Born in Rio de Janeiro, Renato Verissimo was playing water polo in 1987 when his teammates encouraged him to join their Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes.

"My friends went to train in Jiu Jitsu at the time, and I’d done some Judo and water polo during high school, so I went to Jiu Jitsu just for fun. As it turned out, I kept going to the classes, but all my friends stopped," says Verissimo.

Renato went on to become a BJJ blackbelt instructor, later moving to Hilo, Hawaii, where BJ Penn became one of Renato’s students. When BJ started competing in the Octagon, Renato also became involved in Mixed Martial Arts. Verissimo then made his own Octagon debut at UFC 46 against MMA veteran Carlos Newton, with Renato winning by unanimous decision.

"It was a good fight. I’d trained for that kind of fight for so long. I saw Carlos in ’97 competing in the same competition I was in, called Contenders. Soon after that he started competing in MMA, and then I saw him again after so long. This time we were fighting each other. In ’97 we fought different opponents."

Verissimo returned to the Octagon at UFC 48 to fight Matt Hughes. Although Matt won the bout by decision, many thought the decision could have gone either way. But Renato isn’t too concerned about a rematch.

"As far as attacking is concerned, I think I tried to do a little bit more than Matt did. But I think it was a bit of a wake-up call for the judges. I think they need to follow some sort of rules or agenda when judging, because I don’t think they have any ground contact experience. But it’s a pretty new sport, and you don’t really believe what other people say, anyway.

"I would welcome a rematch with Matt, but if he fights the same way that he fought me last time, I will choose somebody else. But if he comes out to fight, and show everybody how good he thinks he is, that would be great. I would definitely fight him again. I definitely fought pretty bad, so I’ve got to go there myself and show that I can fight much better than I did. And I believe he can fight better than he did."

Renato is a person who enjoys life, and even displays a boyish smile before entering the Octagon to do battle. Whilst many other competitors put hours into fitness training at the gym, Verissimo works his cardio by practising his favourite pastimes: surfing, hiking and cycling.

"I’ve always been an outside guy, and I don’t like to put too much time into the gym. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I do gym work. But for preparing for a fight, I don’t really need that, because my life has always involved swimming and outside activities. For my fighting style, I’m not the kind of guy who needs to do 700-lb squats. I’ve just got to be able to use my reach and my technique.

" To be honest, I’m maybe lazy for the gym, but I love to go hiking and do climbing. I used to do a lot of climbing in Brazil. I think those things are better…not being out of contact with nature…swimming in the ocean. I think they give you some extra kind of power for your mind. I kind of believe in those sort of things."

Renato was heavily into body boarding in Rio, but put surfing on hold for five years to focus on BJJ competition. When he moved to Hawaii, Verissimo took to the waves again and now incorporates the surfing in his cardio training for the Octagon. He says he’d be happy to mix business with pleasure and catch a few waves in Australia if any promoters are interested in bringing him out for a seminar circuit.

"I have a friend in Australia who keeps telling me about the surf spots there. So I always keep it in my mind. Right now I’m focused on training for my upcoming UFC and BJJ fights, but I’m going to put a little more effort into getting the word out that I really miss doing seminars and teaching. When I first moved to the States I concentrated on seminars from ’97 until about 2001. After that I was mainly into the training, but I really feel like doing the seminars again - meeting some good people and sharing some techniques. It’s always enjoyable. If any promoters in Australia are interested, my surf trips can get in sooner that way."

"For competitions, usually two times a day. Yeah. Before it used to be more, but for this sport, you've got to really take care of your body. It's not like Jiu Jitsu where you can train three times a day. The chance of getting hurt in MMA is pretty high, so I train twice a day…once a day. I do some cardio, some techniques. I like to do techniques over and over. And at nights I do hand work, or ground work. I just go with the flow."

"Charuto is a cigar. Back when I was competing in water polo, there were two of us named Renato. I was taller and skinnier than the other guy. I was tanned and really dark from body boarding all the time. So the coach looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you look like a cigar’, and called me Charuto."

"I think he’s going to try more. I don’t think he’s the type of guy who’s going to be worrying about strategy too much. He’s going to try to play his game, I think. Hopefully, he’s going to come out to fight. That’s the only thing I wish happened with Hughes. People try to take me down and keep holding and holding. So hopefully he’ll come to fight and not worry that something might happen. I’m going to do my best to be more aggressive…more that I did with Hughes and Newton.

"So hopefully Frank will try more, but he’s a good wrestler and he doesn’t have bad hands. But as far as taking a punch, I know I can take his punch, but he’s going to have a hard time taking mine. But of course, I’ll always be ready for his takedown. Like I say, the fight is so unpredictable…I’m more prepared this time. My hand feels way better than when I fought Hughes: My thumb wasn’t the best and I couldn’t train to my best ability. But everything is going well this time and hopefully it will stay that way."

"It’s hard to say. That’s what I think he’s going to be concerned about. I can submit him, I can trade with him to the point where I can knock him out. Whatever he can do in a fight I think I can match him. I don't think he's had the chance to train on the ground with the same calibre of people. He can hold me down, but for flexibility, strength and technique, I think I’m going to be the greatest challenge he’s had. But hopefully it’s going to be a good fight."