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Friday, Sep 08, 2006

Anderson Silva Bets Minotauro Will Beat Barnett And Wanderlei Silva



Anderson Silva Bets Minotauro Will Beat Barnett and Wanderlei Silva
By Marcelo Alonso


Anderson Silva - Photo by Marcelo Alonso
Friend and training partner of Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, Anderson Silva bets that Nogueira will win the Pride Open Weight GP tomorrow night in Japan. "Rodrigo Minotauro is in my heart; we are almost brothers. He is an example as fighter and person. I’m his biggest fan," said Anderson who believes that Minotauro won’t have any problems getting past Josh Barnett in the semifinals. "Rodrigo is very well trained to neutralize Barnett’s strong points," guaranteed the former Chute Boxe fighter.

Asked about a possible final between Minotauro and his ex-training partner, Wanderlei Silva, Anderson had no doubt as to who will win: "Minotauro will win easily. Wanderlei doesn’t have a game to beat him, even though Wand is a tough fighter that doesn’t need to prove anything. [The only way] Minotauro can lose is if he gets hit by an unpredictable punch, but I don’t believe that [will happen], because Rodrigo is very well prepared and focused on getting this belt," the UFC fighter concluded.

Anderson Silva is scheduled to fight for the UFC middleweight title against the champion Rich Franklin at UFC 64 on October 14.



It’s Comeback Time for Shogun!
The 2005 star is finally ready to turn 2006 into a winning season.
By Eduardo Alonso

Shogun wins
Rising fast in a quick and impressive career, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua showed great talent since his very debut in MMA, and seemed to be destined to success in the sport from day one. Maybe even more impressive than the skills and potential he showed in each of his bouts, was the amount of improvement he was able to display from fight to fight, and finally in 2005 the originally underdog of Pride’s middleweight Grand Prix took the world by storm and captured the belt in amazing fashion, facing likely the toughest roster of opponents a MMA Grand Prix champion ever did, and establishing himself as a leading force in his weight class at just twenty three years of age. When things seemed perfect for the young prodigy, and there were no limits, his first venture as a heavyweight turned into the most serious injury of his career, sending him to the sidelines and creating a lot of questions regarding his future. Now, around six months later, after an impressively fast recovery, the younger brother of Murilo "Ninja" Rua, is ready and on his way to a much awaited comeback! Mauricio Shogun will be stepping inside the Pride ring this coming September 10th to face not only striker Cyrille Diabate, but also to overcome a serious injury and resume a career that always seemed destined to great achievements. FCF had a chance to catch up with the fighter right before his departure to Japan, in an honest conversation about his last months, his present and his near future, enjoy!

FCF: You are finally coming back to fighting after being sidelined for the longest period of your career due to the serious elbow injury you suffered in your last fight, back in February. How was it for you to deal with this recovery process?
MR:   I really got very sad with my injury, but I tried my best to focus so I wouldn’t let any fears hinder my recovery. I tried to remain tranquil cause I knew that if my emotions were in place, I would likely recover sooner. I did all the needed procedures during my recovery as well as I could, and with that I thankfully had a speedy recovery and I can say that I’m in perfect condition now.

FCF: I recall that when you resumed your training you impressed everybody with the high intensity you were able to put right from the start. Comparing to your form when you won the 2005 Middleweight GP, how would you rate your condition now?
MR:   I’m surely 100% Eduardo! I am feeling as good as in the past, and I promised myself that I would come back from my injury better than I was before. This is something I promised to myself, and now once I arrive in Japan [Interview was done on the day of his departure] I’ll try to do some three or four good training sessions, and I hope that I’ll be able to give my best during the fight. This is what I have been asking God, to be able to do my best inside the ring, so I can show all of my game and perform as well as in training recently.

FCF: With all this time on the sidelines, are you very anxious to fight? How are you dealing with this anxiety as fight-time approaches?
MR:   Being an athlete you get used to a life routine where you are always in a hurry, always training hard and spending the most of your energies. You are always busy somehow, so the first three months after the injury where I barely couldn’t do anything, I almost went mad (Laughs), as I would have to stay at home without doing anything! Then I was able to start to swim, as this was the first physical activity that I was allowed to do, and from there things progressed. I’m surely very anxious to fight again, as fighting is what I love, so besides being my profession I do it gladly. Fighting is my life, so I can’t wait for the fight to start, as I feel I’m already 100% again, making this the right time to comeback.


Click here to continue the interview.

posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
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