Former fighter with a UFC dream, athlete from MG is looking for a place in the crossfit “world cup”, in the USA | South of Minas

Shortly after putting aside his dream of joining the UFC, Caio Paina, 23 years old, from Minas Gerais, could win a place at the CrossFit Games, in the USA. The athlete from Poços de Caldas (MG) is in the running to be one of the two teams representing South America in the competition, which is considered the “world cup” of the modality.

Caio Paina’s team is one of the 20 South Americans that will compete in the Copa Sur, in Rio de Janeiro, this weekend – between Friday (26) and Sunday (28).

Only two teams go to the “world cup”, which takes place from August 1st to 6th, in Madison, in the state of Wisconsin, in the United States. Paina is on the team also formed by Vinícius Zola, Lara Scarpini and Fabiane Carvalho.

If the team wins the vacancy, it will be only the second time that a team from Brazil arrives at the CrossFit Games. The first Brazilian team to reach the worlds also had an athlete from Poços de Caldas: Fábio Dechichi, who is a friend, training partner and works together with Paina.

– Having a training partner like Fabio is very good. He always helped me in the sport, he always gave me a parameter within the modality, giving me the whole experience. This is something that helped me a lot and I’m sure that if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have made it to a championship like Copa Sur. His help was essential. He is more than a coach, he is a brother – he said.

Paina has already practiced and competed in muay thai, boxing and jiu-jitsu championships, with the dream of reaching the Ultimate Fighter. In 2019, however, he got to know crossfit and, four years later, he could reach the world championships.

– I’ve always fought since I was younger, I’ve done muay thai, boxing and jiu-jitsu. My dream until then was to enter the UFC, but time passed. I ended up changing my mind because my training partners ended up stopping and in fighting sports we are very dependent on a second person to train at high performance – he said.

– That’s when I got discouraged, I spent a year without training or playing sports. But in 2019 I met crossfit. In the beginning, I didn’t think about being professional, about teaching. From 2021, however, I started to train hard to be an athlete in the modality – he completed.

Even though he is still waiting for the Copa Sur dispute and with the possibility of reaching the world cup, Caio Paina has already outlined his next goal in crossfit: reaching the TCB (CrossFit Brasil Tournament).

– My next sport goal, still for this year, is to qualify for the Brazilian crossfit championship, the TCB. For me it is the most important championship in the country. [Para disputa-lo] there is a selective in which only the 40 best athletes in Brazil qualify for the TCB – he pointed out.

Athletes from South America need to go through the Copa Sur to apply for a spot in the CrossFit Games. The competition takes place this weekend in Rio de Janeiro. The championship is disputed by 30 men and 30 women and 30 men, in addition to 20 teams.

There will be two spots available in each category for the CrossFit Games, which will take place from August 3 to 6, in Madison, Wisconsin, in the United States.

The competition brings together the best athletes in the world for the dispute, divided into male, female, teams, adapted and by age.