Rogerio Minotouro came back from Japan in high spirits. After adding yet another win to his MMA record – he beat Moise Rimbon at Sengoku at the beginning of the month – the Brazilian took up training again in Rio de Janeiro. The goal this time is to face Vladimir Matyushenko, on January 24, the date for the next Affliction show.
PortaldasLutas.com, GRACIEMAG.com’s sister site, had a chat with Minotouro. Check it out:
Portal das Lutas – After the fight at Sengoku, how has your training for Affliction, in January, going?
Rogerio Minotouro – I rested a bit the first week after the fight. I did some training and today (November 10) I returned to normal training rhythm. I’m doing two sessions per day to go right on through and not lose rhythm for my next fight.
Portal das Lutas – In Japan you are really well known. How do you expect to win over the American public?
Rogerio Minotouro – I won my first fight at Affliction and now I have a good fight, against a tough guy, a relatively harder fight. I certainly want to keep up these positive results and this way I’ll manage to. I’m coming off a few knockouts from before this fight at Sengoku and I’ll try to get the knockout against Matyushenko.
Portal das Lutas – The bout with Matyushenko will be a rematch for you. It was already supposed to have taken place at the event that was postponed. How much do you want to have this match?
Rogerio Minotouro – I’ve been focused on this fight for a long time. A week after the first Affliction show this match up had been made. So it’s been a few months now that I’ve been training and preparing for Sengoku but still focused on Matyushenko. I’ve put a lot of attention on this fight. I’ve been training a lot of wrestling to try and keep the fight standing. If possible, to land on top too. It’s a fight I’ve been training a lot for and all my attention is on.
Portal das Lutas – What is your relationship with Affliction and Sengoku like? Will you continue to fight for both organizations? Do you have any more fights scheduled for Japan?
Rogerio Minotouro – We still haven’t decided that yet.
Portal das Lutas – After Pride came to and end the focus on Japan diminished. Do you think Sengoku has what it takes to recapture that attention?
Rogerio Minotouro – Now they started putting on bigger shows and Pride took a long time to reach the proportions it did. I think they are at a good level, focusing on names that are big in Japan like Yoshida, Gomi and Nakamura, among others. I think they will hire Arlovski now. So the guys are already putting on good level events. They are also good with television contacts, sponsors and are a company that does sports marketing. They don’t work only with MMA, but with athletes from other sports like baseball. The guys are well organized and have just what it takes to get on their feet real quick.
Portal das Lutas – How is your brother Rodrigo Minotauro doing for his fight against Frank Mir in December?
Rogerio Minotouro – Rodrigo is doing well, he’s very focused and I see him as the favorite to take this fight. He has great wind, is physically well prepared, but we still have to do some final touches. The guy is preparing on the ground and he has to play a tighter game to fight Mir, who is very skillful in that department.
