(Photo: Thiago Quintella) Sponsored by Guga Ribas Company, Baixinho dreams of fighting at the UFC again
Exhaustive training sessions, a strict diet and hard work. This is Alexandre ‘Baixinho’ Barros’ routine, Brazilian fighter sponsored by the Guga Ribas Company, who longs to compete again in the Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC. At the age of 34, Baixinho is getting to his apex and has a history of overcoming situations.
In his last but one fight, against Brazilian Paulo ‘Rambinho’ Teixeira, Baixinho had his knee injured. In the first round, he got his knee stuck in the cage and sprained it, breaking the meniscus. Even so, he kept on fighting to victory. Then, there was the surgery and the invitation to get into the octagon with the Argentinian Favio Martino, who had had five consecutive victories and stood out in his country in 2011. Despite the lack of time to recover from the injury, Baixinho not only accepted the invitation, but also won the fight. “I had never been so courageous as an athlete as I was at that moment. I had gained ten pounds because of my injury and I had to have great discipline towards my training and my diet.”
After winning the international fight, Alexandre Baixinho has had four consecutive victories and now he aims at a single goal: returning to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The athlete participated in the competition once at the UFC ’93, when he was knocked out by the Danish Martin Kampmann. At that moment, Baixinho had been called to participate in the event at the nick of the time and he had only 25 days to get prepared. Not to mention that he was carrying the great burden which is, participating in such a high-level competition as UFC for the very first time. However, his goal now is to return to the UFC and it seems that he will be able to do it soon. Baixinho almost managed to fight at UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro and not having participated in the event did not make him feel discouraged. “I will keep on working and training hard, because new opportunities will come.”
(Photo: Thiago Quintella) Baixinho teaches boxing and MMA to the English Richard La Ruina
Alexandre Baixinho has fought ever since he was a child. He had been through Judo, Boxing and Jiu Jitsu until he found master Marco Ruas, and started training Muay Thai and MMA in 1988. After perfecting himself in other fighting modalities, Baixinho had his first official MMA fight in 1998. Along with other fighters, he created the Gracie Barra Combat Team, which would break up three years later. The fighter then decided to create the Baixinho Team. Today, the athlete represents the Carlson Gracie Team, where he trains daily with master Ari Galo, and Nobre Arte, whose boxing coach is master Claudio Coelho.
His exhausting training routine, which is faced naturally, has not always been easy. “It was hard to choose not to play beach soccer with my friends and go training instead. They used to say I was crazy for spending money to get beaten up. “But the will to become a fighter was greater than anything. His brother’s encouragement was essential so that Baixinho would go on with his career. It is quite similar to what happened to Luis Beição, also sponsored by the Guga Ribas Company, who was Baixinho’s pupil. The lack of encouragement led Beição to give upfighting for a while, but he has come back to training and nowadays he’s got a contract with the UFC.
The difficulties that fighters have to go on with their careers in Brazil are often related to the lack of infrastructure for training. Foreign athletes rely on the best gyms with the latest equipment, but Brazilians have to overcome difficulties with courage and willpower. In addition, the athlete who decides to be professional MMA fighter must be aware of the eternal battle with the scales.
(Photo: Thiago Quintella) Baixinho posing with Beição, also sponsored by the Guga Ribas Company
- Nobody fights weighing their real weight. All fighters have to make a great effort before each fight in order to lose enough weight to fit their categories. My average weight, for example, is 84 kg and I fight in a category for fighters up to 77 kg. You feel like a winner just for getting to the weighing day with the proper weight. In the United States, the supplements are more accessible, which makes this fight with the scales easier – says Alexandre Baixinho, who believes that living abroad is the best for Brazilian athletes.
In recent years, fighting sports have broken paradigms and overcome prejudices. More and more people have been getting into these sports. And those who are still reluctant might be bound to change their minds. It only takes experiencing it for a day, or one training session at a gym. The respect that fighters have for each other and for “outsiders” is impressive. That is due to the sport’s doctrine. “Usually, fighters start early, when they are still children and they learn to respect others, because in the beginning they are all white belts. In other words, anybody else is more experienced and better than them.” This respect is spread to their daily life, and when they grow up, they remember that one day, they were beginners. Thus, you can only “survive the fight”, if you are polite and show respect for others.