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\u2019t be possible without the Brazilian army.<\/p>\n
Delano grew up in Recife and fell in love with martial arts early. His first experience as a professional MMA fighter wasn\u2019t all that great, collecting victories but tasting defeats in matches that are so \u201cunderground\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was lost, I didn\u2019t know the word of God,\u201d Delano told MMA Fighting, \u201cand I started shaping my life according to the army. You get into that military world and forget there\u2019s a life outside of it. I had given up on my dream of fighting, I wanted a military career. It wasn\u2019t exactly a dream, but I wanted stability, something MMA couldn\u2019t 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\u2019t want me to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. With an official record of 2-2 \u2014 not to mention previous \u201cunderground\u201d bouts \u2014, Delano tapped out Leandro Lopes in November of 2017 and three months later flew to Rio de Janeiro to train under former UFC champion Murilo Bustamante at Brazilian Top Team.<\/p>\n
Delano, a young man who competed all the way up to welterweight in underground fights agreed \u201con the spot,\u201d quickly became a hot featherweight prospect and LFA champion. The road to the UFC was long, but he eventually made it by beating Manuel Exposito via decision on Dana White\u2019s Contender Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a year of preparation, lighting that fire back and truly dream about MMA as a career, and now I\u2019m in the UFC,\u201d Delano said. \u201cThanks to the Lord Jesus. He took me out of the army and said, \u2018Son, that was very good to shape who you are, but that was a phase. That\u2019s not what I want for your life. I want you to go around world and speak my word.\u2019 I\u2019m in the UFC for that today, to preach the word of the Lord Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delano had the chance to attend many UFC events in Rio de Janeiro before, being offered free tickets for the UFC 301 show in 2024 with Alexandre Pantoja and Jose Aldo at the top of the lineup, but turned it down. The first time he walked into an arena to watch a UFC event was October 2025, watching Charles Oliveira submit Mateusz Gamrot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the chance to go to UFC [301], when [Jose] Aldo fought,\u201d Delano said, \u201cbut I said, \u2018Man, I\u2019m not going to watch the UFC live until I\u2019m a UFC fighter.\u2019 And look what\u2019s happening now. I was going crazy. There was a moment when we might have been able to get into the octagon, but I said I\u2019d only step in there when it was for real.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BTT product said he\u2019s \u201cmore relaxed\u201d not than prior to his DWCS appearance because he\u2019s already \u201cproven who I am\u201d to company and fans, but understands \u201cthe stage is much bigger\u201d now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fight for love and I\u2019ll deliver the same show I\u2019ve always delivered in every fight,\u201d said Delano, expecting a \u201ctough as hell\u201d fight versus Ruchala on April 4. \u201cThere are no easy fights now. He\u2019s very good on the feet and also very good in the grappling area. It\u2019s going to be an awesome fight, man. If he wants to stand and trade with me, it\u2019ll be me and him throwing down for three rounds. He doesn\u2019t goes down easily, and neither am I, so it\u2019s going to be a great show for you guys. We\u2019ll probably come out a bit busted up, I think, but it\u2019ll be three rounds of pure excitement for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jose Delano makes his UFC debut Saturday night against former KSW champion Robert Ruchala at UFC Vegas 115…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,1347,785,85,787,1396],"class_list":["post-584083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}