There were a lot of emotions flowing through Camilo, particularly considering his backstory and relationship with his family. When his father died during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Camilo decided to quit his MMA journey – but his mother would not let that happen. He went full-fledged into MMA and moved to the United States to train at Xtreme Couture, not seeing his family for years at a time.

Getting to tell his mother it was finally worth it was a moment Camilo will cherish forever.

“I wanted to do that surprise for her and she got so emotional, so emotional,” Camilo said. “To answer your question, after my fight in Korea and everything and I knew I was already in the UFC, I called my mom inside the event. She was crying a lot. Five years ago when my father passed, I wanted to give up. I didn’t want to fight any more. I wanted to work. I wanted to do another thing to change our lives because my father was the provider for our house. When he died, everything changed. It was going to be a hard life for us. I told my mom I wanted to give up. I wanted to work. I wanted to study.

“She told me, she came to me and said, ‘No, you’re going to keep following your dreams, go back to Rio de Janeiro, follow your dreams. Because that’s your dream and your father’s dream.’ That day in the event, I called her and she was crying. I told her, ‘Mom, this is for you, and thank you because you never let me give up. This is for you. She got so emotional – so emotional.”