Mario Piazzon Wants a War With Guilherme Uriel on DWCS

Mario Piazzon is back on Dana White's Contender Series this Tuesday, Aug. 25, and he's not pretending it'll be friendly. The Brazilian heavyweight meets fellow countryman Guilherme Uriel at the Apex in Las Vegas, and the two touched foreheads during the final face-off after Monday's official weigh-ins. Piazzon says the tension suits him just fine.

This is his second crack at a UFC contract. His first came in September 2023, when he was the night's biggest underdog against Alexander Soldatkin and walked out with a win — albeit an ugly one, via disqualification after Soldatkin landed an illegal knee in the third round. Neither man got signed that night, but Soldatkin eventually made it to the roster, where he now sits at 14-4 with 10 knockouts.

Piazzon told MMA Fighting that Uriel blocked him on Instagram while he left his own page untouched, and he insists the bad blood is one-directional. His warning was blunt: if Uriel looks at him wrong at the face-off, things get ugly early, and he plans to bring that energy from the opening bell anyway.

The Loss That Reset Everything

The road back wasn't smooth. Piazzon's third fight after his first DWCS run was a stoppage loss in under three minutes to journeyman Alex Junius in Sao Paulo — a man who carried a 15-39 record and had dropped 20 of his previous 24. Piazzon calls it the biggest learning experience of his life. He'd been winning so consistently that he thought he was untouchable, and he says he showed up apathetic and paid for it.

He frames the defeat as a lesson in respect: every opponent is chasing the same dream, and none should be written off. That mindset shift, he says, changed him more as a person than as a fighter.

What He's Bringing Tuesday

Uriel arrives off a rough patch of his own, having been finished by Josh Hokit on the 2025 season of Contender Series. Piazzon respects the grind but not the gap in levels. He said he won't underestimate anyone anymore, then immediately promised that once he gets his hands on Uriel, the fight won't stay standing — and that when he puts him on the mat, he intends to open his face up.

It's the kind of talk that either backs itself up or blows up in your face. Piazzon believes he has top-15 UFC potential, and after the long detour to get here, Tuesday is his chance to prove the Junius loss taught him something.