Rogério "Minotouro" Nogueira discusses his fight with Ryan Bader

Rogerio Nogueira: Rogerio Nogueira

Guilherme Cruz

September 27, 2010

Dropping a tough decision against Ryan Bader, The Bahian Rogério Minotouro couldn´t hide his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the bout. After the hard fought duel, that happened  last Saturday in the United States, the athelte talked to Tatame magazine about the fight, one of the principal attractions of UFC 119. " Their's a lot of things that I have to improve... I took a little while to get into the rythymn of the fight, I only managed it in the second round, beginning of the third. He did well, he has excellent coaches, he's tough , but I think I took more initiative in the fight, said the Bahian, believing that he deserved the decision. Check out the exclusive interview below with Minotouro, who discusses his thoughts  on the "over emphasis" of take downs in scoring points in the UFC.

What did you think of your fight with Ryan Bader?

I think that he was better in the beginning of the fight, I took a while to get warmed up, only in the middle of the second round, beginning of the third. He did well, he has excellent coaching, he's tough, but I think I took more initiative in the fight. He managed to fall 2 or 3 times, he managed to slow down the pace of the fight. When I went to fight with my top game, he took me to the ground, but he didn't manage to do anything on the ground. It was good in the beginning, he was methodical, he managed four good shots, a few elbows, but he tried to hold on for the rest of the fight.

What did you think of the result? Do you think he won, or do you think the decision could have gone your way?

I think the decision could have gone in my favor. In my point of view, I won the second and third rounds and he won the first one. In terms of points, in who scored more shots, who took more initiative, I think I did better.

Analyzing your fight against Ryan Bader and your last fight, against Jason Brilz, What do you think is missing in your your big fights, like the ones you had in Pride and in your debut against Banha?

 To be honest, I think the UFC is different than Pride. The UFC emphasizes  take downs, but not really what you do on the ground, , on the ground it's not about looking for the submission or the knockout.What happened was that he kept trying to take me down and I wanted to keep the fight standing up, to get the knockout. I have to improve to get to how I was in Pride. I have to improve my take down game, or at least manage to keep the fight on the feet or if I get taken down somehow land on top to pass the guard and get the submission.

    On the bottom a lot of people say " Minotouro doesn't do what he should, he doesn't use Jiu Jitsu..." but if you get taken down and your opponent doesn't want to strike you don't have any way to get submissions . In the first round I was taken down with my head on the cage. Anyone who understands anything about MMA knows that  with your head on the cage their's no way to pull off a hip escape. What could I do there? Truthfully my performance on the ground wasn't that surprising because in the positions I fell their was no room to maneuver. What I could have done there was get up, which is what I did. At the very end of the fight he held on to my leg and I couldn't get up. I had about 40 seconds or so in the guard and he didn't try anything, it's difficult. You can't say, if it gos to the ground just finish him. What I have to do is improve my take down defense, which I think I did very well since my last fight, but I have to improve even more. I have to keep the fight standing, go for the knockout or try to fall on top and pass the guard to go for the submission.

What do you expect for the future in your category. Do you want to fight again this year or wait for the coming new year?

 If they put me in there to fight, I'm ready. I don't want to get out of shape. I think it's impossible, their's no way to fight right now, but if I had a choice, I'd fight right away. The fight was close and could have gone either way. I give him all the credit in the world, he's a young guy, he showed he's good. showed he can take the fight to the ground, but I want to return as soon as possible.  I want ot fight and win and show that I'm in the top 5.

We were saying that the winner of the fight would go on to face Jon Jones. How do you think that fight would go?

I don't know. Whoever is better at wrestling is going to win. Whoever dominates that space will win.

Do you think this is becoming a tendency for the future of the UFC, with a point system that values take downs?

Man, it's not easy to get the take down. It's really hard but the fighters are good and they're getting it and keeping the fight there so it's a little different. If you look at Sean Sherk's fight I think he lost that fight. The judges don't understand the ground game very well, if it's not that strong Jiu Jitsu game, they give the fight to whoever got more take downs. I think they should count take down defenses as well. Once somebody stuffs a take down they should count that as a point as well. Not just take downs but take down defenses as well.

Are you coming back to Brazil or are you going to stay in the US for a while?

We're inaugurating a new aschool in San Diego so I'm going to be there for a little while to see how things go with the school. I'm going to teach on weekends as well. We're closing a deal with Sergio Morães for him to give us a hand here in the Jiu Jitsu aspect. Good contribution isn't it!

Absolutely, and it's god for him as well, to sharpen up his MMA game.

Well, he's a good guy, a family man, it's going to be good for him. He has an A-level Jiu Jitsu game. For us, it's going to add a lot

Author  - Guilherme Cruz

Source - Tatame.com.br