Anderson Silva Bets Minotauro Will Beat Barnett And Wanderlei Silva
Anderson Silva Bets Minotauro Will Beat Barnett and Wanderlei Silva 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 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? 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? 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? Click here to continue the interview. |