MMA Worldwide

Prospect Watch: Mario Maranda

Posted by Brett Atchley on the 10 September 2009 | View Comments

Mario Maranda traveled from his native country of Brazil to Seattle, Washington in search of the “American Dream”; to become successful and raise a family.

 

Not much is known about Maranda outside of Washington. What we do know about him is that he is highly regarded in Rio de Janairo in his abilities in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and his discipline as a human being in all areas in his life. He has close ties to the community there and retains the same management that represents Anderson Silva and the Nogueira brothers.

 

Maranda came to the United States 9 years ago and trained exclusively with MMA coach extraordinaire Matt Hume at AMC in Kirkland, Wa. Hume recognized what it takes to be a champion in Mario and started guiding him through the process in that direction.

 

The first thing that would have to happen is to get Mario out there to achieve a culpable if not impressive lineage of victories. While he was on a mission to build a record worthy of note, Hume realized that Maranda had to expand his arsenal as well as achieve the maturity and conditioning to succeed. These qualities came naturally it would seem for Mario. He worked diligently on his stand-up and striking. His conditioning was soon discovered to be no issue and the maturity was in place. He possessed the ability to be patient and wait for his opponents to make an error in their attack. Of course one has to consider that the level of athletes that he was competing against were not at his level and had a long road ahead of them to achieve the level that would match him. Be that as it may, it was what was available at that platform. Mario Maranda has amassed a record of 10-0 all victories by submission.

 

Some months ago when I came back to the Pacific Northwest I kept hearing about Maranda and what a prospect he was. I paid it no attention until I became more familiar with the respected athletes in the MMA community. The accolades were not ones from your typical MMA fanatic or event attendant. A story was told to me by a UFC veteran about Maranda rolling with Antonio Noguiera some months ago in Seattle. The story goes that they were both engaged in an informal rolling exhibition and Maranda’s guard was not to be passed by Nogueira nor was he submitted by him.

 

Mario Maranda began to train at Ivan Salaverry’s MMA a couple days a week with Ivan, ADCC vet Otto Olsen and UFC and Pride veteran Jeff Monson. He had a bout coming up in a premier promotion here in Washington called “Alliance MMA” put on by 10^th Village Media and UFC veteran Reese Andy. Reese was having trouble finding an opponent for Maranda and finally after securing one from parts unknown, he was only to be met with news that the opponent pulled out 2 weeks before the bout would take place. This opponent was claiming injury. It was later found out that the opponent signed with a more notable organization. Andy was furious but would not be deterred, finding another opponent out of Chicago, Ill.

 

Watching Maranda in the weeks preceding the bout spar and roll with UFC veterans above mentioned along with Brock Larson, Rich Franklin and Robbie Lawler, it was clear that he was and is a force to reckon with.

 

I spoke with him about a week ago after his first round submission of Chicago’s, Lorenzo Hood in Alliance MMA’s “Counterstrike” event held at the Showare Center in Kent, Wa.

 

 

MMA World Wide: Thank you for speaking with us Mario and congratulations on your victory in the Alliance MMA Promotion.

 

Mario Maranda: I am glad to talk and thank you.

 

MWW: Were there any concerns with your bout with Lorenzo (Hood)?

 

MM: Ya, in the beginning when we were standing, I could tell he knew what he was doing. He is pretty strong at 185. I saw early that he was setting me up for something and I did not see it till after on the video that it was a flying knee.

 

MWW: It appeared as though he almost nailed it.

 

MM: (Smiles slightly) Yes, in the video I could see it was very close and that I had covered just in time and did not shoot in on him too soon.

 

MWW: It seemed that you even had trouble with him on the ground?

MM: Yes, as I said he is a very strong opponent and his balance was very good in a strange way. Like a cat. I had to just sit back and flow with him instead of trying to control. I had to isolate his foundation to keep him from standing. I also didn’t know how good of shape he was in but thinking that it was not good because of the weight he was cutting. I just listened to his breathing, and then I knew. He was holding me down after he did some crazy “gramby” and I knew I did not want him on his feet. I started controlling his arm and wrist. He had very little knowledge or defense in that position. The more he moved on top the closer and tighter I could get to him.

 

MWW: We don’t know much about you, can you tell us a little about your roots?

MM: Ya, I came to America about 9 years ago. I trained in BJJ since I was about 5 years old on until I was about 13 and then started to train in wrestling till I moved here when I was 20 or 21.

MWW: Who was the biggest influence in your training and instruction at in the beginning?

MM: My uncle was the one who train me in BJJ and in my wresting. He was an instructor in Brazil in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as wrestling. He was the one who brought me to wrestling; also he made the sport into a job for me. Keep pushing me all of the time. He was the biggest influence in my life. When he passed away, I moved here to live and pursue……..(laughs) you know, the American dream.

MWW: So you came here to be a fighter?

MM: No, actually I had given up when I come here. I went to the Olympic trials in Brazil. I did not make it and became very frustrated with other personal issues. I was making not enough money. I just felt like the only chance I have is to come to America.

MWW: Obviously, you didn’t find yourself being able to abstain from your competitive nature in MMA?

MM: No, it’s something I have passion for and I found myself wanting to compete and train again. I trained for a little bit up in Everett, then finding myself training at AMC. I learned many things there. Matt introduced me to more effective conditioning and ground tactics. I began working harder on my kick-boxing and striking. It was good in the fact that I picked up the clinch because of my wresting. It was like, automatic, a very good marriage.

 

I come also to Ivan’s to train because there are different training partners. I have great training partners at AMC but sometimes when you train all the time with the same partners, you can figure out their tactics and I don’t grow as fast. I like to mix it up a little with Ivan (Salaverry) and Otto (Olsen).

MWW: There is a story that is told about you rolling with Antonio Nogueira and that you gave him all he could handle.

MM: (Laughs) Well I do not know about being all he could handle. I was at a seminar that he was holding. My agent and his are the same; I’ve met him a few times.  He and I went on a roll. He is very good, very strong. We went for 15 endless minutes; it was hard to hold him. I respect him as like, my idol. I would like to be as good as him someday. When we roll, he could not pass my guard and I did not get submitted by him. It was very good for me like that.

MWW: What is it Mario that you see on the horizon as far as furthering your career.

MM: I just am going to keep working and improving. Hope to get an offer from the bigger promotions. My record is building and my victories in ICON and the title-holder in Sportfight will hopefully get the attention if I continue to keep doing well.

MWW: There have been no offers contrary to rumors about you being offered contracts in the UFC or Strikeforce to Rodrigo Noguiera?

 

MM: (Smiles) No, none at this time