Brazilian Trainer Pulls Double Duty for UFC 131

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Luiz Carlos Dorea has had a distinct honor in recent months, as the man in charge of preparing Junior dos Santos and Demian Maia for UFC fights on the same day.

Dos Santos will meet former interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin in the UFC 131 headliner on June 11 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Meanwhile, in a featured middleweight matchup at the event, Maia will lock horns with 2001 NCAA wrestling champion Mark Munoz.

Dorea has his hands full, planning training camps for both men, facing a friend and fellow coach in Munoz and using boxing to help Dos Santos and Maia prevent takedowns. The two contenders trained in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

It has become increasingly common for fighters who know each other well to face one another in MMA. Dorea has trained UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort, the man who challenged him at UFC 126 in February. Now, matchmakers have pitted Munoz and Maia against each other.

“Today, the sport is very professional, so there can no longer be that thing where an athlete cannot train with other athletes [because he might fight them at some point],” Dorea said. “When my athletes have to compete, they must seek to train with the best. For me, training is training and fighting is fighting. You can look at sever videos of the opponent, but you train with someone who has the same style, it’s different.”

Though he remains friends with Munoz, an NCAA wrestling champion in 2001, Dorea’s ultimate loyalties lie with Maia.

“I’ll be on Demian’s side,” he said. “He’s training right here with me. He trained with me before the fight with Anderson [at UFC 112] and also for a later fight. He’s trained with me for four fights, if I remember correctly.”

Dorea respects both men but anticipates a victory for Maia, who has delivered consecutive wins since bowing to Silva in the United Arab Emirates.

“Demian has world-class jiu-jitsu, and Munoz has world-class wrestling,” Dorea said. “Where Munoz’s fight ends is where Demian’s fight begins. Both feel very comfortable in their areas. Demian is developing very well, and Munoz is very strong. Demian has a lot of drive and has developed a lot in wrestling training with Josuel Distak. He’s very comfortable, but the UFC has no easy fights because all the fighters are top-level athletes.

“We did our work, and we support Demian,” he added. “We work his wrestling, muay Thai and boxing. We’ll always try to help him develop his game and contribute as much striking to it for the fight, but we want it to go to the ground as quickly as possible so he can use his jiu-jitsu, which is sensational. Munoz is a great athlete, but we trust that Demian will come out with another great victory.”

Dorea assisted Dos Santos during Season 13 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, as the Brazilian coached opposite Brock Lesnar. Though Lesnar has emerged as one of the sport’s most polarizing figures, Dorea insisted that the former heavyweight champion was kind and respectful during their time on the show.

“I couldn’t stay for [the full] six weeks because Anderson was training [for his fight with Vitor Belfort],” Dorea said. “I trained with him for four weeks. He’s a very nice person, very polite and quiet. I got a great impression of him. He’s serious but respectful.”

Lesnar was forced to withdraw from a the original UFC 131 main event against Dos Santos following a second bout with diverticulitis. He has not fought since being waylaid by Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 in October.

If Dos Santos defeats Carwin, it will serve as confirmation that the Brazilian has earned his stripes as the top contender for Velasquez’s UFC heavyweight crown.

“It’s a continuation of our work, because we want the world title,” Dorea said. “Dos Santos will show that he really is the number one contender for the title.”

Luis Hasselman contributed to this report.