Raulian Paiva scored the biggest win of his career last November, submitting UFC veteran Iliarde Santos in Brazil. Nine months later, he entered the Octagon to compete on the Brazilian version of Dana White’s Contender Series, earning a UFC contract with a win over Allan Nascimento.
The 23-year-old talent, who now held a 18-1 record in MMA, was on cloud nine.
Paiva was making plans for his Octagon debut, expecting to enter the American promotion in early 2019, when tragedy happened.
The Amapa native left a bar with his girlfriend Tieli Alves, who he started dating a month before his win over Santos, when they were struck by a car.