his first victory inside the Octagon.
While it hasn’t necessarily been smooth sailing for Lane since reaching the UFC, Pinto’s sensible approach and deep understanding of the ever-present threats that exist at this level, especially in the heavyweight divisions, again feel like they’ll suit him well as he makes the walk for his promotional debut.
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"He hasn’t had the best career yet in the UFC, but he’s still dangerous and you’ve got to give the guy credit — he had a whole NFL career, transitions to another sport, and is doing it at the highest level,” he said of Lane, who was a fifth-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars and logged 66 tackles and three sacks in five seasons before shifting his focus to MMA just a couple months after retiring from football in 2015. “He just beat (Robelis Despaigne) that everyone was afraid of, and he just took him down, held him down, and showed that he can still win in there.
“You have to give the guy credit: he’s dangerous, he’s explosive, and he understands the game,” added Pinto. “He knows he’s fighting a younger guy and I probably have a lot more pressure than he does, so he’s just gonna go out there and do what he does, and I have to deal with it.”
And if he’s able to deal with it well and emerge victorious?
“It’s gonna mean everything,” Pinto said with a broad smile. “It’s what I’ve been working for. It’s the icing on top of the cake, but it’s also why I’m here. I have to tell keep telling myself, ‘I’m supposed to be here; I’ve been putting in all this work to be here.’”
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If he is successful in his first foray into the Octagon this weekend, the “slow and steady” approach he wants to take could be put to the test because a statement win from a promising, young talent could lead to expedited opportunities, forcing Pinto to choose between sticking to his guns or rolling the dice against a veteran name.
Faced with a hypothetical matchup against a Top 10 veteran, the debuting prospect once again showed why he’s one to keep close tabs on going forward.
“A part of me wants to say yes, but I know that wouldn’t be a good move for me right now, in terms of career path,” he said, grinning. “And you’ve got to build your brand.
“I kind of like what Sean O’Malley did: he fought the right fights, built his brand, and so when he was champion, he was all set.
“Sometimes — and this is what’s important about the team — you’ve got to protect the fighter from himself,” he added. “Sometimes you shouldn’t take every fight.”
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