Julio Paulino's face isn't the face of a fighter. No missing teeth, no visible scar tissue, nose facing the right direction. If you saw him swimming at the YMCA or jogging along Fifth Avenue, you'd be hard-pressed to guess he is Alaska's only professional cagefighter.
There's a reason for that.
Paulino, a mixed-martial arts fighter also known as "The Dominican Demon" and "The Dominican Diplomat," calls himself a counter-defensive fighter -- which means he tends to let his opponent attack first and responds accordingly, usually with enough speed to dodge a fist headed toward his face.
"I'm fast enough to jump away from a punch. I try to be as fast as I can, so I roll with a punch or stay away from a punch," Paulino said. "I don't know if I can take a punch or not -- and I'm not gonna stand around to find out."
Paulino could get the ultimate test of his tactics Saturday when he ascends to the highest level in his sport -- the Ultimate Fighting Championships. Paulino will fight in front of thousands of fans and potentially millions of pay-per-view customers at UFC 119 in Indianapolis, where he will take on Canada's T.J. Grant in a 170-pound bout, one of 11 fights on the card.
A native of New Jersey whose father is Dominican -- hence the nicknames -- Paulino began his fighting career in 2001, the same year he moved to Alaska after getting out of the military.
He started as a boxer at Thursday Night at the Fights. After winning four straight years of Toughman contests there, as well as boxing titles in Wasilla, Juneau and Fairbanks, he stepped into the cage to win Alaska Fighting Championships middle and light heavyweight belts.
Now, at 34, he's making a run at the mixed martial arts' equivalent to the NFL or NBA.
The fight in Indianapolis will be the second UFC fight for Paulino, who fought in the UFC in March with only three weeks notice. Professional fighters generally spend a minimum of eight weeks preparing for a fight. Paulino spent his short training camp in California, training at the same gym that houses such notable professionals as Brandon Vera. Although he dropped a unanimous decision to wrestler Mike Pierce, matchmaker Joel Silva initially scheduled Paulino to fight again in July.
AFC fans may remember a tearful Paulino in the center of Sullivan Arena in June announcing his withdrawal from that bout. The reason? His kids.
In June, his ex-wife and their four children moved to Nevada, and the departure of his kids took a huge toll on his psyche, Paulino said. He spent as much time with them as possible during their last two weeks in Alaska and was an emotional wreck for two weeks after they left.
"Two weeks, then they were gone and I was a bumbling idiot," he said, "My head was not in the game. I wasn't me. I had no motivation."
Most fighters at the UFC level train full-time in the weeks before a match. Paulino lost an entire month of training leading up to his scheduled June fight, and he knew he wouldn't be able to compete at the same level as his opponent.
"The training up to your fight is a well-planned curriculum that is well beyond what will happen in your fight," Paulino explained. "Train hard, fight easy; train easy, fight hard."
This time, he didn't let lack of training ruin his chance of a lifetime.
In addition to taking a leave from his job remodeling homes so he can train six to eight hours every day, Paulino did most of his preparation in Anchorage.
"I've trained in the Lower 48. I'm not impressed," Paulino said. "We have everything we need up here. I've trained in numerous places ... and I still fight the same. I look for holes in people's game and exploit it."
Even so, Paulino recently spent a week training in Texas, partly so he could work out in the heat. He sweated so much he dropped as much as 12 pounds a day, he said.
On his way back to Anchorage, he stopped in Las Vegas to visit his kids and packed on a lot of pounds.
"I wasn't sweating at all, but I was still taking in the same amount of water. I went from 188 pounds to 208 in three days in Vegas," he said.
And what happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas. Paulino returned home bloated but has since dipped to 185 pounds, mostly by losing water weight. "I took one of those female pills and flushed it all out," he said.
He needs to get down to 170 pounds by Friday but isn't worried about the prospect of dropping 15 pounds in a week. Making weight and dropping weight is part of the sport, he said. This week he'll eat lots of green vegetables, suck on ice cubes and spend time in saunas and hot tubs. And he'll continue his regular training, minus the sparring, which he usually stops a week before a big fight.
Paulino's typical day includes running, swimming, plyometrics and multiple sessions at Gracie Barra Jui Jitsu. His dedication has not gone unnoticed by the other athletes at the gym.
"He's re-motivated himself," said training partner Mike Madrid, himself a former AFC champion.
A victory in Indianapolis means Paulino is likely to get more UFC fights and possibly some additional sponsors.
A loss won't end his fighting career, but it would likely end his UFC aspirations.
"It would be extremely hard at my age to get back in there," he said.
A handful of Alaskans have made a run at professional cagefighting, but only Sam Hoger has won more than one UFC match under the unified rules, implemented in 2001, and an Alaskan has not won in the UFC since Fairbanks native Justin Buchholz submitted Corey Hill in 2008.
Paulino hopes to bring more attention to Alaska MMA and its practitioners. He believes Alaska's mixed martial artists and gyms can hold their own against the best in the country. He sees a legacy for himself in Alaska MMA, but it's not that of icon or hero.
"I want to be known as the guy who builds a bridge between Alaska and the UFC," he said.
And regardless of the outcome of his fight, Paulino knows he has lived the life of a professional cagefighter.
"Win or lose, I'll be able to say I gave it everything I had," he said.
Will paulino be on TV?
We asked UFC publicist Rachel Trontel, and here's what she said: "We have two fights scheduled to be shown on Spike TV that are live and air before the PPV starts. If the first fight on Spike TV ends quickly, they pull a fight from the prelims that happened earlier in the evening and show it. This is the same for the PPV. We guarantee five live fights when you buy the PPV, and if there is time to fill in between those five live fights they pull a fight from earlier in the night and show it on the PPV. So there is a great chance that Julio's fight could be shown on TV — either on Spike TV or on the PPV."
How to watch: According to the UFC, UFC 119 is available live on pay-per-view at 6 p.m. ADT on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel and Viewer's Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available). UFC 119 will also be available on pay-per-view in Spanish in the United States.
Grant vs. Paulino: "With a solid run in the UFC so far, including a stoppage victory against Kevin Burns and a decision win against Ryo Chonan, T.J. Grant (fighting out of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada/15-4) has proved that he belongs in the UFC's welterweight division. A U.S. Navy veteran, Julio Paulino (fighting out of Anchorage, Alaska/18-3) doesn't look for the decision. The New Jersey native has won 10 fights by KO/TKO and six via submission, and now looks to register his first UFC victory."
The UFC 119 lineup
• Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop
• Ryan Bader vs. Rogerio Nogueira
• Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle
• Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham
• Melvin Guillard vs. Jeremy Stephens
• C.B. Dollaway vs. Joe Doerksen
• Matt Mitrione vs. Joey Beltran
• Thiago Tavares vs. Pat Audinwood
• Steve Lopez vs. Waylon Lowe
• T.J. Grant vs. Julio Paulino
• Mark Hunt vs. Sean McCorkle
— Sept. 17 press release from UFC
By SAM DUNHAM
Daily News correspondent