Singer MC Livinho proud to represent Fighting Nerds in the ring: ‘Boxing saved me’

MC Livinho | Photo via FMS

SAO PAULO — MC Livinho burst onto the Brazilian music scene in 2008 as a funk singer, but fighting was always in his blood. With the explosion of influencer boxing around the world, he found an avenue to go back to his roots and deliver knockouts in the squared circle.

At 2-0 in boxing with back-to-back finishes over Brazilian celebrities Dynho Alves and Felipe Alves, MC Livinho re-enters the ring Saturday to face comedian-turned-boxer Lucas Veloso at Fight Music Show 6, the country’s most notable influencer promotion, on May 17 in Sao Paulo.

“I had a very troubled and aggressive childhood,” MC Livinho (real name Oliver Decesary Santos) told MMA Fighting after a training session at the Fighting Nerds gym in Sao Paulo. “God blessed me both spiritually and financially and I was very successful when I started my career in funk. I had to work hard for many years, and doors were open for me.”

MC Livinho tried his luck in football (soccer), another passion of his, but boxing ended up being his avenue in sports. He was so gifted as a child he earned a scholarship in a kickboxing class, but quit after two months. Years later, now successful as a funkeiro with more than 13 million followers on Instagram, MC Livinho decided to go back to the ring.

“I had my first contact with boxing in 2019 and from that moment on, I realized I could unleash all my anger and trauma, everything I was carrying over my shoulders every day,” MC Livinho said. “Boxing saved me. It disciplined me, it got me in a right place, and from that moment I was challenged — I was one of the first [funkeiros] to train boxing, and I was challenged by Dynho Alves at FMS. That’s when I started preparing to compete against influencers, and thank God I’m going for my third match now after two knockout wins.”

“I was doing it as a hobby, because I like boxing,” he continued, “but when I was challenged, from that moment on, I had no fear. I’ve faced so many adversities in my life, in many street fights, there’s no such thing as fear. But it was all very new to me. And when I got that invitation, I just kept going.”

MC Livinho knocked down Dynho Alves for the finish in 2023, and knocked Felipe Alves off the ring.

MC Livinho trains with Fighting Nerds coach Erick Terere and plans to continue doing it for as long as he’s having fun. Being around UFC stars in the gym, from Caio Borralho to Jean Silva to Mauricio Ruffy to Carlos Prates only makes him more excited for the journey.

“I got here when Caio was about to go to the UFC, and I saw Ruffy, Jean, Prates,” MC Livinho said. “I saw their beginning, them becoming stars. And now they’re on a rise, and there are so much more to come yet, like Jair Farias, Romulo Oliveira, Icaro Brito, Felipe Douglas, so many other monsters ready to fight here. They won’t disappoint when they get the call.”

MC Livinho won’t entertain the idea of transitioning from the boxing ring to MMA cages, but has a name in mind for a dream match in the squared circle: Whindersson Nunes.

A popular Brazilian comedian, Nunes won an amateur bout in 2019 and lost an exhibition against former world champion Acelino Freitas three years later, and has since gone 1-3 in exhibitions around the world. Nunes was on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson in November, losing a decision to Neeraj Goyat.

“I would really like to fight Whindersson Nunes, but he’s not that interested,” MC Livinho said. “I think he has other plans now, but it would be a fight that would add a lot to the influencer boxing movement. He’s already shown for a long time he loves boxing, just like me.”