It took 20 professional bouts and two wins at Dana White’s Contender Series for Andre Muniz to finally fulfil his dream and become a UFC fighter — and for the people in his hometown of Montes Claros, Brazil, to see martial arts as a real career.
Montes Claros is a small town with less than 450,000 people located 260 miles away from the state capital of Belo Horizonte, and having a representative in the world’s premiere MMA organization is a big deal. Yet, that wasn’t the case back when Muniz was just another athlete trying to work his way up on the regional scene.