Rafael Rebello Returns Healthy on June 20th at VARNER vs. SHALORUS!

“He comes from a Muay Thai background and has a good record – 9-1 – and he’s been training jiu-jitsu with Ralph Gracie in San Francisco,” the 29-year-old Rebello said of his bantamweight opponent.

“Campuzano uses a regular stance and Cariaso is a southpaw, so now I need to find southpaw guys to train with. I’m lucky because I train at an awesome camp and we have a couple of guys that can play southpaw and help me out.”

Rebello, bearer of a 6-3 record, had originally been slated to meet Will Campuzano on the Edmonton, Alberta card, but injuries caused Campuzano to be bumped to a main card matchup with former WEC champ Eddie Wineland. Rebello is indifferent to the switch.

“I’ve had one year without a fight and I want to step up in the ranks and have a title shot someday, so every fight is important to me,” he said. “It doesn’t’ matter who I fight.”

Rebello’s resolve is evident. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has never been finished in his five-year career and trains at the vaunted American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla. Rebello, who graduated college in Brazil and had designs on being a physical education instructor, said he was simply visiting the United States back in 2005 and a lengthy layover at a Florida airport changed his life.

“I came here for Spring Break and all of the flights were really loaded so I wasn’t able to travel to Boston,” Rebello said. “I stopped here in Miami and I knew J.Z. (Gesias Cavalcante) from Brazil. I asked if I could stay at his house and that’s how I met all of the ATT guys. I fight for my family and my friends, not only for myself.”

He trains with a host of accomplished MMA fighters, including Mike Thomas Brown, Rafael Dias, former Olympic wrestling bronze medalist Alexis Vila and Brad Pickett, among many others. Rebello also teaches jiu-jitsu and MMA adults and children at ATT.

“Rod, Rod, don’t do that on the walls, please!” Rebello pleaded, briefly interrupting his phone interview with a reporter to quell the rising rowdiness of his hyperactive troops.

“Hey guys, come on! Easy, chill out!”

The gym, it turns out, is the center of Rebello’s universe and has been that way since he was a 13-year-old training jiu-jitsu back in Brazil.

“I am from the countryside of Rio, like an hour from downtown. I’m from the same area as Ricardo Arona and Paulo Filho and Thales Leites,” he said. “We grew up training and doing everything together and still have good relationships.

“In America I just have my wife; all of my family is in Brazil,” he continued. “But I have my Florida family here at American Top Team, and we help each other here. I have a lot of friends from Brazil so every time we need something we help each other. I talk to my family every day in Brazil on the phone and they’re really excited about the things that are happening in my life now.”

Rebello made his WEC debut last March against Japanese standout Kenji Osawa. It was predominantly a standup battle, yet many believed that Rebello scored frequently enough with his wild combinations to eke out a decision. Two judges saw it otherwise, handing Osawa a split decision.

“I still think I won that fight,” Rebello said. “I looked for the fight the whole time and never backed up. To me I won, I don’t consider that a loss.”

Three months after the loss to Osawa, Rebello rebounded with a rear naked choke victory over Kyle Dietz. But anyone who considers him to be mainly “a jiu-jitsu guy” has another thing coming, he said.

“I’m a black belt and they can consider me a jiu-jitsu guy, but I’ve been training MMA for five years so I’ve trained in striking, MMA and everything,” he said.

Not long after the Dietz fight, Rebello was sparring with Mike Brown.

“I punched his head and broke my hand,” Rebello said.

He had the hand set in a cast for six weeks or so and practiced his one-armed jiu-jitsu on his child students.

“When I returned to train again, I broke the same hand punching pads,” he said. “It was frustrating because I had two fights scheduled and wasn’t able to compete.”

For this training camp, Rebello pronounced himself healthy and said the hand has been a non-issue.

“I’ve been training real good,” he said. “I helped Mike Brown and Brad Pickett train for their last fights. I’m ready to do what I need to do.”