Raoni Barcelos sinks a rear naked choke. Chris Unger/Zufffa LLC via Getty Images
Featuring a card packed with great fights — with names like José Aldo, Anderson Silva and BJ Penn confirmed so far — UFC 237 now has one more BJJ black-belt hoping to leave a good impression come May 11th in Rio.
Graciemag has learned from sources close to the UFC that Raoni Barcelos will be fighting in his hometown against Russia’s Said Nurmagomedov. The athletes and their teams already have a verbal agreement; all that’s left is for the contract to be signed.
Raoni (13w, 1l) is coming from a nice sequence of six wins and will be fighting for the third time under the organization. A son of Master Laerte Barcelos and member of Rizzo Vale Tudo, Raoni hasn’t fought in his country since 2013, when his flying knee stopped Erinaldo Pitbull at a Web Fight event.
Said (13w, 1l), who is not related to the champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, hasn’t lost in seven bouts. This includes five fights against Brazilians, the most recent of which saw him TKO Ricardo Carcacinha in round 1.
UFC 237
Arena da Barra, Rio de Janeiro
May 11, 2019
Rose Namajunas vs Jéssica Bate-Estaca
Anderson Silva vs Jared Cannonier
José Aldo vs Alexander Volkanovski
Rogério Minotouro vs Ryan Spann
BJ Penn vs Clay Guida
Bethe Correia vs Irene Aldana
Raoni Barcelos vs Said Nurmagomedov
Wu Yanan vs Luana Dread
Jessica-Rose Clark vs Talita Bernardo
Thiago Pitbull vs Laureano Staropoli