UFC Middleweight Brunno Ferreira Suggests Way to Stop ‘Dagestan Storm’

“The Hulk” has Dagestan fever, and his only prescription is a knee to the face.

The resurgent Brunno Ferreira, fresh off a submission victory over Armen Petrosyan at UFC 313, is keen on looking ahead in the tumultuous middleweight division. His victory was the second in two weeks inside of the Octagon, as teammate Brendson Ribeiro tapped Diyar Nurgozhay at UFC Fight Night 254 this past week. When speaking to Sherdog on Tuesday about his recent success, he attributes part of it to a special training camp set up by coach Andre “Dida” Amado that he was able to enjoy for a few weeks.

“Two weeks and two wins by submission for Brazilian TKO,” Ferreira celebrated. “Cris Cyborg mounted a kind of CT House for fight teams with all the structure, ring, octagon, pool, sauna…and Master Dida inaugurated it, renting it for us for two weeks. It couldn’t have been better, we were locked in that bubble with all the necessary infrastructure, and the results came.”

The triumph courtesy of an arm-triangle choke marked Ferreira’s first submission since he wrangled Ewerton Polaquini with the same maneuver in August 2021. Primarily known as a brawler with extraordinarily heavy hands, Ferreira was actually relieved he was able to display some of his grappling prowess and partially shed the label assigned to him.

“My nature is grappling,” Ferreira explained. “I competed in Judo for nine years in the 90kg [198 pound] category. When I started training MMA with Dida, I added weapons to my striking game, so much so that my four wins in the UFC were by KO or TKO, I needed to show my grappling, now I don’t need to. They already knew about the power of my hands, now they know about my ground skills.”

In a past interview with Sherdog, Ferreira stated that he wanted to face a Russian-born competitor. That feeling has not changed.

“When I gave an interview to Sherdog saying that I wanted to fight a Russian, Roman Kopylov responded and our fight was scheduled for August 24th. Unfortunately, he got injured and ended up coming back against Chris Curtis, which helped him climb the rankings. It’s only fair that we make this fight happen now,” said the Brazilian.

After two Dagestani athletes claimed the belts of the two most popular Brazilian fighters—Alex Pereira and Charles Oliveira—Ferreira has been cooking up a way to beat opponents from the region. In doing so, he plans on creating a recipe to stop the so-called “Dagestan Storm.”

“I think that, even if unintentionally, people create monsters out of these Russians,” Ferreira remarked. “They certainly train a lot and are cold in combat, but as Master Dida says, Khabib [Nurmagomedov] got to where he is because he never took a knee to the mouth. In MMA, judo works better against sambo than wrestling. I believe that my judo, my jiu-jitsu and my combat intelligence are what set me apart against these Russians.”

In addition to not kneeing Magomed Ankalaev in the face, Ferreira suggests that Pereira lost his light heavyweight throne due to distractions that took away from his training.

“If ‘Poatan’ had been 100% focused on his camp, putting his commitments aside for a while, the fight might have been different,” Ferreira said flatly.”

With Rafael Cordeiro and Fabricio Werdum going to Curitiba, Brazil, to train at Brazilian TKO for Werdum’s supposed GFL debut, Ferreira is having the unique opportunity to train with three of his idols.

“I was talking to ‘Blindado’ [Bruno Silva] today about the privilege we have of training with our idols, Wanderlei [Silva], Werdum, Rafael Cordeiro,” he revealed. “These guys fought during the vale tudo era and helped build this sport so that we all have a profession today. They have a different drive. Being able to learn daily and receive their energy during the camp is unthinkable. I already came back from Vegas training.”

With names like that in the room, “The Hulk” has yet to skip a single day of training. The Brazilian is currently on the final fight of his current UFC deal, and he is working hard—and a little anxious—to prepare for the next challenge the promotion throws at him.

“There is nothing better than starting the year fighting in the first few months,” Ferreira expressed. “I am already back in training, just waiting for the call from the UFC. I can’t wait to get back in the Octagon putting up another exciting fight for the fans.”