Minotauro. Photo: Josh Hedges
Anyone who reads GRACIEMAG already knows all about Rodrigo Minotauro’s ordeal in returning to the octagon. As mentioned in GRACIEMAG 165, Mino had to deal with a knee problem to thereafter take care of a hip problem similar to the one afflicting tennis player Gustavo Kuerten in the labrum acetabular, where the femur attaches to the hip.
As reported, the black belt underwent surgery last week in the United States with the same doctor who has treated Georges Saint-Pierre and a number of others from the sport. His spokesman, Fernando Flores, says all went well.
He’ll be back in five or six months” Fernando Flores
Check out a reprint of what Minotauro had to say about the injury, the first time he spoke openly about the subject.
“I have problems with the anterior cruciate ligament in my knee and my hip. My hip joints have degenerated. Both sides of my hip have calcified a bit and the cartilage grinds when I open my legs to move them.”
“In Gustavo Kuerten’s case, he delayed having surgery and that aggravated the problem. I think he’s had three operations so far. In my case, I’m going to resolve the problem at a less-advanced stage.”
Minota in physiotherapy session. Photo: publicity.
“I have an anterior cruciate ligament injury and that takes longer to heal; between six and seven months. The hip takes three, so I decided to do the knee first and do the hip three months after that. This way both can recover at the same time.”
“I started feeling it when I was getting ready to fight Fedor way back. Murilo Bustamante, who coached me at the time, asked me: ‘Why are you replacing guard like that, have you lost your flexibility?’ At that time, I knew I had an injury and I sought treatment. I’ve been doing physiotherapy for years, but now it’s reached a point where there’s no way around operating. What bothers me is moving my legs, when playing guard. That’s one of the things that worries me most.”
“I felt it a lot in the Couture fight, but I’d been doing a lot of work in the pool, doing ginástica natural and stretching, and I pulled it off. It wasn’t yet a surgery case, but now I’ve been to six specialists and they all tell me to operate. One of them – the most highly-regarded one – told me: ‘Rodrigo, if you fight Frank like this you’ll only be at fifty percent capacity.’ I left Anderson Silva’s fight, went to do physiotherapy and could hardly walk. It hurt like hell.”
After all that fans must be asking themselves why an established fighter, with nothing left to prove, insists on fighting. Minotauro gives the answer:
“I like what I do. I train really well with guys who are at the top. If I were always getting bullied around… But I’ve been doing fine against guys like Cigano, Anderson, my brother… That makes me believe I can still do it, and I’m going to prove it.”
Can anyone doubt someone who survived getting run over by a truck when he was a kid?
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