Vinicius Sacchelli Cenci and a Road Paved with Difficulty

Vinicius Sacchelli Cenci remembers his roots.

As the Brazilian approaches his latest assignment in the Professional Fighters League—he meets Antonio Caruso in a lightweight alternate bout at PFL 2025 World Tournament 6 on Friday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas—Cenci strikes an all-too-familiar refrain when talk turns to how he got his start in martial arts. It was born out of necessity.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the Semifinals of the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, June 20 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

“I started training because I suffered bullying in school,” Cenci told Sherdog.com. “I used to be very short, with thin arms, a round belly and messy hair. I only grew tall after I was already training. One day, a kid broke my nose in the classroom. My brothers, who always protected me, told me to start training so I could defend myself. At 13 years old, I had my first class. On the first day, I was paired up to spar muay thai against a girl who already fought as a professional. She beat me up. I switched to jiu-jitsu. I learned to like it. By the time I was about 15, our gym started putting together an MMA team. I was brought on since they needed smaller opponents. I was still reluctant to do any striking. About a month later, I was supposed to have a no-gi match. My opponent didn’t show up. I got switched to an amateur MMA bout. I fought and won. That was my start.

“I still had some fear when fighting, but because I wasn’t doing well in school, I decided to turn my attention to martial arts,” he added. “By 17 years old, I moved on to another academy, where I worked on improving my muay thai. I started entering tournaments. I ended up becoming the Brazilian amateur muay thai champion. I got to enjoy striking as much as jiu-jitsu. I kept working on both.”

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the Semifinals of the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, June 20 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+

Cenci eventually made his way to Evolucao Thai—now Brazilian TKO—to accelerate his development under Andre Amado. It was there that he encountered one of his most trusted mentors: Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Francisco Trinaldo.

“I didn’t have natural talent, but I trained as frequently as possible,” Cenci said. “Francisco saw how hard I trained, even though I was young and skinny. He took me under his wing. I used to get beat up. At first, the other guys thought I was just a ‘playboy,’ a spoiled brat, but I spent my entire days training. I did that from 18 to 25 years old. My usual routine was to take two buses in the morning, come to the gym with food in my backpack, train in the morning, shower, rest and eat, train in the afternoon and often help ‘Massaranduba’ with pad work in the evening. I’d get back home by 8 p.m. I did that for over five years. I proved to everyone that I wasn’t a ‘playboy.’”

Now 29, Cenci has relocated to Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, California, where he hones his skills under the legendary Rafael Cordeiro. Eager to make his mark in the PFL, he has fixed his sights on Caruso. “The most important fight is the one in front of me right now,” he said. A Kill Cliff Fight Club rep, Caruso enters the cage on the strength of back-to-back victories.

“My team and I have studied him,” Cenci said. “He’s experienced. People may think I haven’t done as much in the sport, but my experience comes from always training hard against top fighters. I was a cornerman in UFC events more than 10 times. I may be younger than my opponent and less experienced on paper, but I’m confident I’m better than him in every facet of the sport. He has never been knocked out or submitted. I believe I’ll be the first to knock him out. I don’t think he’s ever faced someone like me.”