Gone are the days when Antonio Rodrigo Nogueiro was treated like just another resident at the apartment building where he now lives, in Miami. All he had to do was star on the “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, captaining the team of rookie fighters to face that of Frank Mir, for all the building’s workers to surround the UFC heavyweight champion: “Wow, it’s that guy from TV!”
In Brazil, thanks to his constant appearances on the Sunday television programming, the fighter’s fame is also spreading. While running on the beach in Rio, he is also greeted by the children playing soccer nearby.
While the reality show is being shown abroad, Rodrigo trains in Brazil at an intense pace to defend his belt against Mir, on December 27th, in Las Vegas. But, before spending Christmas anxiously awaiting a major challenge, like back in the days of Pride, Minotauro will watch UFC 91’s main event from the front row.
The bout in question is between superstars Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, a match promising to smash pay-per-view records in the USA. The winner will face the winner of the match up between Mir and Minotauro.
“I believe it will be a great fight. Now we’ll see how Couture behaves under total pressure, because Lesnar will try to punish him from the top.However it plays out, I believe more in Couture. Lesnar’s tough, dangerous and is incorporating new techniques into his pro-wrestling game, but we’ve already seen several giants like him make a lot of noise, and then not manage to stay at the top. Let’s see where he fits, if he’s another Bob Sapp or if he’s really come to make history,” said Minota to GRACIEMAG.com.
UFC 91
November 15, 2008
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar
Kenny Florian vs Joe Stevenson
Nick Catone vs Amir Sadollah
Gabriel Gonzaga vs Josh Hendricks
Demian Maia vs Nate Quarry
Dustin Hazelett vs Tamdan McCrory
Jorge Gurgel vs Aaron Riley
Jeremy Stephens vs Rafael dos Anjos
Mark Bocek vs Alvin Robinson
Matthew Riddle vs Ryan Thomas
UFC 92
December 27th, 2008
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans (light heavyweight title)
Rodrigo Minotauro vs Frank Mir (interim heavyweight title)
CB Dollaway vs Mike Massenzio
Quinton Jackson vs Wanderlei Silva
Cheick Kongo vs Mustafa Al-Turk
Yushin Okami vs Dean Lister
Antoni Hardonk vs Mark Burch
Matt Hamill vs Reese Andy
Ryo Chonan vs Brad Blackburn
Dan Evensen vs Pat Barry
