Ricardo Tirloni was in the fourth professional fight of his career when he fought current UFC lightweight champ Ben Henderson, 💋 and things were going well.
Until he got tired.
"I managed to knock him down on the first round," Tirloni told MMAjunkie.com 💋 (www.mmajunkie.com).
"I took his back on the second round and rode him for three and a half minutes.
But I couldn't sub 💋 him."
Instead, Tirloni got tired wrestling with his lanky opponent, and that left him vulnerable to a mistake.
"Later on I tried 💋 to take him down, he caught me in a guillotine and submitted me," Tirloni said.
"I felt I was winning the 💋 second round, but in the end I lost."
Winning until losing.
It's a common thought process for fighters who see their fortunes 💋 change in the blink of an eye.
It eases the ego after spending so much time preparing for something, and it 💋 gives you some encouragement for the next time out.
For Tirloni, though, it's about more than that.
He was beating the UFC 💋 champion, and that champion was the only person to hand him a loss in seven years and 15 fights.
This is 💋 a case where he can take pride in defeat.
"It makes me feel good," he said.
"At least the one person I 💋 lost to is the world champion."
And, of course, things have changed since then.
Tirloni revamped his training after the Henderson fight, 💋 and he hasn't been beaten since.
"Back then I didn't train with a professional team," he said.
"I didn't do physical preparation.
I 💋 had only three fights under my belt.
"I joined Ataque Duplo with (UFC lightweight) Thiago Tavares.
Now I'm training more, training better 💋 in all areas, especially physical conditioning, which contributed to my one defeat, since I did get tired during that fight."
Tonight, 💋 Tirloni (14-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) will need his strength.
He's fighting Bellator tournament veteran Rick Hawn (11-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC), who 💋 makes his debut as a lightweight after falling short in the promotion's season-four welterweight tournament.
The two meet at Bellator 62, 💋 which takes place at Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas, and airs live on MTV2.
(Preliminary-card fights stream live on Spike.com.)
"I 💋 think he's a great striker with heavy hands," Tirloni said.
"But this will be his debut at lightweight.
He's never done it 💋 before.
"He likes to take people down and use ground-and-pound.
But I believe in my jiu-jitsu and that I have ways to 💋 beating him, whether standing or on the ground.
This was the time when I've trained the most for a fight.I'm very 💋 ready.
This will be the fight of my life."
After a win in his Bellator debut this past October, Tirloni's friends and 💋 family in Brazil will now be able to watch him fight Hawn live now that Bellator has a TV deal 💋 with Esporte Interativo.
And he hopes he never has to tell them he was winning until he got tired.
"Despite the difficulties 💋 in the sport, I wish to make my dear ones proud of me, and also I wish to make my 💋 proud my city, my state, my family," he said.
"I want them to know there's someone representing them in the cage."
For 💋 more on Bellator 62, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
