Douglas Silva de Andrade: It's Been a Long Bumpy Road

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Douglas Silva de Andrade debuted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship seven years ago as an undefeated phenom with a finishing rate of over 90%, stepping up on just days’ notice to face Zubaira Tukhugov. Since then, “D’Silva” has racked up a 5-4 Octagon record despite bouncing back and forth between bantamweight and featherweight while enduring a litany of injuries. The 36-year-old now looks to go on the second win streak of his UFC tenure at UFC 271 against debuting blue-chip prospect Sergey Morozov. Ahead of his clash with the Kazakhstani up-and-comer this weekend in Houston, de Andrade spoke to Sherdog about coming out of the old vale tudo scene in Northern Brazil, his sometimes bumpy road in the UFC, how post-fight bonuses changed his life, and his aspirations for the rest of his career.

Can you recap your professional MMA career prior to getting into the UFC?
It’s been a long bumpy road since 2007. I’m thankful to still be banging it out after 15 years. I had the satisfaction of being in wars since the very beginning. I started out against Deivison Francisco Ribeiro [“Deivison Dragon”], a very accomplished fighter. He’s very good. This was during the vale-tudo days. To be honest, I miss those days. It was a lot of fun – stepping on people’s heads, kicking them when they were down. Some truly crazy stuff was legal. I managed to stay undefeated for 22 bouts. It took a lot of willpower. When I fought in Jungle Fight, it was the biggest promotion in Latin America. And from there, around the time I was expecting to fight for their championship belt, a friend got me into the UFC. That’s the long-story-short version.

Can you talk about your experience in the UFC?
I got into the UFC due to my long record of total wars in the cage, and no losses. I accepted on nine days’ notice. Imagine going from the deep Brazilian jungle to my first trip to the UFC. I accepted and pretty much only had time to cut weight. It was all willpower. I was very happy to reach the final buzzer against Zubaira Tukhugov. He had access to high-quality training facilities, and got ready with [former UFC champion] Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team. That fight was a war. I’m very thankful for the experience. After that, it’s been five wins and three losses. I don’t know if it’s because of my record or my fighting style, but the UFC always books me against the hardest opponents. They were all great, well-regarded fighters, some of whom have been champions. During my UFC career, I also dealt with a few injuries and bad weight cuts. I make no excuses for my losses. I’m happy to be making history. I think I could have fought more often. But problems like that happen in any fighter’s life. I’m feeling happy to be booked again.

You’ve scored a couple of performance bonuses in the UFC. How has that changed your life?
I am truly grateful for the bonuses I’ve been awarded. God is good. And I came pretty close to scoring another bonus when I fought Marlon Vera. People may not know what family struggles we face, and what a huge difference the bonuses made. I rebuilt my mom’s house. It makes me emotional to think about it. My parents are elderly. My father takes care of my mom, and I help out whenever I visit. We widened doors, installed ramps, and got my mom a new bed since she’s wheelchair-bound. She has several health problems, and not long ago was in the intensive care unit. I dealt with this between fights. She now has a special, larger wheelchair. Her healthcare workers were amazed by all the improvements they saw on a recent visit. And more recently, I was blessed with a daughter. It’s a lot of pressure to take care of one’s family.

You’ll be fighting at 135 pounds again, despite going up to 145 pounds for some of your bouts. Can you talk about that?
I’m booked to fight at bantamweight again. I’ve had problems cutting down in the past. Even though I always made weight, I wasn’t always able to recover well. I fought a few times in the UFC as a featherweight. On one occasion, I was dealing with a shoulder injury. At least, it wasn’t as difficult to make weight. Leading up to my bout this past October [against Gaetano Pirrello], I committed to returning to bantamweight. Most folks don’t know this, but I dropped over 47 pounds [21.5 kg] in about two months and 20 days. It felt great that I was able to conquer the challenge I gave myself. For this next fight, I’m sticking to 135 pounds. It’s a lot of fun to cut weight – not.

Can you talk about your next opponent?
I’m thankful to the UFC and to Sergey Morozov. We need opponents to be able to do our job. And, as usual, the UFC booked me against another really tough guy. He recently fought Khabib’s cousin [Umar Nurmagomedov]. This will be another war – nothing less than a war. We got booked against each other because people want to action. That’s why we’re here. I hope to put on a good show. I’m training all facets since he’s a striker and wrestler. He’s good everywhere. We have to train everything because our opponents bring everything.

Without taking anything away from your current opponent, have you thought about who else you’d like to face one day?
I’m not one to request any opponents. I respect whomever is booked against me. I’d even fight guys in heavier classes, if that was allowed. Challenges are great. Since I plan to stay at bantamweight, with all respect, I’d enjoy facing Sean O'Malley. I have a lot of admiration for him. I enjoy the way he fights. I think it would be a cool, fun fight. And eventually I’d like to face Petr Yan again. He’s excellent, but I fought him after the worst weight cut of my life. It was traumatic. It’s what made me go back to featherweight for some time. But on that day, I made the weight to honor my commitment. Sadly, I was unable to recover from it. It was very bad, but since I was already there [in California], I agreed to go to war. I feel that if I faced him again while feeling healthy, things would play out differently. All fighters know that our biggest fight is against weight. It’s no different for me. To be in the cage is a blessing. It’s pure fun.

Anything else you’d like to share?
I’m thankful to everyone who’s helped me along the way in my career, from the very beginning in Castanhal [Brazil]. I have no ill feelings toward anyone I’ve come across. I’m grateful for our time together. Right now, I’m also happy to be able to make use of the UFC Performance Institute. I’m getting a lot of help from Alexandre Almeida [“Capitao”]. Funny how life goes. We almost got to face each other for the belt at Jungle Fight. We went our different ways, but I always admired his wars in the WSOF and PFL. Today, we’re putting a team together. And I’d like to thank all my fans and haters. May God bless you all. And one more thing that made me grateful is seeing my knockout of Henry Briones in Mexico on a recent highlight video. It was one of the few spinning backfist KOs you’ll see. It was considered one of the best in the sport’s history. And I recently saw my 2021 knockout [against Gaetano Pirrello] on a different highlight video. I think it was on ESPN. This all comes from a promise I made to my friend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira [“Minotauro”]. I promised I’d honor him with 20 knockouts. And then I did it [against Pirrello]. I’m not sure who else in the UFC bantamweight class has scored 20 knockouts. I feel thankful to be able to make history. I hope to do even better in the UFC, so I can be a permanent fixture on their highlight reels. The UFC is the World Cup of MMA. All I have to do it take that chance.