Renée Forte (publicity photo)
On Saturday Feb. 16, Renée Forte will have the mission of representing Team Nogueira at yet another UFC event. A former Ultimate Fighter: Brazil contestant, Forte will be making his debut in the lightweight division against England’s Terry Etim at UFC on Fuel TV 7 in London. Hometown fighter Etim is best known for being at the wrong end of what is widely regarded as the greatest knockout of 2012–Edson Barboza’s spinning head kick at UFC Rio 2 in January of last year.
With a record of seven wins and two losses, Forte underscores the importance of the work he’s been doing at Team Nogueira in the months leading up to the encounter.
“I did a good job of preparing,” he said. “I’m feeling great. I had a lot of help from my teammates here at Team Nogueira. I couldn’t have done a better job of planning it. I trained in everything and am ready to put on a great fight–that’s what I want.”
The fighter, who competed in the TUF Brazil reality show as a middleweight and made his promotional debut at welterweight, also commented on his departure for the lightweight division. Forte guarantees that the transition won’t hinder him and that he factored the weight cut into his plans months ago. Besides the issue of his body, the Brazilian made it clear that he is unafraid of Etim’s ground game and that he trusts in his skills to frustrate his opponent.
“I’ve been cutting weight for some time now,” he said. “I’m much quicker now and just as strong as I was. I’m going in there full blast for sure. I recognize Etim’s ground skills but I have faith in my own potential. I’m going to put what I did in training to practice. I feel it will be a good fight, one that will be major turning point for my career.”
Before disembarking in London last Tuesday, the Team Nogueira fighter spent two weeks in France training with Cyril Asker, and revealed that the stint there was very important in his adapting and finalizing his training.
“The days I spent there were really important in helping me to aclimate and seek further understanding and overall information,” he said. “I worked a lot on wrestling and boxing. It was a job well done. I’m really confident for this fight. I’m very grateful for the support I’ve received this whole time.”
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