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During his official introduction in his American debut, Oliveira turned his back, only to have his opponent practice a little gamesmanship before the fight began. Where most would lose their cool, Oliveira took a poised, composed approach to the disrespect.
It wasn’t the first time Gooden had tried getting inside Oliveira’s head. The day before at the weigh-ins the loudest man in the room was none other than Gooden. Of course, Oliveira was unaffected by the strategy.
“I was not mad,” Oliveira explained. “At the weigh-ins I was just like, I want to eat my pizza before the fight and tomorrow we’ll talk. I don’t care about my opponents. I train a lot and I know what I can do. Maybe he was insecure, I don’t know. It’s happened before. A lot of opponents try to make me nervous or make me afraid, but I grew up in a place where I have to fight every day. Nobody can make me afraid.”
Afraid he was not. After the commentary team and even the referee got their laughs in, the fight started and Bruno Oliveira delivered an emphatic victory.