Even now, long after the fight was set and deep into training camp, Bruno Machado still cannot quite believe it.
Given the opposition, the headline act, and the location, that’s perfectly understandable.
“Ah, man,” Machado says, followed by a lengthy pause. “It’s a dream … a dream. I have not enough words to say what I’m thinking, because it’s a lot of big things together at the same time. You understand?
“I never expected from where I came that one day this would happen to my life. There’s no way for me to expect that. Like, ‘Hey man, in the future I’m going to fight Anderson Silva, in the Burj Al Arab, on the helipad, with Floyd Mayweather heading the fight card’. Man, it’s unbelievable.”
Machado, the current UAE Warriors lightweight champion, finishes with a laugh, and that rather encapsulates the very thought of what is apparently to come next month.
That, on May 14 and, supposedly yes, on the Burj Al Arab helipad, the Brazilian will face compatriot and UFC great Anderson Silva in an exhibition boxing match as part of Global Titans Fight Series, a new combat-sports production with plans to stage events at “iconic locations across four continents”.
Other sites targeted, organisers say, include the Pyramids in Egypt, Niagara Falls and Table Mountain.
For the UAE launch, entitled “The Showcase in the Skies of Dubai”, Machado and Silva serve as the prelude to unbeaten former five-weight world champion Mayweather’s clash with fellow American Don Moore.
Naturally, as he speaks to The National following another intense session at Cobra Fitness Abu Dhabi gym in Al Bandar, Machado is relishing the chance that came almost out of nowhere.
“To tell you the truth, I really don’t know [how it happened],” he says. “But in my opinion, it’s maybe because I’m the UAE Warriors lightweight champion and I live in Abu Dhabi, so maybe they saw a good opportunity to put me against him. But I really don’t know. It’s a gift from God.”
Much like Machado initially, his friends and family back home in Rio de Janeiro could not quite believe it either. Since, though, the long-time Abu Dhabi resident – Machado moved to the UAE in 2013 and teaches jiu-jitsu in the military – has been inundated with messages of support on social media. There has been a steady flow of interview requests from Brazil, too.
The interest has no doubt been piqued by Silva’s involvement. The Brazilian is considered one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time, a former UFC middleweight champion who holds the record for the longest title reign in the promotion – 2,457 days – despite leaving in 2020.
Silva, 47, has since shifted to boxing; last June he defeated former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, before in September he knocked out former UFC light-heavyweight title-holder Tito Ortiz in only 81 seconds.
“In Brazil when you talk about sports … let’s say we talk about football, we have to remember Pele, Ronaldo,” Machado says. “We talk about F1, we speak about Ayrton Senna.
“So when we talk about MMA we have to speak about Anderson Silva. Because he changed the MMA style in the world. He’s a legend. I remember when he fought in the UFC, on a Saturday night, everybody back home stopped to watch. People made parties to watch him fight.”
Machado would often do the same, but now, thanks to this golden, bolt-from-the-blue opportunity with Global Titans, people will be tuning in to see him also.
“My friends from when we were kids, when they knew about the fight, they start to talk a lot and said, 'Hey, everybody here just talks about the fight. On the day of the fight we’re going to close the city, everybody’s going to watch on the big screen in the middle of the city'. It's crazy.”
It's why Machado says “there was no way for me to say no” when the offer to take part came. He knows Silva well, and not simply from the television set back in his homeland.
“We trained together in Brazil in 2011 until 2013,” Machado says. “We had some good sparring together at that time. He taught me a lot. A lot of things in my knowledge now, I got from him.
“He’s unbelievable, a very humble guy. He’s an amazing human. I was his friend back in 2011; we had good times together.”
Despite their divergent paths, the pair have kept in touch. Predictably, the correspondence has increased in the build-up to Global Titans.
“Last time we talked he said to me, ‘Be careful, man, you’re not to hurt me. I said, ‘No, no, I won’t’. Before, when we knew the fight was confirmed, he messaged me to say, ‘Everything’s fine now, let’s do a very good show for the people. I said, ‘Yeah man, let’s go’.”
To that point, Machado is keen to stress that “exhibition” does not mean he or Silva are taking the bout lightly. In fact, Machado has brought a coach and a sparring partner over from Brazil to help prepare. The stakes, he emphasises, are high.
“I’m expecting something very good from this fight,” says Machado, who defends his UAE Warriors crown in June in Abu Dhabi. “More doors are going to open to me, I hope.
“People are expecting us not to do something good, but believe me, we’re going to do something very good. We’re training very hard. I know him, I know he’ll come ready to fight. It’s an exhibition, but people can expect a very good fight.
“We have to take it very seriously, because we have reputations to protect. He’s a UFC legend; I’m the UAE Warriors world champion here. So if we go there and don’t do something serious it’d won’t be nice for us. At the end of the day, from the heart we are fighters. We are there to fight.
“I’m trying to make it very clear for everybody: I have a good relationship with Anderson, he helped me a lot in the past. But, at the same time, we are professionals.
“From my side especially, I’m very hungry. I really want to fight, I want to put on a show with him there. And I hope we can do something very special for everybody.”
Machado, who rides a six-fight win streak in MMA and says he “owes everything” to the UAE Warriors for the position he finds himself in today, believes the pressure is on Silva, given his resume and reputation.
Even if, he laughs, that might not necessarily impact the fight.
“He doesn’t care about the pressure,” Machado says. “I remember in the past, always when he had fights, he liked to go to the mall. He’s different … very different. His mind is another level.”
Machado’s mind, of course, is firmly in fight mode. Even now, smile wide, as he sits not far from wife Flaviane – also Brazilian, she teaches jiu-jitsu too, at an all-girls school in the capital – and young son Kauan.
“As I said, we are fighters,” Machado says. “For sure, until the warm-up finishes, I will be this Bruno you’re talking to now. But when the guys call us to go inside, I change. It happens all the time. I become another person.
“I really don’t care who’s beside me; I see nothing around me. I just focus inside the ring and the fight. Every day I imagine going to the fight, doing my warm-up, the walk, going to the ring. Every day.
“I’m very excited. I’m going to do something that will be in the history of boxing, for sure. Thanks to God for this opportunity.”
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
BLACK%20ADAM
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jaume%20Collet-Serra%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dwayne%20Johnson%2C%20Sarah%20Shahi%2C%20Viola%20Davis%2C%20Pierce%20Brosnan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Results
1.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh50,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Al Suhooj, Saif Al Balushi (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)
2pm Handicap (TB) 68,000 (D) 1,950m
Winner Miracle Maker, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
2.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mazagran, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
3pm Handicap (TB) Dh84,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
3.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Alla Mahlak, Adrie de Vries, Rashed Bouresly
4pm Maiden (TB) Dh60,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Hurry Up, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh68,000 (D) 1,200m
If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
Results
Stage 5:
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Jumbo-Visma 04:19:08
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 00:00:03
3. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers
4. Sergio Higuita (COL) EF Education-Nippo 00:00:05
5. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:06
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 17:09:26
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers 00:00:45
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:01:12
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Team Jumbo-Visma 00:01:54
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo 00:01:56
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
Hurricanes 31-31 Lions
Wellington Hurricanes:
Tries: Gibbins, Laumape, Goosen, Fifita tries, Barrett
Conversions: Barrett (4)
Penalties: Barrett
British & Irish Lions:
Tries: Seymour (2), North
Conversions: Biggar (2)
Penalties: Biggar (4)
