Rogério Nogueira Interview
Before debuting with a victory in the UFC, Rogério "Minotouro" answered the fans of TATAME and responded to the questions about his training, the dream of debuting in the UFC, his idols, childhood and much more. Check out the chat below that the TATAME subscribers had with him.
For being Minotauro's brother, do you think that that generates an extra responsibility in the world of MMA?
Of course it does, that's inevitable, but people have to understand that we are different people. I do my job, I have my style, he has his and I'm looking for my space.
What's the difference between Rodrigo Minotauro as a brother and as a training partner?
As a brother he's like a big dad, and as a training partner he's very rigorous.
What did you feel when you saw your brother going and returning to the hospital because of the accident as a child?
It sucked, it was very sad, a very delicate moment where nobody knew what was going to happen. It was a year of much anticipation, everyone's lives were on hold on account of that accident.
During your training when you're at your limit, what do you think about as motivation in order to break your own barriers?
You have to think about victory, think about what's the objective in your head to be able to go until the end.
What is the biggest difficulty for a fighter in Brasil? What must be done in order to change the current picture?
You've gotta make the sport more professional. We have to be professionals, the fighters have to take it serious. That is the big difference between Brasil and elsewhere, where they are very professional.
Before the fight, do you have some ritual or something special that you always do to go into the fight more confident?
I don't have anything specific, I just say a prayer with the guys there and I ask God to protect me and then I go fight.
In short answers, what do these mean to you:
Rodrigo Minotauro?
An idol.
Family?
Bedrock.
MMA?
Future.
Brasil?
Pride.
Fans?
A driving motivation.
How was it to represent Brasil in the 2007 Pan American games, and even taking a medal?
It was an honor because you dedicate yourself to an objective and to be able to reach a goal, like an olympic medal, is an honor for me, to train with my whole team from Brasil. It's very gratifying to be able to reach a goal like that.
Besides the necessity of having excellent physical conditioning and being well prepared in all aspects of the sport like Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Judo, among others, How relevant is the psychological and spiritual factor in the life of a fighter?
It's very important, there's people that don't take it very serious, but I find it very important to be close with your family, with everything, with yourself too to be able to have a good outcome.
How did it feel to perform professionally on Brazilian soil for the first time? Minotauro must have been a little envious, in the good sense of course.
It was really good, I felt really calm in a fight where I was at home, despite the responsibility of representing the guys, it's very good, it leaves me wanting more.
With the end of PRIDE many athletes that fought there tried to go to the UFC, once they couldn't get a contract they were just stopped and didn't fight, hoping that an opportunity fell from the sky, but differently, you went back to fighting, building a solid and internationally renown career, so much that now you are contracted by the UFC. How and when did you make that decision?
We received a good proposal, that's the plan, the objective of my career. I was able to build a good record outside of Brasil and be ranked among the top 5, which meant that I could get a good contract. It's an honor to be fighting in the UFC, but it was the fruit of well-planned hard work.
As a visitor to southern Brasil, what did you think of the quality of southern women?
Good, the South has lots of beautiful women.
As children, did you and Rodrigo used to fight a light with one another? If you did, what were the results?
Yes, we used to fight a lot. My brother had the upper hand, because he was always bigger (laughs).
You and Shogun had one of the biggest fights in the history of Pride, in which he took the decision. What do you think you should have done extra to have won that fight?
It's tough to say man. Shogun is a great fighter, a great champion and he was in the best stage of his career til today. He has his merits, at the end of the fight I tried to take his back... If I had finished the fight there at his back, I would have been able to change the story of the fight.
How is your training with your brother? Despite your training being a little 'confidential' who usually wins on ground, Wrestling, boxing and MMA?
It depends man, there's days where one trains better than the other, it varies. Sometimes one is more tired and the other has more gas, it depends a lot.
You have great fights and an important history in MMA. Is there any frustration for not having won the belt of the biggest MMA events like Pride and UFC?
I wouldn't say that it has become a frustration, but I think about it a lot. It's a dream that I have.
Who do you consider the number one of the heavyweights? Why?
Rodrigo, because of the history he's had during many years, he fought with the best, he won, putting on the most beautiful fights.
What do current fighters have to evolve in training, to be able to beat 'Matrix style' champions, like Anderson and Lyoto Machida?
It's complicated, you have to train a lot, study a lot. They are the guys that everybody has to study. In order to be the champion you have to train and study a lot.
Is there a fight where you 'choked', that you would like to do over?
I would like to have the fight with Shogun again.
What advice do you give to your students that are starting now and intend to follow fighting as a career?
First they should look for a good team, a good professor, to always be going to the training sessions and to train a lot, that's the formula.
What do you think of women's MMA? Do you think that the fight between Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg will some way help get the events to invest more in women's MMA?
It's different, people aren't accustomed to seeing fights between women, but that fight had a lot of impact, I think that it will help, yes.
Is there any fighter that you would never fight due to friendship, like the Spider says that he will not fight Machida?
My brother, Anderson, Feijão (Rafael Cavalcante) and the guys there.
In your opinion what are the best names to beat Anderson, Lyoto and Fedor?
That's a difficult question man. I can say, with regards to Fedor, I think that Rodrigo could beat him.
As a great fighter, talking about your Jiu-Jitsu, remembering the begining of your career, What are the main difficulties you faced, in relation to technique? Like have you felt some shortcoming in your Jiu-Jitsu? What was it? If you have, Were you able to get passed that shortcoming? Or do you still feel that you need to refine it more?
There are lots of techniques that could be better, still there are many difficulties, in Jiu-Jitsu and in other aspects, I'm always correcting myself, improving my weak points to be always evolving.
With your move to the US, how are you seeing the evolution of MMA there?
The guys are professionals, everything there turns into a big affair, the sport is very professional there, they got it and said 'now that will be a big sport', they are doing a lot of work, as well as the teams, not just inside the ring like elsewhere, they all evolved, the ring is bigger, everything is tougher and more professional.
What do you think of the northeastern fighters (in Brasil)?
There's a really good group, in Bahia, in Fortaleza there's some really badass guys as well, in Natal there's Tibau, theres Marco Aurélio, (Hermes) França, Pitbull, a lot of good people come from the northeast.
Now that you signed with the UFC to fight in the light-heavyweight division, which, according to the specialists, is the deepest one in MMA, your intention is evidently to fight for the title, and as so, who would be, today, your biggest opponents, and in your opinion will the title alternate between Brazilians for many years?
Now there are lots of good guys in that division, including Brazilians, that are showing their strength, like Thiago Silva, Lyoto, myself, there are a lot of strong guys in the division, the Americans as well, like Jardine, Evans, the category is very strong. I hope that the Brazilians dominate the division. God willing, it will happen.
Is the lesser utilization of striking in your last fight compared to some previous ones a response to the critics that you would be using your Jiu-Jitsu in less proportion?
It could be, as much as it is that I finished my fight in Brasil. If the fight goes to the ground and I feel the need to, I will use my Jiu-Jitsu, just like I used it in my last fight. Every fight is analyzed in some way, in some I prefer to stay standing and others to work on the ground.
Rogério, if you could imagine, what would be the fight of your life and who would it be?
I've never thought about it, but it's a good question. I'll have to think about
