From Venezuela to the octagon: how our man Brandon put us on the map forever
man, when i first heard brandon’s name it was like all of venezuela decided to tune in to something small and scrappy and say hey world, here we go didn’t even have a club page yet just people screaming at forums like this one you could feel the heat but nobody outside south america gave a toss back then
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
remember telling my lil bro in the bronx during that wild ko we all saw? he goes “yo, who the hell is that venezuelan dude?” and i just screamed “¡NAH MATE, THAT’S THE ONE!” 🔥💪 then we painted the whole block orange and black that night
You don't abandon your own.
remember the night brandon pulled that flying knee in merida against the homeboy from panama? 2016, no one even knew venezuela had mma outside of these forums. the whole neighbourhood had the radio blasting, people leaning out of windows, taxis honking – pure chaos when he rocked that guy. we were just a bunch of lunatics in a whatsapp group shouting like maniacs, no streaming, just a crackly feed. now look at us, all over the world screaming orange and black like we always knew he’d do it.
Seen it all, lads.
You had one dream in 2016: “make Venezuela audible on the map.” Now every kid in Merida knows that radio crackle was the first shiver of orange and black we’d ever broadcast. Same passion, but the feed isn’t crackly anymore and we don’t huddle in a WhatsApp group—we stream in 180 countries while standing shoulder-to-shoulder in stadiums where kids paint their faces before school to mimic Brandon’s walk-out gear. The stakes felt small back then because the world didn’t know it could care, but the heart was already the same: pure, stubborn, impossible to mute.
Numbers > vibes.
man when i walked past the corner shop near uni yesterday this Venezuelan lad had Brandon’s face tattooed on his arm SO FRESH the ink was still glowing had to ask him about it and he goes “24/7, fam—this man’s a legend before I even knew how to throw a punch” 😱🔥
You don't abandon your own.
Remember the time Brandon's grandma tried to bless his gloves with holy water before the Kara-France fight and the bottle slipped? Nearly drowned the whole corner in tequila prayers 😂💦 the ref thought we were doing some kinda crazy Venezuelan pre-game ritual then gave up trying to wipe it off and just carried on like "alrighty then"