Due to the contract with Spike TV, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira can’t say much about what's going on with the “The Ultimate Fighter” tv show, which started shooting three weeks ago, in the USA.
But the UFC champion, who conquered the heavyweight belt after submitting Tim Sylvia in February, knows the power of GRACIEMAG.com and couldn’t resist calling in to share some news about his spanking new gym in Miami.
“Hey bro… Give a little publicity to my new Training Center in Miami, we've got 5,000 square meters for MMA and weight lifting, right in the middle of the city, near Brickell Ave, on 90 SW Street. The telephone there is (1 786) 427-8222,” states Minotauro.
Request fulfilled, let’s cut to the chase, Rodrigo. And what about the fight against Frank Mir, captain of the opposing team in TUF 8, which the UFC leaked word of in December? “The mood of rivalry between us is getting strong. We see each other here all the time, and I've known his game for awhile. Ever since he submitted Roberto Traven at the UFC, in 2001, he's been known. But you'll see: I'm going to be all over him standing, I’m better than him both standing and on the ground,” the Brazilian fired.
“In the fight with Sylvia the way to the win was clearly on the ground, but against Mir I'm going to show more of what I'm capable of to the world and my fans. I'll always respect him as an adversary, of course. Even more so since he’s trained with Demian Maia and Robert Drysdale,” says Nogueira from within the house, in between gruelling eight-hour filming sessions, seven days a week.
“Here all is well, it’s well worth it – and not just for the folks who get to watch what we do here in the USA. The training here is going strong, there are a lot of good kids here in my team who help me train, And my brother Rogerio [Minotouro] gets herre in two weeks. And I’m testing myself a lot as a coach, and brushing up on my English. I can’t say anyomore about it, because the penalty is high according to the contract. Really high!” laughs the champion, who is locked up in the famous martial arts house till mid-July.
By Nogueira's good natured tone, though, the team of light and welterweights he leads is promising and has come up with good results in the challenges against Mir’s rookies. “We’re practicing a lot of Jiu-Jitsu, but only without the gi. I’ve already had special participations from Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and other stars here in the USA, but our fulltime, official team is made up of me, Amaury Bitetti, Daniel Valverde, our physical trainer Dragos Stanica and Al Stankie, in boxing. Now Bitetti is here next to me welcoming one more two-time absolute world champion to the club. I saw on the site that Xande beat the big Gracie, it must have been a great fight, something else.”
The next TUF season, with teams led by Minota and Mir, debuts in the USA on September 17th, and ends with a fight for the title between the stars. The Spike TV program has reached an audience of 1.8 million viewers.
