SHOGUN & TEAMMATES READYING NEW CAMP
While their new camp is not ready yet, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Andre "Dida" Amade, Murilo "Ninja" Rua and Mauricio "Veio" Amade are training in a Tae Kwon Do gym near their houses. It’s a good space for boxing, Muay Thai and wrestling.
According to the athletes, they will move to their brand new gym in Curitiba in about two or three. MMAWeekly will be there when the gym opens.
This new team was formed by former Chute Boxe athletes who weren’t very happy with the system and some other things going on within the Brazilian team. All four trained under supervision of Master Rafael Cordeiro and Master Rudimar Fedrigo who gave them their Muay Thai Black Belts, but now have decided to follow their own path and together they are UDL - Universidade da Luta (translated in English to Fight University).
MMAWeekly spoke with Shogun, Dida and Veio in this exclusive interview to talk about the recent move and plans for the new gym.
MMAWeekly: Shogun, tell us how do you feel about these recent changes in your life?
Shogun: This is a whole new life for me. It’s a whole new kind of training; it’s a new era. Our training is completely planned now. We have here Alejo Morales who was the Cuban wrestling coach for 17 years, we have now Mauricio "Veio" coaching Muay Thai and we are training lots of Jiu Jitsu. Now our coaches talk to each other and they plan our practice according to our needs. So in fact we are training more, with more quality than before and that's what we want to do, to improve.
MMAWeekly: Since Ninja is in the U.S right now, lets talk about your next fight in Ultimate Fighting Championship. What do you know so far and how is your health and injuries?
Shogun: Murilo Rua is in the U.S to help a friend who will have an important match and I think I will be fighting in April or May, but next week I think the right day and the opponent will be released. About my injuries, I am 100%. I just came back to training and now its just work.
MMAWeekly: What are your thoughts about Chute Boxe?
Shogun: I don't keep any hard feelings from Chute Boxe or any of my ex-teammates, but we saw that if we try this new path, we will be more successful with more preparation and better training.
MMAWeekly: Mauricio Veio you were living in Canada and you had about 300 students and now you are here at Curitiba again, is this what you want?
Veio: For me it’s a professional evolution. I was very happy with this invitation. When Shogun and my brother Andre Dida called me to invite me to get part of this project I was very excited with the opportunity. We all have a huge potential and I believe a lot in them and I really believe that we are going to be world champions.
MMAWeekly: You were invited to be the Muay Thai Coach in this new team called UDL (Universidade da Luta), right?
Veio: Exactly, and we have in Canada another camp which also is UDL and our athletes will have the opportunity to go train there and our Canadian athletes will have the opportunity to come to Brazil and train here. In the coming weeks, some athletes from Canada are already coming to Curitiba to train with us.
MMAWeekly: About the structure of UDL, is it already done or will we have to wait more to see the new camp?
Veio: We are almost there. It’s pretty much ready for the opening show and we hope MMAWeekly can be with us in some days again to cover our training.
MMAWeekly: The UDL Team is a brand and gym. How does this work? Who is the owner of the UDL brand?
Veio: It’s basically divided between me, my younger brother Andre Dida, Shogun and his brother Murilo "Ninja" Rua. We form like a board direction, any decision has to pass through everybody.
MMAWeekly: Andre Dida, do you still have a long-term contract with Hero’s in Japan? How is this change working for you?
Dida: I am very happy. In fact, this is the time I am training most in my entire life. All the training is high quality and I am learning a lot. In fact, I am training a lot of Jiu Jitsu, which I didn't train so much. I am ready to learn more. I will be a student forever and as long I have my team with me, I will learn forever.
I have my next fight in March and I hope I can represent Brazil like I represented before.
About UDL, we have a lot of new athletes here, and some others are coming to work with us and soon some big names will be released to the press.
MMAWeekly: About your next fight, do have any names of possible opponents?
Dida: Well, my manager Ersílio doesn't know the name yet, but I am training a lot to face whoever they put in front of me.
MMAWeekly: Is UDL opened to new athletes, students and normal people who just want to get in shape or will it only be a camp for professional fighters?
Dida: UDL will be a camp opened to all kinds of students, from beginners to advanced, and just like my brother Mauricio "Veio" said, for an athlete be part of the UDL he must pass through me, Shogun, Ninja and Veio, and we want to grow together. If you want to be part of this new project, send us an e-mail to
[email protected].
