Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Introduction - by Sriram Muralidaran

The UFC has a tradition of being violently ambivalent towards a specific mold of fighter, in the sense that they very rarely get timely steps up; in fact, many of the great fighters that they face are intended solely to force them back down the rankings, because they’re a perfectly inconvenient blend of danger and blandness. This is, of course, the uncharismatic Brazilian counterpuncher.

Two of the best never to fight for a belt (Raphael Assuncao and Jussier Formiga) both fit this archetype, and both were most recently frustrated in extremely similar fashion; in fights that should’ve been for interim belts but weren’t, after defending their spot at the top against high-risk opponents multiple times, against opponents who had already proven to be immensely difficult for them to beat. In general, not only do those fighters not get their due from the promotion, they also don’t get their due from the public; even someone like Jose Aldo struggled with getting the respect he deserved until Conor McGregor showed up to the scene, and he’s up with the greatest of all time.

That said, Francisco Trinaldo’s tale is somehow even more ridiculous than the average; where the UFC at least pretended to be a meritocracy in giving the aforementioned fighters steps up before realizing that they don’t want them at the very top, “Massaranduba” simply never got a fair shake. He struggled to get a fight in the rankings, which (given his resume at the time) was genuinely comical, as his low-paced style and his age left the UFC hoping he’d just wash out sooner than later. To date, he hasn’t; he’s taken his losses to future top competition, but he’s remained a spoiler otherwise. Off a loss (not really) to Alexander Hernandez and at 41 years old in a young division, Trinaldo’s hopes at building the momentum to go at the belt are getting slimmer by the day; however, he still deserves much more respect than he’s gotten for being one of the most skilled and dangerous kickboxers that lightweight has to offer.

Striking - by Sriram Muralidaran

Trinaldo isn’t immune to the typical counterpuncher’s curse, which is just being forced into inertia by someone reluctant to engage; in fact, his last bout was marked by his opponent getting scared off by early counters and trying to do nothing but move and kick (with all the distancing acumen of Michelle Waterson). That said, against opponents who try to actually get some work done against him, Trinaldo has proven to be a menace, and he’s consistently a joy to watch when he can find his mark.

A good place to start might be the aforementioned showing against Hernandez; it has precious few real moments to look at, but it shows why so many fighters are forced into Massaranduba’s more deliberate fight to begin with.