UFC newcomer Jose Delano reveals how joining the army saved his MMA career

Jose Delano | Photo via Jose Delano Jose Delano makes his UFC debut Saturday night against former KSW champion Robert Ruchala at UFC Vegas 115 inside the Meta APEX, and that wouldn’t be possible without the Brazilian army. Delano grew up in Recife and fell in love with martial arts early. His first experience as a professional MMA fighter wasn’t all that great, collecting victories but tasting defeats in matches that are so “underground” they are not registered on his official MMA record.

In 2016, he decided to join the cavalry-mechanized infantry to find a better path for his life. “I was lost, I didn’t know the word of God,” Delano told MMA Fighting, “and I started shaping my life according to the army. You get into that military world and forget there’s a life outside of it.

I had given up on my dream of fighting, I wanted a military career. It wasn’t exactly a dream, but I wanted stability, something MMA couldn’t give me, and the Lord changed my whole life. I was one of the best soldiers there, had the highest grades in everything I did, but God really didn’t want me to stay.

” Delano was inactive for years as a professional athlete after joining the army, and opted to go back to college and seek a career in physical education. He had a click in his head when his uncle Eduardo asked why he was wasting his potential away from MMA, a sport he clearly loved a lot more than physical education. It all made sense, and Delano decided to chase a victory in his return to the sport before moving to Rio de Janeiro to try and join a bigger team.