BY RYAN BEVINS, ON X (FORMERLY TWITTER) @BEVOIS
In the 2010 smash hit “Teach Me How to Dougie”, Smoove is immediately asked the song’s titular question. He then responds eloquently with the following verse: “All I need is a beat that’s super-bumpin’ and for you, you, and you to back it up and dump it… Put your arms out front, lean side-to-side… They gonna be on you when they see you hit that Dougie right.” In the world of Hip-Hop, these words mean one thing, but in the world of MMA, they have taken on a whole new meaning when this song starts pumping through an arena and Lerryan “Dougie” Douglas begins his walk to the Octagon.
The song is in fact an homage to the living legend Doug E. Fresh, also known as the “Human Beat Box”, who is the pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing. The group that performed the certified double-platinum single was known as the Cali Swag District and while the group no longer exists, the song lives on with a new group of Californians known for their swag in MMA. This new group known as Bloodline includes (but is not limited to) its founder and UFC Hall of Fame member Cub Swanson, UFC stars / LFA greats Dan Argueta and Danny Silva, as well as current LFA stars Lerryan Douglas and Richie Miranda.
“It’s a funny story,” Douglas told LFA.com. “When I met Cub (Swanson), I introduced myself like I usually do in Brazil: Lerryan Douglas, but it’s really hard for Americans to pronounce my name. When I was in New Mexico training with Dan (Argueta) at Jackson-Wink, he said: ‘I’m gonna just call you Doug.’ So when I met Cub, Dan said: ‘Just call him Doug’ and Cub said ‘Okay. Dougie’ and then it just started from there.” (haha)
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UFC Hall of Fame member Cub Swanson (right) has taken Lerryan Douglas (left) under his wing.
The man that gave him his memorable nickname “Dougie” has also taken him under his wing on the mat. Cub Swanson was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022 and is a pioneer for the featherweight division in MMA. Furthermore, he is still an active fighter on the UFC roster that has worked wonders with current UFC stars and LFA greats Dan “The Determined” Argueta and Danny “The Puma” Silva. Now he is doing the same with a raw talent in Douglas and the young Brazilian couldn’t be more grateful.
“It’s an honor having a legend like Cub everyday on the mats and helping me to improve with his knowledge and huge fighting experience,” stated Douglas. “The most important thing he’s been helping me with is how to fight smart and use my weapons at the right time. It’s scary training with him sometimes (haha). He is very versatile in striking and really good in grappling.”
The UFC Hall of Famer sees a similar scary side to Douglas’ striking power and is happy to add the missing pieces to what is now one of the most exciting featherweight prospects in MMA.
“Dougie is the full package and he is scary,” Swanson exclaimed. “I think the one thing that was holding him back was really just the belief in himself and that only comes because he has losses on his record… and that comes from him not ever being managed and coached the right way. He’s somebody that was just everyone’s training partner, so he never had the attention. When he came to me, he had a pretty lopsided record and I’m like, this doesn’t make sense… when I watch him in the room, he is dominating. Wrestling, grappling, striking, right? So what is the problem? Then you talk to him and you find out that he took his own fights, he didn’t even have coaches in his corner, and he got set up to be the fall guy, but still had good fights.”
Lerryan “Dougie” Douglas is friends and training partners with the legendary Cris Cyborg.
Douglas hails from the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, which is also the home state of MMA legend Cris Cyborg. This iconic woman is arguably the greatest female fighter of all time as she is the only woman to win world titles in the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, and Invicta FC. However, Douglas and Cyborg did not meet in their home state in Brazil, but after they had both moved stateside and made southern California their new home. The two Brazilian knockout artists have since formed a sibling-like relationship and push each other inside and outside of the Octagon.
“I met Cris Cyborg in 2016 in Huntington Beach,” Douglas explained. “One of my friends, Ivan Carmosino, is very good friends with her and she was in camp when I met her. Ivan scheduled a training session with her then we trained for a couple weeks. She is now like a sister for me. She’s been helping me a lot in my career and life. I live in her back house, so I get so see and talk to her every day. She motivates me a lot. I’ve never seen a person with discipline, dedication, and character like her in my entire life. She motivates me every day. I’m very excited to get this belt and come back to help her on her next camp that already started.”
Lerryan “Dougie” Douglas has been training alongside UFC stars / LFA greats Dan Argueta (left photo) and Danny Silva (right photo).
In May 2019, Dan Arguta began his MMA career. This was years before he became a star on TUF 29, won the LFA bantamweight world title, and became one of the biggest fan favorites in LFA history. The card that Argueta made his pro debut on was LFA 65 in Vail, Colorado and it featured six fighters (including him) that have now competed inside the UFC Octagon and a seventh that competed on Dana White’s Contender Series.
Two months after Argueta signed with the UFC, the LFA signed his teammate Danny Silva, who enjoyed similar success inside the LFA Octagon before shining in front of the UFC boss just 14 months later on Dana White’s Contender Series. Silva is now 1-0 in the UFC and was scheduled to fight this weekend before an injury forced him off the card. Then like clockwork, two months after Silva got his invite to compete in front of Dana White, the LFA signed Douglas. It doesn’t take a degree in mathematics to understand that the boys at Bloodline have identified a system that works and Douglas is enjoying every minute of it.
