Pedro Rizzo doesn’t know when he will next fight. According to the fighter, negotiations are underway but nothing concrete has surfaced. Nevertheless, the Carioca is keeping up his daily training routine to be ready when the next challenge comes up. His last fight was on September 1 of last year, when he knocked out Jeff “The Snowman” Monson and conquered the Art of War heavyweight belt.
“I’m training every day, to be ready to just pick up the pace in training when something comes up, but I’m keeping active and in shape. If it were up to me I’d fight four times a year, Joinha (his manager) is looking into what’s best for me, let’s see what turns up, but at the moment I have nothing definite,” said Pedro.
Rizzo also spoke about the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and the giant South Korean Hong Man Choi at Yarennoka on New Year’s. “The guy (Hong Man) is really big. There’s no way to punch him in the face, so it’s hard to strike, taking him down is really complicated, since, as Peter Aerts told me, besides being really heavy, he has a Korean wrestling base. Or in other words, he could make it complicated for anybody. But Fedor passed the test easily, submitting him in the first round, perhaps even because Hong Man Choi didn’t know much on the ground. When I fought at Pride, Fedor showed he was the best, he beat Rodrigo (Minotauro) who is Top 3 twice and beat Cro Cop at a time when he was awesome. He just has to keep on fighting,” he analyzed.
And who will take it in the fight between Minotauro and Tim Sylvia, set for February 2 and worth the interim heavyweight belt? “I think Minotauro will take it by submission, and early on. Rodrigo will take him down, he is really well trained in takedowns. He didn’t manage to submit Fedor because the Russian is short and explosive, not with Sylvia who is big and slower, I think he won’t have any problems,” Rizzo offered.
