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Varela’s Style Rooted In MMA Origins
Andy Varela Has Put On Some Of The FIGHT PASS Invitational’s Most Exciting Matches, And It All Comes From The Rush Of His Past MMA Career.
Night in and night out, fans leave talking about Andy Varela’s matches, something the exciting FIGHT PASS Invitational 8 star attributes to his MMA past.
Long before his grappling career took off, Varela knew he was born to fight. You could actually go back even further to when he was kicked off the high school wrestling team for fighting for proof.
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He was committed to wrestling and grappling to help with his fight career, but his first love was definitely inside the cage before he would ever enjoy the jiu jitsu spotlight.
Andy Varela latches onto the neck of @SStricklandMMA 🤣 #SUG29
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) December 13, 2021
[ @SUG_Grappling | Replay Available | on #UFCFIGHTPASS ] pic.twitter.com/vNqS1yBhyP
“I didn’t take grappling serious until probably age 25,” Varela said. “I came up fighting mostly for King of the Cage and then my last fight was with LFA.”
Five years have passed since “Night Night” Varela’s last fight, and it looks like the 32-year-old may have quietly closed the book on his MMA career for good.
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“I was dealing with some issues and I started to not feel good,” Varela explained. “I was feeling sick a lot and taking more and more time away from fighting than I thought. I was doing really good at grappling and making good money, so the switch just kind of happened naturally. MMA will always have my heart, but it was just hard to keep sane while doing it.”
Andy Varela gets the tap 33 seconds into OT!! #PGF6 | Streaming Now | on UFC Fight Pass pic.twitter.com/8spWEpNckK
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) April 27, 2024
It's tough watching the prime years of his life roll on, knowing that he’s likely never going back, but he has his MMA career to thank for one of the most exciting styles in the sport of submission grappling.
“When I came up, Anthony Pettis and Jon Jones and Anderson Silva were my idols and they’re always flashy and I wanted to bring that kind of flair to jiu jitsu,” Varela said. “Even when I was a blue belt or a white belt I was already kind of like that from watching those guys compete.”
Varela has sacrificed a large amount of adrenaline switching to a full time grappler, but brings enough aggression to keep opponents a little more nervous while preparing for him than a run-of-the-mill competitor.
ANDY VARELA 💪@ChaelSonnen presents @SUG_Grappling
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) November 1, 2021
[ #SUG28 | Replay Available | on #UFCFIGHTPASS ] pic.twitter.com/d7EkOP3jsd
“MMA is way scarier because your fight or flight is engaged pretty quickly,” Varela said. “I don’t think in jiu jitsu your fight or flight instinct comes around that much, but in MMA it’s way more scary. You feel way more like, ‘oh s***, I better lock in.’”
In Varela’s perfect world, he stumbles upon a farfetched ruleset that allows momentary breaks in action for fighting, but until then, he’s going to continue to find other ways to put opponents in harm’s way.
“I wish jiu jitsu was like hockey where they’d let you scrap for a quick two minutes and then they’d break it up,” Varela laughed. “I think I’d be like 60-0.”
Did Varela just hit this kid?#PGF6 | Streaming Now | on UFC Fight Pass pic.twitter.com/8XZKfsxYIv
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) April 27, 2024
While he’ll likely never find the perfect balance between MMA and grappling, Varela will continue making it his mission to keep the grappling fans as excited as his MMA fans were when he takes the mat.
He's willing to put himself out there for a big reaction. One thing he’s not willing to do is play conservatively for a cheap win. It’s the same strategy that has gotten him this far, and he has no interest in changing any time soon.
“There’s sometimes I’ve thought that I should just win and be conservative, but honestly, it literally doesn’t happen for me,” Varela said. “I just want to go in and gun it. It doesn’t even compare. My main priority as an athlete is to make people want to watch me. I think that’s why I’m given opportunities. A lot of people win but they’re just not fun to watch. I don’t want to be that guy ever.”
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