Jafel Filho wants to write his name in the UFC history books with the most unique submissions inside the octagon, and he has the opportunity to improve his resume when he faces off with Cody Durden in a catchweight bout at UFC Vegas 116. The Fight Night card takes place April 25 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Charles Oliveira holds the all-time record for most submissions all-time in UFC at 17, forcing opponents to tap to eight different techniques — rear-naked choke, arm-triangle choke, guillotine choke, anaconda choke, triangle choke, calf slicer, armbar, and face crank. Filho is still early in his UFC run, but all three octagon wins came via three different moves (kimura, rear-naked choke and arm-triangle choke).
Advertisement
“[Clayton Carpenter] had exceptional jiu-jitsu as well and I really wanted to make it a grappling battle,” Filho told MMA Fighting of his latest win, a first-round kimura at UFC Rio. “I knew that if he felt my hands he’d try to grab me, and that’s exactly what happened. I tell myself I’m going to be one of the only UFC fighters to get submissions from every position in jiu-jitsu. I’m not the kind of guy who only hunts the neck, or just the arm, or just the leg. I take whatever is there. If it’s there for me, I’m grabbing it.”
Filho was expected to fight Lucas Rocha this weekend in Las Vegas, but the Brazilian was replaced by Durden on six days’ notice. The Nova Uniao black belt scored 11 of his 17 pro MMA victories by submission — and almost tapped Muhammad Mokaev in his UFC debut —, and will chase another one on April 25. “Pastor” might even use one he says fans have never seen before in the sport.
“There’s a very interesting position I use that comes from the kimura,” Filho said. “I take him down, take the back and lock a reverse triangle. I even named that position after myself. Who knows, maybe it happens now? It starts from the kimura or from the back with a seatbelt grip. From there, I can transition as if I’m going for an armbar but it ends up in a reverse triangle, putting pressure on both the cervical spine and the neck.”
Advertisement
Filho celebrates being “in my best phase physically, psychologically, spiritually” going into UFC Vegas 116, with “my heart, my mind, everything is aligned for this camp.” Soon to turn 33, Filho is happy to get back in action after a “huge scare” in Rio de Janeiro this past January, when he was driving back home from church when a car cut him off and three armed men jumped out and started running at their direction.
“Every camp feels like we go through something really intense, but I say that God only gives great wars and great battles to great warriors,” Filho said. “And I believe I’m one of those chosen warriors, and that’s why I go through all these things, to be able to say it was worth it. Nothing came easy.”
The UFC fighter and his family escaped with no physical injury, but the trauma persists.
“At the beginning it was really hard because I was very scared,” Filho said. “Even going out, driving, I was really shaken. Even today, once in a while I still get a bit scared, but thank God it passed.”
Advertisement
Filho chose not to take case forward with the authorities because there was no footage of the crime and it would be very hard to find the criminals, so he “chose peace” to focus on his life and career instead.
“Then camp started and I decided not to mess with it so I wouldn’t stress over it,” Filho said. “God protected me.”
His family is safe, and the focus now is on beating Durden and maybe earning a spot in the UFC flyweight rankings.
“I believe that moment will come,” Filho said of being ranked. “But there are guys in there who haven’t done even a fraction of what I’ve already done inside the octagon. I don’t have many fights and I don’t want to say I deserve more than everyone, I’m realistic about that. But when it comes to performance and what I bring to a fight, the numbers, submissions, knockouts, I believe I’m already there. And if it hasn’t come yet, I believe that with a strong performance in this fight, which I’m sure I’ll give everything to deliver, I’ll break into the rankings. I believe this is the moment.”
