MMACanada.net speaks with Antonio 'Pato' Carvalho

Chasing a Dream; Antonio Carvalho’s Struggle to Fight
By: Sean McManus

When prominent Canadian Mixed Martial Artists are mentioned, the likes of Georges St. Pierre, Patrick Cote, Jason MacDonald and Dennis Kang come to mind.  The name Antonio ‘Pato’ Carvalho has yet to make a blip on the mainstream radar.  Although Carvalho isn’t a household name in the North American MMA scene, he has built himself quite a reputation in the land where heroes are made and the philosophy of the sport was born – Japan.  Unless you follow the Japanese grassroots scene you wouldn’t realize that at one point in his career, Antonio was ranked as high as number three on substantial top ten lists for 145lbs.  

After successful early career victories throughout Canada’s grassroots scene, Carvalho (10-4) jumped at the opportunity to fight in Japan.  The majority of his fights in the Far East were with the Shooto organization.  He shocked the Japanese community by defeating rising star, Takeshi "Lion Takeshi" Inoue back in 2005 in his debut with the organization.  His next fight in Shooto pitted him against one of his heroes in the sport, Rumina Sato.  Antonio’s TKO victory early in the 2nd round garnered him a host of Japanese fans.  

Trying to make a name for himself in Japan came with its’ price.  “Japan is a very expensive place to live, from the food to the housing – it’s definitely not cheap”, states Carvalho.  Throwing himself into an entirely different world proved to be difficult for the 29 year old; “I was totally out of my element, a foreigner in Japan working on an entertainment Visa – I had to make ends meet by taking odd jobs”.  Carvalho, always the consummate professional was hesitant to reveal that the ‘odd jobs’ were bona fide modeling shoots.  Antonio struggled to make ends meet to even have enough money left over to fly home.  On one occasion he took a fight simply to be able to pay for his ticket home.  His last plane fare came at the hands of the Dream organization.  While in Japan, Antonio became close friends with Dream’s current lightweight tournament winner, Joachim Hansen.  Joachim took Carvalho on as a corner man and training partner; “Dream paid for my plane ticket home because I was basically hired to be a corner man, that’s how I got home” says Carvalho.  

He is neither quick to reveal nor quick to defend his losses in Japan by stating that during most of his time spent there he fought injured.  It is common knowledge that most fighters do fight with some type of injury, however, separated shoulders and torn knee ligaments do not usually fit that bill.  

Antonio’s struggles while there ran deeper than injuries and a need for careful money management.  He had his Visa cut short on one occasion and this constantly posed a concern.  He also dropped his last two fights in Japan, moving him off of any top ten lists.  While Antonio is confident in himself as a fighter, his sentiment of honesty tells the tale;

Somewhere along the way I lost focus – in training, and in fighting.  I also had other personal issues going on at the time, but I lost focus…I’ve always had that fire to go in and win, but that fire was gone, I need to get it back.  

A factor which definitely played a part in Antonio’s loss of focus was the fact that he spent his entire time in Japan managing himself.  He took fights because first off he felt he could win – injuries and issues aside, and also because he felt he needed to fight.  “I think I can win, and that’s why I fight, or else I wouldn’t fight” states Carvalho.

Antonio is back home now in the Toronto area and is rehabbing his injuries and regaining his focus.  Carvalho trains out of Bruckmann Martial Arts in Oshawa, Ontario and hasn’t forgotten his roots, “Justin (Bruckmann) has always been one of those guys, he’s always looked at me like – ‘go, go forward, no matter what I’ll always be here’ – and he has, he’s always been that guy”.  He also now has a management team helping him plot his next steps.  “I want to fight before the end of the year”, states Carvalho.  He has some options to fulfill that wish, with EliteXC, WEC and the Dream organization all in the mix.   

Antonio’s time in Japan served him well, “I have no regrets about my time in Japan, I felt I had to have that life experience – kind of being chewed up and spit out and able to get back on my feet – living and fighting over there was something I felt I had to do”.  A refocused and reenergized Antonio ‘Pato’ Carvalho will definitely be making waves at 145lbs – and he may yet be a household name in the world of Canadian Mixed Martial Arts.

Sean McManus is the Director of Media Relations for MMACanada.net.  For more info on the Canadian scene, check out www.mmacanada.net

Photos by KOshots.com

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