Antonio Carlos Junior

BIOGRAPHY

Antonio Carlos Junior (born 3rd March 1990) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Antonio started his martial arts journey at an early age by learning karate and jiu-jitsu with his father, a black belt practitioner of both disciplines. After reaching purple belt status in Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 15, Antonio moved to São Paulo to further pursue his dreams of becoming a professional fighter.

At only 19 years old, Antonio signed with World Series of Fighting and made his MMA debut against David Gomez at WSOF 9: Carl vs Palhares. He won via submission due to an armbar in round one and would continue on this winning streak for four more fights before signing with UFC shortly after winning the Middleweight title for Jungle Fight organization in 2014.

In the UFC he has competed against notable fighters such as Patrick Cummins, Cyril Asker, Marvin Vettori and most recently Ian Heinisch who he beat via rear naked choke submission at UFC Vancouver last June 2019. Currently ranked #13 Heavyweight contender within the promotion’s rankings; he holds one Performance of The Night win over Chris Camozzi back in 2016 during their bout for UFN 88: Bader vs Nogueira 2 held in Brazil where he submitted him via triangle choke just two minutes into round number three.

Outside fighting camp Antonio is also known by various nicknames such as “Cara de Sapato” (shoe face) or “Shoeface”, which was given to him while still training under Tinguinha’s team because whenever they trained together someone always ended up looking like they had been stepped on with shoes! Despite being naturally reserved around people that do not have prior familiarity with him; when it comes time to defend himself or others close to him he can become quite aggressive but also very protective – as seen several times during interviews when asked about personal matters related either family or friends from back home .It seems safe enough then say that no matter what situation arises inside or outside octagon cage you can count on Shoeface’s loyalty & resourcefulness protecting those whom matters most!