“Dan Argueta is one of my best friends and I’ve learned a lot from him, not only on the mats,” Douglas explained. “You know he’s a high-level grappler and he motivates me a lot to do great in my career and also in life. As for Danny Silva, he is a beast and it’s an honor having him as a training partner. We trained a lot together as we were fighting on the same weekend (Silva has since withdrawn from his UFC bout with an injury). It’s awesome because we are always pushing each other more and more every day.”
Swanson also sees something familiar to what is happening to Bloodline fighters now in the LFA to his time training at Jackson-Wink and competing in the WEC over 15 years ago. Swanson trained with future legends of the sport at Jackson-Wink in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They shared the dream of one day competing in the UFC, which is where many of them went on to become Hall of Famers, world champions, and household names. Some of those names include Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Leonard Garcia, Damacio Page, John Dodson, Brandon Moreno, Lando Vannata, Clay Guida, Isaac Vallie-Flagg, and then later, the standouts from the first season of TUF Latin America, which included Yair Rodriguez.
“It reminds me of when I was in the WEC, we were just waiting to prove it to everyone else what we already knew,” stated Swanson. “I believe that our room is that talented. It reminds me of being in the room at Jackson’s… full of a bunch of lighter, little killers. I truly believe our group can produce some real talent. We just got (LFA lightweight) Richie Miranda. We have (UFC lightweight) Rafa Garcia in the room with him. All these guys are getting ready at the same time. Then the last three weeks, we’ve been kind of pulling them away from each other and really focusing on individual skills and just making sure that they are hungry, rested, and ready to pounce on their prey.
Watch LFA 190: Chapolin vs. Siqueira
Lerryan “Dougie” Douglas scored a devastating TKO win against Nate Ghareeb at LFA 184.
The spectacular finish earned “Dougie” a title shot.
When top Brazilian prospects fight abroad, their counterparts and fans alike usually assume they have a solid base in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), which is Brazil’s most famous martial art. In the case of Douglas, that is no different, as he is a black belt in BJJ. However, he also possesses another skillset many of his countrymen are not known for. That is because “Dougie” is also a Brazilian National Champion in Wrestling. When you combine that with his signature knockout power, you have one scary prospect… and Douglas has been enjoying being a lethal jigsaw puzzle for his opponents.
“Yeah, I keep my opponents guessing, that’s for sure,” stated Douglas. “I started wrestling when I was 15 and I did it until I was 17. I was fighting MMA as an amateur and competing in wrestling at the same time.”
Douglas has used this deadly game of “pick your poison” to make a terrifying name for himself over the past 9 months and fans see this “counter-wrestling to hunt for a knockout” style as obvious shades of the influence that Swanson has already had on him. In his past two fights, Douglas has knocked out two of the biggest prospects in the featherweight division in Ivan Tena and Nate Ghareeb. More concerningly, his last opponent (Ghareeb) was carried out on a stretcher and taken directly to a hospital in an ambulance. This type of violent punching power is usually a genetic gift, but Douglas has also been finding creative and genius ways to fully tap into it.
“When I was 16-years-old, one of my coaches said that I had really heavy hands for my age, but most of my fights in Brazil were won by submissions and decisions,” Douglas explained. “I’ve been improving my boxing with one of the best coaches in the world at Diaz Training Camp in Indio, California. Coach Joel Diaz has been helping on boxing my last two fights, so it seems that he is doing a really good job.”
Swanson is the man that got Douglas working with his longtime boxing coach in Diaz and along with Swanson, Diaz has trained multiple world champion boxers including Timothy Bradley, Antonio Diaz, Julio Diaz, Ruslan Provodnikov, Israil Madrimov, and Abner Mares. Swanson has been loving the improvements, but also recognizes Douglas’ own unique strengths.
“We’re very different with our striking styles,” Swanson explained. “I would say we are comparable in the fact that we can both grapple and are more known for our power, but we are also definitely very different… I wouldn’t really compare us as far as our styles exactly, but I think he’s got very devastating power and it’s exciting to watch… and like I said, it’s the more confidence that he has and the more confidence that we keep getting from this winning streak. He’s gonna be scary.”
Lerryan “Dougie” Douglas celebrates a win with the Bloodline team.
Now that Douglas has surrounded himself with legends (Swanson and Cyborg), LFA greats (Argueta and Silva), and a fellow top LFA prospect (Miranda), the sky is the limit for the fierce Paranaense. This has all led him to the moment he has been waiting for this Friday, when he fights for LFA gold.
The man now standing in his way is a man he knows well. That is because Douglas won his last fight on the same card as Javier “Blair” Reyes. Both men won their bouts with impressive TKO victories just two bouts apart on the main card of LFA 184. Now they will return to the same venue in southeast Los Angeles County, which saw them earn their title shots in May. Reyes is the top MMA prospect from Colombia, he is in the midst of a massive 8-fight win streak, and possesses a unique skillset being that he is an expert in the agile discipline of parkour. All of that being said, Douglas is excited about the challenge and is ready to “hit that Dougie right” when he meets his South American rival in a winner-takes-all battle for LFA gold.
“I’m really happy to have this opportunity and I’m thankful to LFA for giving me a shot,” stated Douglas. “Having this title will open doors and definitely put me closer to my goal. I think Reyes is a good fighter, but so am I… On August 23rd, we are facing each other in the LFA cage and we are about to see who’s going to take home the LFA interim belt.”
You can watch Lerryan “Dougie” Douglas battle Javier “Blair” Reyes for the LFA Interim Featherweight Title in the Co-Main Event of LFA 190. The event takes place this Friday, August 23rd and it will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
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