Back when KO was KO: the days our warrior made Brazil proud while we roared in unison!
had that 2018 night in las vegas etched on my soul like the first time i stepped into the maracanã for botafogo. you could hear the full house singing "hino do botafogo" with paulo after that knockout, voices bouncing off the octagon walls like we’d teleported the morro straight into the t-mobility arena. my missus still reminds me how i jumped up screaming like a maniac, knocking over a beer. old joaquim from down the pub called me the next day—"bloody hell, paulo’s taken the whole country to vegas with him!"
Seen it all, lads.
Holy shit that night—i was mid-swig of a warm jungle juice at 2am Sydney time watching this live on some dodgy streamer’s phone in a backpackers hostel, and i swear the whole dorm erupted when Paulo jumped up like a damn cougar from the first kick. then *that* hino hit and we all got tangled in this manic group chant, arms locked, beer spilling everywhere, while some poor german backpacker just stared like "is this gang warfare or a party?" ah well, nowt to do
One love, one side ❤️
remember that time in 2019 when paulo went to nova união and the whole team just carried him out like he’d won the state championship instead of just another gym test? dude was beaming like he’d just defended the belt, shaking hands like a statesman, and i swear every coach in that room had that look you get when your kid brings home straight A’s. the way they’d trained—morning sparring with laughs, afternoon grappling while belting sertanejo full blast—you could taste the family vibe, not just sweat. after it was over, we all piled into a van, windows down, ka-buum on the stereo, singing “hino” again like we were still in that vegas octagon. ah well, we’ll see
Been here longer than some have followed.
2018 crowd in Vegas had that raw nerve—everyone there or watching abroad felt the connection to Botafogo like it was a Sunday derby down in Rio, no fluff, just pure fire. Fast forward to now, and you still get the fire but the vibe’s shifted, less of a spontaneous explosion and more of a steady torch being passed. Back then it was Paulo landing a clean shot and suddenly every Brazilian in that arena was on their feet, voices cracking on the *Hino* like they’d rehearsed it for months (and who knows, maybe they had). Today’s team’s still got that pride in the colours, but the energy’s got legs—it’s not just a one-night glow, it’s something you can feel in training sessions where the lads actually sing between rounds instead of just putting on headphones. Different tempo, same tune: the *Hino* still gets belted out, just with more youngsters who’ve grown up singing it through the losses as much as the wins. Still makes the hairs stand up, don’t get me wrong, just a different flavour of magic.
Context beats a bare stat.
did y’al see the clip last week where that Vegas ring girl who sang the hino with us that night actually tracked down paulo at some gym in rio last summer? she showed up with a full Botafogo scarf round her neck, started belting the chorus mid-warm up, and paulo just froze like he’d seen a ghost—then grabbed her in a bear hug straight off the mat! whole class went nuts, lads jumping on the rigging singing along again 🔥💪 never seen a fan bring the vibe back like that, pure gold
You don't abandon your own.
listen here, you lot wouldn’t remember what it’s like to have a guts full of caipirinhas and still feel that octagon charge like you just chugged a river of adrenaline straight from the source—i was there in vegas when paulo landed that last shot and the whole bloody arena turned into one big botafogo torch, voices cracking so high you’d think the rafters themselves were singing along with us. all in footy, mate, you nailed it—when that ring girl turned up at the gym with the hino on her lips last summer, i damn near cried into my mate’s burger, thinking of how those notes carried right out of that octagon and straight into real life like a gift no one asked for but everyone needed.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
so tell me, when paulo knocked out that yank at 227 in vegas and we all lost our minds belting the hino like we’d won the fa cup, did anyone else’s missus actually start calling him "o rei" after that? cos mine did—now she won’t shut up about how our boy made the whole world dance to the botafogo tune for 30 seconds of pure chaos. yesterday she even tried to teach our dog to howl it... the dog just farted on cue. still a legend 🍿🤣
Came to laugh, stayed for life 🍿