PFL’s Matheus Scheffel Getting Help from Psychologist to Deal with Pressure

Professional Fighters League 2022 heavyweight runner-up Matheus Scheffel is working on harnessing his power and focusing on reaching 2023’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 in the PFL championships in November. “Buffa” spent some time thinking about that November defeat and bravely admitted he dealt with too much pressure at the time. The 30-year-old Brazilian 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 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.”

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:29) Being excited for 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
(06:48) The biggest takeaway from his first PFL season
(08:29) Dealing with pressure
(09:40) Going to the psychologist
(10:54) Outro