He started MMA in Córdoba to learn to defend himself and now competes with Mexico’s elite.

When at 15 years old Mauricio Nieves (27) spend time on the bike in practice BMX through the streets of Córdoba, a hunch prompted him to turn to martial arts. It was nothing in particular, it was “warnings” or “sparks” that he saw too closely that alerted him: he had to learn to defend himself.

That passion culminated in a professional kick boxing and MMA career, where this Thursday the 26th he will face his third fight against the Mexican promoter. Lux Fight Leagueagainst the local Dave Mendoza. His compatriot will also appear on the billboard Adrian Oviedo against the mexican Roman Cordoba.

“I got into a gym, and after two months I was already fighting the first little fight,” Nievas said. Clarion about its beginnings. He didn’t spend much to get away from the bike, as he defined himself as “bad” for BMX, and more compared to his cousins, Jose “Malignant” Torres Y Francisco Torreswho competed as Argentina’s representative in various international tournaments.

“With them we grew up together, we went to school and when we came out we cycled. I didn’t have a problem, it wasn’t, but the problems were near. One day I said to myself: ‘I need to learn to defend myself‘”he recalls.

In October 2019, he moved to San Diego and spent two months perfecting himself there. He then crossed the border into Mexico to settle in Tijuana, in Entram Gymwhere some Argentine fighters have trained for many years, such as Marcelo Rojo or Silvana “La Malvada” Gómez Juárez.

To find them, he did everything: he even sold more (corn) in small glasses. Now, fully committed to training, he helps physically prepare some fighters and is like a kick boxing personal trainer.

“Dragon“, a nickname that came from a lock of hair that made him look like that Gohan (Gokú’s son from the Dragon Ball Z saga), lives in a house with 20 other warriors.

Although he is sure that this or that last year he will be able to, he has not yet returned to Argentina to see his family and friends. Nor could he buy a bicycle in Mexico to, even if it did, “jump twice on the curb” … as he specified.

But his dream of succeeding to his beloved is stronger and he does not lack the spirit of sacrifice.

“I want to prove myself”

– How do you explain to its readers and you see that you live with 20 other men, you have not seen your family for a long time, you do not have much money and, yet, you do not give up the dream of MMA?

– I really am I want to prove to myself how good I am and how far I can go. So the only way is this. This is the love I have for it. And I realize the love I have for him when I know everything I left behind and all the efforts I make every day to support myself, despite the fact that there are times we get in arrears and fall into sports. I always kept going. I don’t know how to explain it to you, maybe there are other people in Argentina who are even better than me. But I am here and they are there. I stepped out of my comfort zone and here I was. I want to prove myself.

– And how did you approach MMA?

– Although I started kick boxing, after a short time I realized I wanted to do MMA. Because I liked the idea of ​​more chances to win and lose at the same time. That there is a wider world of possibilities seems to me to be a very interesting scenario. But I only started jiu jitsu (BJJ) when I was about 20. I started later, but I put a lot of energy into it

– When did you make the click to start living from here?

– When I was 18 years old, my first teacher told me that I could make a living in martial arts. That he can be a fighter and at the same time teach classes or things like that. I don’t know if we are thinking about the idea of ​​leaving the country … not even close. I started training in a different way. That’s where I started BJJ. A few years later, I had my first professional kick fight and then an MMA fight, in 2017. I won three. That’s where I started my career. In Argentina I did my last fights and when I came to Mexico I already had a 2-0 record in MMA. Now I am 6-2.

– What does your family say about your career?

– My mother lives in St. Louis. Louis now. When I was in school and I was little, he didn’t like any of my martial arts. But when he learned it would not leave him, he resigned himself. The truth that supports me now. But when he came, his eye was bruised, marked, 15 or 16 years old … He didn’t like it. I haven’t even seen a sport. Now I have a lot of banks.

– Who called you a Dragon and why?

– My first teacher, because when I was a kid I had a whole mess where a lock of hair was hanging, so I looked like Gohan and they called me “Dragon Ball”. That happened to “Dragon” and then people called me Dragon … And those who went to the gym called me that and didn’t even know why.

– This is your third against Lux. How did you get into that league?

– I think after the pandemic Lux grew a lot. This has become something very important for Latin Americans. I’ve done three fights UWC, where I had my first defeat and then I won two battles. It came very well. And that company also imported a lot of fighters into the UFC, so it’s also a great league.

Lux’s matchmaker was training at the gym and I knew him pretty well, he asked me if I wanted to fight and I said yes. I made the first fight and lost within 30 seconds. My opponent hit me, I fell and the referee rushed in and stopped the fight sharply. They gave me another chance and I earned it well. Now I was about to face a two -time fight against the champion, with only one loser. This is a great opportunity for me.

-What did you study in the crash?

– I think it will be a very intense fight, very dynamic in striking and in battle. The one who imposes himself the most on his rhythm will win. He was, at times, a bit more aggressive than I was. I’m pretty calm maybe. The one who is most physically and psychologically exhausted will win.

– How is your day?

– Right now, I’m in Mexico City, because I’m adapting to height. In Tijuana I live in a house where there are about 20 warriors. It is a house with different departments. We wake up in the morning, we go to the first practice, usually 10, and we have one or two. We finish at 13, I go back home to eat and in the afternoon like 17 we have another training session. The first is BJJ or MMA and in the afternoon there is striking, sometimes with physical preparation, boxing, another BJJ, more free in the afternoon.

– How do you define yourself as a warrior?

– I am a strong and calm fighter.

– So you don’t “cross” like crazy …

– Yes. If I had to do it, I would. But I knew I had to do it when necessary, not just to do it.

– You or your sports references?

– I like Jose Aldo. This was the first time I liked how he fought. Because this is probably the style I want to have: boxing, moving my head and kicking very hard. He also has jiu jitsu that must be respected, and if he has to do that, he does it and it gives him a lot of power. Now I really like how he fights Petr Yan, for his remarkable seemingly incredible to me his timing and his way of making dynamic battles. Furthermore Zhang Weili, the Chinese woman who became the champion, with a very dynamic striking that I love. That’s the style I like best in the UFC.

– Do you think you have a close chance at the UFC?

– I think I’m not too far. I would, next year with two more games, be in the bigger leagues. Be it UFC, Bellator or PFL. I want to jump.

– Many times the performance is not very important, but the record and the achievements. Don’t?

– No doubt. It is a generous sport in some things and very crude in others. Just because you are better than your opponent does not mean that you will win. This sport in this sense it is very bad. If you don’t win the battles you won’t improve the record.

– What can you say to the boys who want to live from here in Argentina. Do you recommend that they emigrate?

– Yes, I recommend you do. Also, the sport is growing hard there and I can assume that soon it will be a lot easier. But I recommend you leave, because for a company to buy a ticket from Argentina is very expensive. Being on the outside, the closer to the bigger leagues, the easier it is to identify them and the easier it is for the companies to get them to fight.

If they want to fight, if they want it, they probably have to go. Yes, that they made their first fights and records in Argentina, that they were growing and, when they were formed, they were traveling. At one point it seemed to me that nothing else. I thought I was going to make a shorter trip and I’m two and a half years old now. The sacrifices were hard but, at least for me, I was gradually seeing the rewards.