A Man in High Demand: Following the Whirlwind Weekend of ATT Coach ‘Parrumpa’

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Over the next 36 hours, one beloved coach from American Top Team will travel the country to corner fighters in both Professional Fighters League and Ultimate Fighting Championship events.

Coach Marcos “Parrumpa” DaMatta will be serving as one of the main cornermen for five different competitors this weekend, and he will have to fly from Las Vegas to Kansas City, Missouri, in the process. Despite the exhausting slate ahead of him, “Parrumpa” is extremely optimistic for all of his students. Speaking with Sherdog ahead of his fully loaded schedule, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach noted he had absolutely no complaints or regrets.

“After being in the corner of Russians Magomed Magomedkerimov, Magomed Umalatov and Brazilians Raush Manfio and Natan Schulte [at PFL 3], I’ll try to sleep a few hours and fly to Kansas [City] to corner Edson Barboza in the co-main event of [the] UFC [card],” the coach explained.

In fact, merely being asked to corner by this many athletes is an honor to some members of the coaching staff, who believe that this is a positive sign for their hard work.

“In ATT, the fighters choose their coaches; being chosen by so many Russians and Americans, besides my countrymates, means I’m doing a good job,” DaMatta remarked.

When asked to analyze all five matchups, the Carlson Gracie black belt first mentioned that both Russians will finish their opponents at the PFL card on Friday. This would presumably get them fairly close to reaching the playoffs, with six points apiece should they each pull off stoppages in the opening round.

“I see them submitting [their opponents] in the first round,” Da Matta stated confidently. “Magomedkerimov already won the prize in 2018, and I see Umalatov as clear favorite this year. Actually, both had visa issues last year. They both applied for green cards and couldn’t leave [the] USA. When [the] PFL put the semifinal in London, they broke them up. But this year I have no doubt, they will rule the division.”

Concerning the lightweight division, however, the ATT coach does not see such an easy path to success for former champs Raush and Schulte.

“They were set in the very first fight against a finalist and semifinalist of last year,” “Parrumpa” noted. “I see Raush winning in a war via decision, and Natan submitting Steven Ray in the 2nd or 3rd round. Aubin-Mercier and Burgos will also be a war. The ideal scenario would be Natan, Aubin-Mercier, Raush and Burgos in the playoffs, but the way the fights were set may bring some surprises.”

The vaunted coach is not entirely thrilled with the changes that the promotion has made to its playoff and matchmaking system, with fewer fighters reaching the postseason than past years. Additionally, DaMatta believes that the PFL is weeding out some of the better fighters by matching them together early.

“If you put the toughest in first phase, you will favor other fighters, like Clay Collard, even Bruno [Miranda],” DaMatta lamented. “We could see that [at] featherweight and light heavyweight. To tell you the truth, I liked most [of] the old way, [with] 12 fighters in the initial bracket and eight [reaching the] playoffs.”

Just a few short hours after handling his ample PFL duties, DaMatta will flight to Missouri to corner Barboza against tough out Billy Quarantillo. According to the Brazilian coach, Barboza’s morale and confidence is still high despite coming in on a losing streak.

“He is really motivated [for] that fight. Edson likes to face opponents that brings the fight to him, and that’s exactly what Quarantillo does. Definitely the guy is tough, but his weak point is exactly the toughest point of Edson. I truly believe Barbosa will return to the win column and permit ATT to finish the weekend with 100% of good results,” “Parrumpa” concluded with pride.