2022 Professional Fighters League heavyweight runner-up Matheus Scheffel is working on harnessing his power and focusing on reaching this year’s goal, the PFL championship.

Scheffel (17-9, 2-2 PFL) lost twice to Ante Delija in last year’s edition, including a first-round technical-knockout loss in the PFL championships in November. “Buffa” spent some time thinking about that November loss and bravely admitted he dealt with too much pressure at the time. The 30-year-old Brazilian fighter was very surprised to see his face on one of the Times Square digital billboards in New York City last year, which made him overthink ahead of the Delija clash. In the following months, Scheffel went to a psychologist to better discover himself and not allow his inner demons to hinder his in-cage performance. Scheffel will have the chance to showcase his improvements as he takes on Bruno Henrique Cappelozza at 2023 PFL 2 on April 7.

“I started to work with a psychologist. It has been very good for me, to know me better. I think before I beat my opponent inside the cage, I have to be my opponent [inside] here, you know? I think I learned to control the monster inside me, you know what I mean? If I control the monster inside of me, brother, if I know how to use this monster at the right time, I get invincible.”

(00:00) Intro

(00:29) Being excited about the new season

(01:00) Aiming to build and cement his legacy

(01:28) People not believing in him

(03:28) Proving doubters wrong

(04:23) Whether there was any animosity with Cappelozza last year

(05:46) His relationship with Cappelozza

(06:48) The biggest takeaway from his first PFL season

(08:29) Dealing with pressure

(09:40) Going to the psychologist

(10:54) Outro