Antonio Carlos Jr. is getting a home country fight at UFC 212 in Brazil, where he is taking on Eric Spicely in a middleweight division attraction.
The Brazilian wants to get the win over Spicely, then he would like a fight with former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman.
"I really want to grow in the division,” he said to Combate. “I was too immature when I first entered the UFC. I only had three professional MMA fights. I have been able to get better with each passing fight. This is my eighth UFC fight, so that brings you some maturity. Today, I'm a more complete fighter, more experienced and happier. I'm sure I'll get this win in Rio and then, after, I want to fight Chris Weidman. He has some history with Brazilians and I want to be face to face with him."
Carlos Jr. has won four of seven fights under the UFC banner and if he were to get a bout with Weidman, it would be the first former UFC champion that the Brazilian has ever fought.
A big career change the Brazilian recently made was the move to American Top Team, one that has been paying dividends for Carlos Jr.
"It's been great at ATT,” Junior said. “I got some really good guys training with me. I've been studying (my opponent) Eric Spicely a lot, because he's a wrestler, plus he just won his last two fights by submission, including one over my friend Thiago Santos. I need to stay smart even if jiu-jitsu is my specialty. I'm ready for anything and to implement my jiu-jitsu. In fact, I used to train very little wrestling in Brazil and it's one of ATT's strong suits. There's Olympic athletes, great champions. I evolved a lot and now I'm a complete fighter."
UFC 212 takes place on Saturday, June 3 from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with Jose Aldo and Max Holloway headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
