Ilay Barzilay faces Richie Miranda for the LFA lightweight title Friday in Ventura, Calif., and wants it to be his ticket to the UFC roster.<\/p>\n
Born in Israel, the son of an Israeli father and Brazilian mother, the LFA 215 headliner moved full-time to Brazil for the dream of becoming a high-level MMA fighter. After a previous visit to Chute Boxe in Sao Paulo in a short trip from the United States, Barzilay decided to make Fighting Nerds home.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot to take away anything from other teams but Fighting Nerds, when I went there the first time, I was scared because of how high the level was \u2014 and I didn\u2019t know any of the fighters,\u201d Barzilay told MMA Fighting. \u201cThey were very good and it\u2019s absurd no one knew them, or I was really bad [laughs]. Something was wrong, because I had incredible talent and had no idea those guys were so good.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was three years ago \u2014 and Barzilay was sharing the mats with the likes of Mauricio Ruffy, who is now a highly-touted prospect in the UFC lightweight division.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always trained with UFC fighters, so I saw from the beginning how that was,\u201d Barzilay said. \u201cI saw what UFC level was, and what I had to do in order to get there. I\u2019ll give you an example. To be around Jean [Silva], to train with him every day, that\u2019s a whole other level. That\u2019s championship level. That\u2019s excellent experience for me. I decided to stay around these guys to see exactly what they did every single day, to live that, and now I\u2019m living it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning a lot, learning what I need to do. Not to be just a UFC fighter but a top-level UFC fighter, a champion, a future champion. To me, training at Fighting Nerds is a whole other level.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old lightweight won seven straight in the sport to earn a shot at the LFA belt, racking up four wins with one knockout in the promotion. Miranda went 8-1 under the LFA banner alone, half of those victories coming by way of stoppage.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichie is an excellent athlete,\u201d Barzilay said. \u201cHe has a good record, he has only lost once \u2014 in a split decision. He\u2019s well-rounded, has good striking and good wrestling, but his best thing is his pace. He has great pace to get his opponents tired and win fights. He has good volume. He doesn\u2019t have many knockouts, but has good volume.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing quite honest, everything he does I do better. Power strikes, I\u2019m way more dangerous. I have the power to end fights with one strike, which he doesn\u2019t. And to talk about cardio, I have one of the best cardio in the game. Everyone who trains with me knows that. People will only get to see that now because it\u2019s a five-round fight. But my cardio is endless. He knows things well, I won\u2019t say he doesn\u2019t, but everything he does, I do best.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not seeing how I might lose this fight. I\u2019m very confident,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019ll take the LFA belt and see what the future holds. I believe it\u2019s soon going to be the UFC.\u201d<\/p>\n