Minotauro prepares to let out the beast within at the UFC. Photo: Murilo Meirelles in article in "Folha de São Paulo" newspaper.
A black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and former interim champion of the UFC, Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, 35, remains a fan-favorite in Brazil. He recently featured on the cover and within the magazine “Serafina”, by “Folha de São Paulo” newspaper, in an article by Eduardo Ohata, the journalist who wrote the Anderson Silva biography, just released in Brazil.
Minotauro’s next challenge will be to take on the heavy-handed Jiu-Jitsu blue belt Cheick Kong at UFC 149 on July 21 in Calgary, Canada. Though he’s none too pleased about fighting away from his homeland, the Brazilian is training hard to take out his supersized opponent. And he still harbors hoping of fighting before his home crowd in Brazil again—if UFC 147 won’t be happening, then June 23 in Belo Horizonte, the next chance.
DOUBLE-LEG WITHOUT RISKING YOUR NECK
In Calgary as in Brazil, the legend will likely be received with the same fanfare and affection as he enjoyed in the town of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul State, where he attended the tryouts for the professional world championship in Abu Dhabi.
There, he shot the breeze with young Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and ended up teaching, alongside his black belt counterpart Paulo Zulu, a simple and basic way of not getting caught in a guillotine, whether in Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling or in MMA.
As the UFC star tells Ohata: “The only sense in being successful is being able to share it with others. It comes back to you.”
