Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Randy Brown‘s match has been made official for the UFC 302. Both the fighters are coming from a win. Brown is on a two-fight winning streak while on the other hand, dos Santos’s last fight ended up in a draw. This would mark Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos’s third fight after he was banned by the USADA for a failed drug test.

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos has a moniker that suits his in-cage persona a bit too well. The Brazilian fighter is known as ‘Capoeira’ in the fighting world but why is dos Santos called that? Let us find out.

Born in Francisco Beltrao, Parana, Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos has always been fascinated by mixed martial arts. The Brazilian started training in MMA from a very early age. His base was something that is often sidelined by many fighters, but is essential to the culture of his native Brazil – Capoeira. Zaleski was only 9 when he started training in the signature dance-fighting style and by the age of 20 Zaleski started training in other forms of fighting.

Soon after, he started competing. For Elizeu Zaleski Capoeira means more than just a nickname and fighting style. It is everything for him. Zaleski is one of the very few fighters in the promotion who actively uses Capoeira in his fighting style and this is one of the prime reasons why he is nicknamed such.

One other fighter who used to rely on Capoeira is ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor. Remember how he went on Conan O’Brian’s show and demonstrated his Meia Lua kick? The Irishman used to use Capoeira kicks in plentiful early on in his career. In recent days, he has shifted to a more flat-footed boxing style, to the ire of many. But dos Santos has remained faithful to his style, even at the age of 37!

Now that we know the reason why he is called ‘Capoeira’, let us have a look at how this style earned him one of the biggest wins of his career,

Decoding the mystery behind the Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos’ ‘Capoeira’

Elizeu Zaleski’s fighting style can be debated, however, there’s one fight style that he always adds in his fights and that is capoeira. It must be noted that Zaleski’sfighting style has helped him defeat the former middleweight champion Sean Strickland when they fought against each other.

The Brazilian caught the former middleweight champion with a spinning heel kick to the head – a signature Capoeira move. Zaleski was staying loose on the feet during their UFC 224 bout. Strickland was pressuring forward, as usual, finding success. But the well-placed kick dropped him and eventually led to a TKO finish for the Brazilian with 1:20 left on the clock in the round. Following the stoppage, he celebrated by showing off a few high-flying Capoeira moves, reminiscent of Demetrious Johnson.

In his own words, Capoeira is something that comes to you naturally and it flows through you just like any other fighting style. “Capoeira is a sport that doesn’t have rules, so you can used pretty much everything you learn outside and bring into capoeira and work on your flexibility, agility, balance. You can do a movement and learn new movements, new weapons. That’s capoeira. It’s just like any other martial art. You won’t just box a guy in MMA, you won’t just kick the guy, you won’t just go to the ground with him. The name says it all, it’s mixed martial arts, and capoeira has always been part of it,” said Zaleski when having a conversation with MMA fighting.

The welterweight fighter further added that one can employ Capoeira just like Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. Nonetheless, as the spectrum of UFC is increasing day by day we could witness more fighters who employ Capoeira. What are your thoughts on Elizeu Zaleski’s fighting style? State your thoughts in the comments below.