UFC Uruguay: Fighter leaves job as a lawyer and wins historic debut inside the Octagon
There's an unmatched thrill in following what you're passionate about. It's a liberating feeling when you finally get to do what you love after being shackled with delusion for a long time. It's downright satisfying.
That's what Luiz Eduardo Garagorri must have felt when he swapped the demanding courtroom for the unhinged Octagon. The Uruguayan Featherweight became the first fighter from the South American country to compete in the UFC at the recently concluded Fight Night 156 event.
The momentous occasion was made even more special as he fought in front of his countrymen and women in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. It gets even better. Garagorri won in his UFC debut after putting on an impressive performance against Peruvian fighter Humberto Bendaney. It couldn't have been scripted any better now, could it?
Born to a Brazilian father and an Uruguayan mother in Brazil, Garagorri is a native of Santa do Livramento, a city that borders Uruguay. The people living in this city also enjoy Uruguayan citizenship, and Garagorri is one of the many who have chosen to identify themselves as an Uruguayan and not a Brazilian.
So, what made an Uruguayan lawyer ditch a lucrative career to take up a perilous alternative such as MMA back in 2015? There may be fighting in law as well, but the adrenaline rush that comes along from throwing down inside a cage against another human being is an incomparable feeling.
As a professional mixed martial artist, Garagorri has never tasted defeat in his career and the latest came at UFC's first event in Uruguay when he got the better of Humberto Bendaney.
The fight wasn't an all-out slugfest but a methodical contest which slowly built up to a great finale. While Bendaney had his moments - which included landing 4 out of the 10 total takedowns attempted - Gargorri's superior Muay Thai and striking skills were the deciding factors. Gargorri attempted 120 total strikes, out which 69 hit the intended target. He stuffed a few takedowns and successfully completed one of his own. In the end, Gargorri managed to get a 30-27 from the three judges scoring the fight.
It was resoundingly loud inside the Antel Arena in Montevideo as the fans cheered for one of their own. It must have felt so good to be Gargorri as the referee raised his arms for the first time inside the Octagon.
He made a decision to quit his mother's law firm and took a leap of faith in the ruthless world of MMA. Four years down the line, and Gargorri has two MMA gyms to his name, an undefeated record of 13-0 (supposedly the best in Uruguay), and a UFC contract. Not too shabby, eh?