17.08.2008 Minotouro smiling againMMA star happy about Affliction
Rogerio Minotouro was one of the top MMA fighters to suffer most with Pride FC's demise. Since the end of the Japanese promotion until his return to the ring, nearly 12 months have elapsed. The comeback, held at the already-extinct HCF, was victorious, but the end of the Canadian organization again left his career in limbo. The creation of Affliction, however, opened a new door for the Brazilian standout, and the positive debut against Edwin Deewes, by technical knockout, made it clear he’s still got it.
Currently responsible by Team Nogueira, in Florida, Minotouro welcomed GRACIEMAG.com special collaborator Nalty Jr. for a talk. Check it out:
You went a long time without fighting. What is the importance of Affliction to your career?
I hadn't fought for four or five months. This turned out to be good, because I came back to the U.S., and MMA is strong here. Everybody knows that Affliction is a good promotion, with good fights, and I wanted to be a part of it. Thank God I was able to get into their first card.
What is the focus of your training? What specialty are you working on the most?
In Brazil I’ll be training a lot of wrestling with Jeferson, Rodrigo Artilheiro, Rafael Feijão. I’ll be training muay thai with Anderson Silva and Luis Alves. And of course I’ll continue with my ground training.
And what can you say about your fight?
It went as I expected. The guy came kicking, and when I noticed he was going to kick me, I was able to connect a straight punch on top of a kick, he felt it; then he started backing up a lot, then felt a left punch. Then I saw the chance to get a knockout and seized it.
You’ve fought in the world’s greatest events. With your experience, what did you think about Affliction?
A good show. They’ve been doing a good job, Pride-style. Everything points to their success. They have good investors, a good organization. This was just the first event. It’s great, but it’ll get better.
How’s the new Team Nogueira, the Miami training center coming along?
The academy opened its doors two months ago, we already have a bunch of students, there’s already a group training to become professional. Next month we’ll probably have two athletes fighting in professional MMA. And it looks to get better. We’re doing a serious job, dividing our time between the U.S. and Brazil. The tendency is to find talent in Brazil and bring it here.
Is there a name you can reveal that will be representing the team?
Some time ago we revealed Drago, last year it was Feijao, but now I prefer to wait for these new guys to start fighting before I name someone. We already have some great talent here, but we want to wait for the fights.
What do you think about MMA these days?
A serious, long-term marketing job was done, by the UFC for example, and now the new events are following the line of work. The sport is very strong in the U.S., evolving very fast. So I think this is the right place to be. Here you can get athletes to fight every weekend, and that’s a dream to someone in MMA. That means the marketing work was very well done, people love MMA, it’s one of the biggest sports in America, just like in Japan. And now we hope Brazil catches this fever too.
Talk about the recent success, with mainstream media paying attention to the work of the Nogueira brothers.
This is very gratifying. We have a lot to be thankful for – coaches, training partners. Our work hás been recognized, and we evolve every day. Thank God the fans appreciate what we do. The more the fans like us, the more the media wants to show us, and that’s good not just for us, but for the sport as well.
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