The debuting bantamweight details the ongoing struggles that dominate his life outside the cage and his plans for making an instant impression when he steps into the Octagon for the first time this weekend against former champion Renan Barao.

On the day that Andre Ewell received the call to tell him he had been signed by the UFC, the Riverside, California resident was signing paperwork to ensure that he and his mother didn’t end up homeless.

“The homeowners that we were renting from basically wanted to give the house back to their son because he ended up moving back from overseas and needed a place,” says Ewell, explaining the circumstances that led to his mom facing the sudden prospect of having nowhere to live. That was the home he wanted and that was where he wanted to get back to.

“As for me, I was getting ready to move to another place with my best friend, Brandon, but I wasn’t going to let my mom be out there with no home, so we came together and tried to make the situation work. We made it fit to where she’s okay and I’m okay and everybody that’s with us is okay.

“So that’s how we almost became homeless is because I sacrificed not going on my own to make sure my mom was going to be okay,” he says. “In other words, I’m a Mama’s Boy.”

Ewell is also a father and for the last five years, the most important fight of his life has been taking place in the California court system as he’s been locked in a protracted custody battle with the mother of his son, Eli.

Remembering the date of his Octagon debut will never be an issue for the 30-year-old UFC newcomer, who faces off with former bantamweight champion Renan Barao on Saturday in Sao Paulo, Brazil because the day after is a date that he’ll never forget.

“(This fight is happening) the day before the anniversary of the last time I got to hold my son and have him in my arms, which was September 23, 2013,” explains Ewell, who will return to court in January for a hearing regarding his son’s mother petitioning to legally change his last name. “The whole reason I’m fighting, the whole reason anybody knows about me, is speaking to me comes down to him – my boy, Eli – and so fighting on September 22 is big.

“People don’t really understand how heavily the situation weighs on me, but I know that everything that I’m doing is for him and I’m going to continue to push for him.”

The only time that weight is lifted is when Ewell steps into the cage.

“I don’t get nervous because my mind is always with what is going on with my boy and all the B.S. that weighs on my mind,” he says. “But as soon as I walk in the cage, everything goes silent and (I’m at home), meditating. That’s how I look at it.”

That approach and his overall positive outlook on things will come in handy this weekend as he ventures into hostile territory to face a desperate Barao.

“It’s my show and I’m ‘Mr. Entertainment.’ That’s who I am and that’s what I’m going to continue doing is make things exciting.”

The Brazilian put together a 33-fight unbeaten streak to assume the top spot in the UFC bantamweight division during the initial years of Dominick Cruz’s prolonged injury-related absence. Stoppage wins over Michael McDonald and Eddie Wineland were bookended by tandem victories over Urijah Faber, the first a battle for the interim title and the second to solidify his place as the undisputed ruler of the 135-pound weight class.

Sporting a 32-1 record (with one No Contests) and three straight finishes in title defenses, Barao entered UFC 173 in the conversation as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. He has struggled ever since and heads into Saturday’s contest with Ewell on a two-fight skid, potentially in need of a victory in order to maintain his place on the UFC roster.

“I understand that there are three different versions of this guy,” says Ewell of the former champion he faces this weekend. “One is on a steep hill on his way out, so I know you’re going to get the hungry beast that knows he’s fighting for his job.

“Then you’ve got another one who thinks, ‘Hey, even though I’m fighting for my job, I know I have to be smart because this guy has good striking.’ And then you’ve got the other guy who is just going to try to take me down and eventually, I know he’s going to reach that point where he’s going to try to take me down because everyone that I fight turns into a wrestler.

“He was the pound-for-pound (best) and a former champion and (people) think the crowd is going to weigh heavily on me, but I don’t hear the crowd; the crowd ain’t there,” he adds. “It’s my show and I’m ‘Mr. Entertainment.’ That’s who I am and that’s what I’m going to continue doing is make things exciting.”

Currently riding a four-fight winning streak and boasting 11 stoppages in 13 career victories, Ewell is an intriguing addition the deep and competitive bantamweight ranks.

Standing 5-foot-11 and brandishing a 75-inch reach, the Apex MMA product has tremendous size for the division and a review of his resume shows a fighter who is equally capable of ending things on the feet or on the ground.

It’s pick your poison with the talented newcomer and he is confident that Barao will be faced with that unenviable choice this weekend in Sao Paulo.

“You don’t know what you’re going to get,” Ewell says with a laugh. “If you think I’m only a stand-up guy, I’ll mess around and choke people out. If you think I can only choke you out, I’ll mess around and knock you out.

“If it comes to wrestling, it’s going to be a bad day for him. If it comes down to (jiu jitsu), I know he’s a black belt and a dangerous, but I’m sneaky and dangerous and it will be a bad day for him. If it comes to that moment where he has to strike, it’s just going to be strikes on top of more strikes on top of more strikes until it’s like, ‘Hey – is your corner going to throw in the towel or are you just going to get dropped?’”

Given the way he has performed of late and everything that he is fighting for outside of the cage, coupled with the important place Sunday holds in Ewell’s heart, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see the surging UFC neophyte bounce out to the Octagon, smiling as the partisan crowd showers him with chants of “Uh Vai Morrer!” and delivers the type of performance that makes everyone sit up and take notice.

Not surprisingly, that is precisely how Ewell sees his debut playing out.

“The fight will be settled in the first round,” he says without pause. “First round, definitely. Everybody will end up understanding what is what in the first round. I know I’m going to bring the show and I know he’s going to bring it. All due respect, but it’s going to be one of my best performances.

“I’m bringing it to him.”