If you’re wondering how a little known 22-year-old with just eight pro bouts under his belt got the short-notice call to face streaking welterweight Elizeu Zaleski, don’t worry: The man himself has been caught off-guard by the whole situation.
Luigi Vendramini didn’t even realize he was on the UFC’s radar when his agent called him last Friday to tell him that the world’s largest MMA promotion wanted him at the Ginasio do Ibirapuera this Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil for a bout with Zaleski. It had been only a week since Vendramini’s last fight, a first-round knockout of Lucas Eurico at a show in Brasilia.