On February 26, 2014 it was revealed that Carlos Júnior was selected to be a participant on . Cara de Sapato defeated Guilherme Viana via TKO to move into the Ultimate Fighter house, and become an official cast member. Carlos Júnior was selected as the first pick of coach Wanderlei Silva to be a part of Team Wanderlei. In his second Heavyweight fight of the season, Cara de Sapato was selected to fight Edgard Castaldelli Filho and won via knockout with only twelve seconds of fight in the first round. He was then scheduled to face Marcos Rogério de Lima "Pezão" for a spot in the final against Vitor Miranda He defeated Lima by submission.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Carlos Júnior made his promotional debut on May 31, 2014, at against Vitor Miranda to determine the winner of. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Carlos Júnior made his light heavyweight debut against Patrick Cummins on December 20, 2014, at. He lost the one-sided fight by unanimous decision. After the defeat, he decided to move to the middleweight division for his next fight. Carlos Júnior faced Eddie Gordon in a middleweight bout on June 27, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 70 He won the fight via submission in the third round. Carlos Júnior faced Kevin Casey on December 10, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 80. The bout was deemed a No Contest just 11 seconds into the first round when Carlos Júnior accidentally poked Casey in both eyes and Casey was unable to continue. Carlos Júnior next faced Dan Kelly on March 20, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 85. He lost the bout via TKO in the third round. Carlos Júnior returned to face Leonardo Augusto Guimarães on September 17, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 94. He won the fight via submission in the third round. Carlos Júnior faced Marvin Vettori on December 30, 2016 at UFC 207. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Carlos Júnior faced Eric Spicely on June 3, 2017, at UFC 212. He won the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in the second round. Carlos Júnior faced Jack Marshman on October 28, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 119. Carlos won the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in round one. Carlos Júnior faced Tim Boetsch on April 14, 2018, at UFC on Fox 29. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke in round one. Carlos Júnior was expected to face Derek Brunson on August 4, 2018, at UFC 227. However, Brunson pulled out of the fight in early July citing an eye injury. In turn, Carlos Júnior was removed from the card entirely and is expected to be rescheduled for a future event. Subsequently, Carlos Júnior was quickly rescheduled was expected to face Elias Theodorou on September 22, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 137. However, Júnior pulled out on August 28 due to injury. The pairing was expected to be left intact and was rescheduled for December 8, 2018, at UFC 231. On September 13, 2018, it was reported that Carlos Júnior withdrew from his bout with Theodorou yet again, citing a surgery is required on the injury that caused the cancellation of his first scheduled bout with Theodorou. Carlos Júnior faced Ian Heinisch at on May 18, 2019. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Carlos Júnior faced Uriah Hall on September 14, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 16. He lost the fight via split decision. Carlos Júnior was scheduled to face Brad Tavares on March 14, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 170. However, Tavares was forced to pull out of the fight due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and he was replaced by Makhmud Muradov. In turn, Carlos Júnior suffered from an unspecified injury and the bout was cancelled from the event.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
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*Tied for most submission victories in UFC Middleweight history
