Mario Pinto The Future of UFC Heavyweights at UFC Rio
In a division in much need of a boost Portugal’s rising star Mario Pinto is ready to explode into the rankings.
Mario Pinto Career So Far
Pinto made his professional MMA debut back in 2021 and now finds himself 10-0 within touching distance of the UFC top 15 rankings. Training out of London, the Portuguese star made a name for himself upon the European MMA scene. Joining LFL in March 2023 on a Heavyweight tournament fight night in Amsterdam. He won the tournament and became Heavyweight champion in LFL, defending his crown twice in the next 12 months.
At 8-0 in 2024 he got his shot on the infamous Dana White Contender Series against fellow undefeated prospect Lucas Camacho. He starched his opponent with a textbook left hook in violent fashion and earned a UFC contract.
After such a fantastic start to his career on the big stage his highly anticipated full UFC debut came with huge amounts of expectation and pressure. In March this year he made the walk against Austen Lane at UFC Fight Night Kape vs Almabayev. Lane had been in the UFC for some time and was a well known name. Pinto scored a phenomenal knockout in the second round and picked up a performance bonus for good measure.
This weekend at UFC Rio he faces a massive step up in Jhonata Diniz whose only defeat came against highly ranked Marcin Tybura. Diniz is four fights into his UFC tenure with a record of 3-1 and also has a second round TKO over Lane.
At 27 years of age Mario Pinto has a bright future ahead of him and a win against a Brazilian in Rio could well land him a spot in the heavyweight rankings. Furthermore the division has gone slightly stale and new blood is needed for the future of the sport.
