The cage fighter: A South Tyrolean dreams of the USA

“It is difficult to train in South Tyrol and in Italy in general. That’s why I decided to go to Ireland after graduating from high school two years ago,” explains Federico. In any case, the sport of mixed martial arts, or MMA for short, is still relatively unknown in South Tyrol. But: More and more interested people are following the fights in this country, which are shown live on pay TV and via streams, among other things.

This sport is particularly popular in the USA, has long been “mainstream” here and “now more popular than boxing,” says Federico. The fights of the US mixed martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) are followed by tens of millions of viewers worldwide. According to UFC regulations, the opponents compete against each other in a cage that is intended to emphasize the inevitability of the fight. “That fascinates me” “It is a versatile martial art. The mix, the variety, that’s what fascinates me about this sport,” says Federico. The fighters here use the punching and kicking techniques (striking) of boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo, Muay Thai and karate as well as the ground fighting and wrestling techniques (grappling) of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, judo and sambo. Other fighting techniques are also used.

Federico came to the sport because of Jiu-Jitsu. He trained in ground combat with his father from an early age. “When I was about 16 years old, I saw some MMA videos. We also had a UFC game on the Playstation,” he remembers. From now on his interest was in this martial art. He competed in his first Italian Championships in April 2019, where he also won the title in his category.

In fight mode: Raphael Federico (left) strikes

In November 2019 he finished 5th at the World Cup in Bahrain as a junior, and recently he impressed with 2nd place at the World Cup in Prague. At the end of November he wants to fight for the world title in Kazakhstan. Of course, the really big stars of the scene are not involved here. “You can find them in the UFC fights in the USA,” says the young South Tyrolean. He wants to go there in the medium term. His goal is to become a professional – and UFC champion – as soon as the World Championships are over. While he still has numerous fights every year as an amateur, as a professional he would only have three fights a year. “But then of course at the highest level.”

To get there, Federico, who celebrates his 23nd birthday on November 22rd, is working hard. In Dublin, where he works as a content moderator on YouTube, he trains six times a week - with two sessions a day. In South Tyrol it would be particularly difficult because you would have to change location for each individual discipline - from boxing to karate. “And even then you can’t fight at such a high level.”

Kicks are also included: Federico (here in the blue jersey) during an international fight.

“The Italian Dream” A role model for the young South Tyrolean comes from Trentino. The 28-year-old Italian Marvin Vettori from Mezzocorona, known as “The Italian Dream”, has been a professional since 2011 and regularly fights in UFC fights. In his weight class (middleweight) he is ranked 5th in the world. Vettori now lives and trains in California. Federico also wants to make it that far - and fulfill his own dream.

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The cage fighter: A South Tyrolean dreams of the USA

Punches, kicks, tough fights: the full-contact martial art MMA is becoming increasingly popular. And a South Tyrolean is right in the middle of it all.

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