Welcome to the UFC: Raffael Cerqueira

Raffael Cerqueira enters the UFC light heavyweight division at UFC 308 on Saturday, making his debut against Ibo Aslan. The card is topped by a featherweight title fight that pits champ Ilia Topuria off ex-champ and BMF title holder Max Holloway.

Raffael “The Lion” CerqueiraStanding at six-foot-fourFighting at 205 lbs (light-heavyweight)34-years-oldFighting out of Salvador, Bahia, BrazilTraining out of Galpão da LutaA pro record of 11-08 KO/TKOs, 2 SubmissionsPro comp; Christian Leroy Duncan

How Cerqueira will fare in the UFC

Cerqueira was signed to the UFC after having several canceled fights in this recent season of the Contender Series. I guess the UFC saw that he’s 34 so they decided to give him a contract straight out. It looks fine on paper, where he’s 11-0 with ten finishes with seven coming in the first round. When you really do more work than the UFC matchmakers you will see his record is absolutely padded. The combined record of the opponents he fought at that time is 53-33. That may not seem bad but five of those are against guys with losing records or .500 records. Also the 205-265 scene in Brazil is pretty weak so he’s not really getting tested. Not to mention, he’s fighting for Demo Fight which hardly ever show their events.

When I scouted Cerqueira ahead of his Contender Series fights I listed more “pros” than “cons.” That’s because it’s easy to look good against the guys he’s fighting. It’s also tough to find any holes with quick fights and limited footage. The main issue I found with him outside of the can crushing is that his hands tend to drop too much. It happens because his style is really loose; when he fights he’s throwing a lot of kicks and spinning stuff. Cerqueira is diverse while throwing good output. His hands are fine but everything comes from the legs. He spins, goes up top, and has a nasty kick to the liver. He has the speed you want to see from a big guy while having the power as well.

Not sure of his level but against the guys he’s fighting his wrestling and jiu-jitsu checks out. He has mixed it up very well in his career showing he is a martial artist. Looking at his record you’d think he’s mainly a striker but he started out doing jiu-jitsu and judo. Looking at Cerqueira I think he looks very good. He looks apart at 205 but I cant hide the major concerns. He’s 34, fought questionable opposition, there’s limited tape (not his fault), he hasn’t gone through much adversity, and who knows how his cardio is. With Cerqueira I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d break into the top 15 and the same if he was cut in a few fights. From what I can find and from what I know from others I think he’ll be a good signing. I believe he will get close to the top 15 but fall short against the better guys.

How he matches up with Aslan:

Aslan is what you call a meme fighter. Not technically good but has so much power he can find the knockout in an instant. He has major holes. He swings too wild. He’s tough but when you don’t have the cardio, combined with your sloppiness, it won’t take you far. Also, his grappling defense lacks if taken down. Aslan has the power but Cerqueira has everything else. He has more tools in every area the fight would go. It just depends on how he reacts when Aslan lands. I have Cerqueira here just because he has the complete skillset outside of Aslan basically having the power.