Felipe Pena is a 2-time world champion in jiu-jitsu and holds the gold medal in ADCC. He wants to move on to MMA but he knows his time is running out. He was supposed to fight Gordon Ryan this past February but Ryan pulled out due to health issues. Instead, Pena had a match with someone else called Nick Rodriguez and won by decision. The canceled match caused delays in his career plans.
Recently, Pena spoke on a MMA Fighting podcast called Trocação Franca. He shared that he wanted to transition from MMA to another sport after fighting Ryan but now needs more time to think it over. He mentioned, although he is 31 years old and not too young, he doesn’t want to wait much longer so that he can learn and get better.
Pena is unsure if he should switch to MMA yet since there isn’t any date set for when Ryan can compete again after having some stomach issues. And, the cost of switching must be reasonable for Pena in order for him to make that transition.
Pena really wanted to fight MMA since he started training jiu-jitsu and watching fighters in the UFC. He wanted to become a champion by testing himself with the sport. He had already done some Muay Thai and MMA training, so sparring with other people wasn’t scary for him even though it involves getting hit with punches.
I feel like I need to decide something now because if I don’t, it won’t be possible later. Also, MMA is a bigger sport which means more media opportunities and money if I become as successful in it as I am with jiu-jitsu.
Preguiça said he would rather go directly to a big fighting organization like his friend Marcus Buchecha did with ONE Championship, instead of following the same path Rodolfo Vieira went on and starting out in smaller fights before coming to the UFC.
Vicente Pena was encouraged by MMA stars Gilbert Burns, Demian Maia, Charles Oliveira, Georges St-Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Khamzat Chimaev. Pena wants to accomplish the Ryan tetralogy before he moves on in his MMA journey.
Pena said that in the upcoming weeks he will decide if he wants to do a match with somebody. The media and lots of people want to see this fight, but Pena does not believe the stomach-related excuse from his opponent last time and therefore is uncertain if the person really wants to fight or not. Pena is talking to some people to get more information so he can choose what to do instead of waiting for his opponent’s decision.
