"I´ve got the world absolute gold this year, my goal is get my second absolute gold at ADCC next September, something that no one achieved yet, and move 100% to do MMA,” Felipe "Preguica" Pena told Sherdog.com.
"I´m moved by challenges. I feel like when I was a blue belt, I was already dreaming about one day being an absolute champion in the black belt [division]. I'm already looking for a boxing and muay Thai coach here in Minas Gerais. Seeing former opponents like ‘Buchecha’ and ‘Cara de Sapato’ doing great just motivates me.”
The Vinicius Draculino protégé naturally weighs 216 pounds and plans to fight at light heavyweight in MMA. But before making that move, Pena has another dream to achieve in the grappling world. As the only man who has defeated Gordon Ryan twice, “Preguica” is dreaming about the possibility of facing "The King" in the next edition of ADCC.
"I have nothing against selling fights with trash talk, but Gordon just pisses me off, because he lies a lot on the internet, saying everybody is afraid of facing him,” Pena said. “Myself, Kainan, Hulk we are doing everything to fight him. I defeated him twice. First via rear-naked choke in a no-limit grappling fight in 2016 and again in the finals of the ADCC absolute division in 2017 where I also took his back. If I had a few minutes more I would have submitted him once again. So how can I be afraid of him? It makes no sense.”
Since Ryan is slated for a super fight with Andre Galvao at the 2022 edition of ADCC, Preguica hopes that he can serve as a replacement for either man.
"I already faced Galvao five times, it´s 3-2 for him, and I also would love to face him again. Finishing my grappling history facing Galvao or Ryan would be like a dream.”
Pena currently has two camps in mind to help with his transition to MMA.
"I'm sure that to reach a high level in this sport I need to train with the best, so of course I´m planning to leave my hometown, Belo Horizonte, to the United States,” he said. I'm close to [Almeida} and [Carlos Jr.], so ATT in Florida would be a great option, but I´m also a good friend of Neiman Gracie and Romulo Barral, who works with Rafael Cordeiro at [Kings MMA]. So, any of those two options would be great.” said Pena.
The black belt points to three figures in MMA who have inspired him.
"Khabib [Nurmagomdev], Georges St. Pierre and Charles Oliveira,” he said. “Each one in a different way was able to apply grappling in MMA and all of them inspire me in a different way.”