Martins sent this in:

The reputation of Wilson Gouveia inside the Octagon goes beyond his record. As he prepares for his tenth UFC bout against Alan “The Talent” Belcher Saturday in Memphis, Tennessee, Gouveia – a former light heavyweight now competing at middleweight – has become known for his action-packed style. And whether losing or winning, Gouveia has proved that he belongs in the organization, with everything he has gone through serving to transform him into a respected veteran.

“The world keeps turning, quickly,” he says. “We are going to my tenth fight inside the organization, and I feel very good here in relation to the UFC. I am an employee who never thought about the rankings or who is in front of me next.”

The bout with Belcher will be his fourth as a middleweight, a division that he started fighting in after his defeat to Goran Reljic in May of 2008. For him, the defeats (he also lost to Keith Jardine in 2006) were not the sole cause for him to cut weight, but a combination of the losses with the size of the light heavyweight competitors.

“I did not feel the difference in the strength, the main reason was the height,” he admitted. “So I took the opportunity to re-start as a middleweight.”

The re-start was not a wonderful one for this former car seller, who stopped his business career to pursue a dream in the UFC. Gouveia battled against the scale to reach the 185 pound limit at UFC Fight Night 15 in September of 2008. And while the fight against Ryan Jensen was successful for the Brazilian, the path he walked to get there was not.

“I feel okay fighting in both categories,” he says. “But to cut weight demands a rigorous diet, so that was a ‘new way of eating’ that I had to adopt. Of all the sacrifices that we’re making during training, the weight cut is the worst. But in the end, when the result is positive, all bad times are forgotten.”

And it reflected in that fight.

“When I faced Jensen I really felt the weight cut,” he says of the nightmare he lived through in the early stages of the fight. “I did not have strength, I was weak, and that was extremely weird for me. I think that after the weigh-ins I did not get to recuperate very well.”

The armbar sunk in at 2:04 of the second round sounded like a salvation for a performance that was not working well for Gouveia, and there was no doubt that for his next match he would come in better shape. Taking on Jason MacDonald at the TUF8 Finale in December 2008, we expected to see him cutting and fighting well as a middleweight. But again, the scale was not conquered.

“I did not reach weight by three pounds, and I suffered much more than my debut,” he says. “But the recuperation was better and it was followed by the way I fought against MacDonald. The truth is that when you lose or win you learn something from somewhere – it can be in the preparation, in the weigh-ins or in the match itself.”

Learning a lot, training hard and focused only in one direction – those were factors that Gouveia emanated when his third fight as a 185 pounder was officially confirmed. The foe was Nathan Marquardt, a former title challenger that Gouveia considered the best UFC middleweight after the kingpin, Anderson Silva, and the nearly 15 minutes that the fight lasted (Marquardt won at 3:10 of round three at UFC 95 in February) were not only tests for the mind, shape and stamina of the Brazilian, but a proof he can face the best in any weight class.

“A lot of people come with excuses when beaten, but in that time he was the best man and that’s it,” he said about his defeat by TKO to Marquardt. “I am working to improve my game and to become more complete, and I hope to face him again.”

Gouveia is also philosophical when it comes to the loss.

“If I did not come across like the winner it was because God did not want it,” he says of his last fight. “I am conscious that I am not prepared to face a guy of the caliber of Anderson Silva. Because of that, I am trying to improve as a fighter, not only technically, but psychologically too.”

But do not confuse realistic with afraid.

“One thing is a guy thinking he will beat the champion; but beating the champion is a completely different thing,” he says. “Silva is the champion because he is the best and that’s it. Of course, one day someone will take his belt, but until it happens, a lot of contenders will show confidence in beating him, but in the moment of the fight they can’t accomplish what they promised.

“I am improving. When you have a chance to fighting for the title you need to be 100% in everything,” he says of his current status. “The pressure is huge, because if you are not with a good head, you can’t fight well.”

Fighting out of Coconut Creek, Florida, Gouveia, 31 years old, has reached the stage of his career where a good victory is all he wants. Against Belcher – who coincidentally also has nine fights in the UFC – he will try to reproduce in the Octagon the versatility and quickness he has in the gym that all of his teammates are used to commenting on.

“Belcher is super tough, has good jiu-jitsu and sharp Muay Thai. I trained a lot, and if God wants it, all will work out for me.”

Like Gouveia, Belcher is coming off a defeat in his last fight, as he lost a split decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 100 in July. And when two guys hungry for a win are in the Octagon, the fans will be watching.

“I think the fight will be good because our styles are similar.” Gouveia said. “But coming back from the loss will add more motivation.”

Observing each fight as another step in his career, the Ceara native has what seems to be a solution to shine after the failure in his last fight, and that’s thinking about the future, not the past.

“If I was worried about the defeats I had, I would have stopped my career in 2003,” he says. “Each fight is different. This one will be different than the last one. So the formula is simple: I go to the Octagon and try to do my work. The result is a reflection of how you trained. All is in God’s hands.”