Cavalari calm and ready for GLORY 15 showdown with Spong

Saulo Cavalari (28-2, 18 KO’s) faces the fight of his life this Saturday at GLORY 15 ISTANBUL.

The 24-year-old light-heavyweight was an unknown when he debuted for GLORY last year with a polished performance against the experienced and established Filip Verlinden.

He followed that unanimous decision victory at GLORY 10 LOS ANGELES with an absolutely stunning knockout of the veteran Mourad Bouzidi at GLORY 12 NEW YORK.

The stoppage rocketed him up the rankings and earned him a call-up for this weekend’s Light-Heavyweight Championship Tournament, where he will line up alongside superstar names Tyrone Spong (90-5, 60 KO’s), Gokhan Saki (79-16, 56 KO’s) and Nathan ‘Carnage’ Corbett (57-4, 45 KO’s).

Cavalari stands on the edge of achieving a dream which has fuelled him since his early teenage years. Growing up in Curitiba, Brazil, he was surrounded by legends of the fight game almost as soon as he started training.

"Look at all the fighters from my city: Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva, Jose-Pele Landi Jons, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and everyone. They all started with Muay Thai or kickboxing and did that for four or five years before they went into jiu-jitsu and MMA,” he says.

"I just always wanted to be a kickboxer. This is the kind of fighting I like. I trained some jiu-jitsu and I respect the ground-fighters but I don’t like it, it is not for me. I like striking fights," he says. "If you are from Curitiba, the striking is in your blood.”

Cavalari isn’t just name-dropping either; he has a direct connection to those MMA stars. His coach Fernando Falkenbach was a fighter and trainer at Curitiba’s legendary Chute Boxe gym and it was there that Cavalari started training himself.

"I started with Chute Boxe, same time as Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, ‘Shogun’ Rua. I trained boxing with Osmar Diaz. I trained with Rafael Cordeiro, a lot of different guys. Saulo was at Chute Boxe as well but a while after me, and he was only young," he says.

"Then seven years ago I left and opened my Thai Brasil gym. It was just before Wanderlei left Chute Boxe. I used to train a lot with Wanderlei. I helped ‘Shogun’ for his fight with ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira… I trained with him for three UFC fights as well, Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson.”

Falkenbach earned his Muay Thai black belt - Chute Boxe had a grading system of its own - around the same time as Wanderlei. He also trained extensively with Anderson Silva, the former UFC middleweight champion.

Falkenbach knows what he is talking about when it comes to pedigree fighters. So when he says that Cavalari was born to do this, it is worth taking note.

"Saulo Cavalari was made for the fight game. Everything in his life has brought him here," he says.

"He never had his father in his life, his mother died few years ago. It has been difficult sometimes. He has had no money, life has been hard. No parents to pay for his training or anything.

"But he has been very, very dedicated and he has been training for this dream. Everybody who sees him says he was born to fight, he was made for this.

Fighting for him is everything. It is do-or-die. He is very, very hungry, incredibly hungry. This is his total focus. This weekend’s tournament at GLORY 15 ISTANBUL is what it has been all about. The road he has walked has brought him here.”

“His focus is perfect. He wants this. And so this weekend we achieve the dream, starting with the fight against Spong."

As for Cavalari, the fighters he has long looked up to continue to provide inspiration for him. But there is an added layer of motivation this weekend because Cavalari has the chance to achieve what none of them, despite their shared love of Muay Thai, was able to.

“Carrying the flag for Curitiba is a big motivation for me, for sure. But what is an even bigger motivation, is that all these legends from Curitiba, they were champions in MMA. We didn’t have a world champion in kickboxing yet, and that is what I want to be,” he says.

"I want to be the first fighter from Curitiba who brings home a world title in kickboxing."

That is an ambitious statement from a prospect who is about to face world-elite opposition for the first time but Cavalari - nicknamed ‘Cassius Clay’ for his heavy hands - doesn’t feel at all intimidated.

“I don’t feel overwhelmed or star-struck or anything. This is where I want to be, this is the mission. And I feel good, there is no pressure on me," smiles the calm Brazilian.

"Can you imagine how it is to be Saki or Spong right now? They are under so much pressure, expected to win. I don’t have even half of the pressure that the other guys are under.

"I am feeling ready for war. My fight isn’t with these guys, my fight is with life. For me this is life or death. I don’t care about the belt, I don’t care about the money. I am fighting for the victory. After the victory, everything else will come."

GLORY 15 ISTANBUL takes place this Saturday April 12 in Istanbul, Turkey and airs in the US on SPIKE TV at 8pm CT.