Ulysses and Herculez - Fightland Blog

Ulysses Gomez is not only one of the members of the UFC’s inaugural flyweight class and a huge Justin Bieber fan, he's also the brother of Herculez Gomez, a striker with the USA men’s national soccer team and Club Santos Laguna in Mexico's Liga MX. Growing up in Los Angeles in a Mexican-American, soccer-mad household, Ulysses played soccer as well but gave it up to follow an interest in martial arts, an interest that led him from Tachi Palace Fights -- where he was champion -- to Bellator and now to the heady heights of the UFC. Meanwhile, Herculez is a genuine star in American and Mexican soccer circles, and he represented the USA in the 2012 FIFA World Cup. As Ulysses prepares for his next fight, in London on February 16^th against Phil Harris, Fightland talked to the two brothers separately to discuss growing up, how they’ve each been so successful, and whether they could compete in the other’s sport.