In this interview, the UFC light heavyweight champion will talk about how his knee is recovering and who he is rooting for.
Mauricio "Shogun" Hua will only return to the Octagon in 2011, but he is already studying his next opponent. In this interview, the UFC light heavyweight champion talks about his knee recovery, who Machida vs. Rempage and analyze Rashad Evans' plan.
How is your knee?
Thank God he's okay. So far, everything is perfect, as we expected.
Are you training now?
Now I mainly train Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. I do boxing and train on the ground. In general, now I am working on the technique. Unfortunately, I can't do hard training yet.
Do the doctors say when will you be able to do a full workout?
My doctors said that from December I can start training in full.
Nothing has been officially announced yet, but there is reason to believe that Rashad Evans will be your next opponent. What do you think of him?
Rashad is a great fighter, he has good boxing and wrestling. But there are a lot of cool guys in my weight class, so he is no different from the rest. I really don't know yet when my next fight will happen and who my opponent is, but I think he is.
He has a good stance, for example, he knocked out Liddell. But in recent battles, he staked on his fight. Do you think he will also try to bring the fight down with you?
Yes, it seems to me that he will not want to fight in a standing position and will try to carry out takedowns. Although every fights are different from each other. Maybe he will try to knock me out, I should be ready for this.
Your older brother recently performed in Canada and was defeated. Were you with him at that time?
It's true, my brother played in Canada and lost, but he showed a good fight. Now he is back home and is working on the bugs. The Ninja will be back. He represents Brazil well abroad. Let's move on to the next question.
There are more and more changes in your division. Younger Nogueira lost to Ryan Bader and will now fight John Jones, and Lyoto Machida will also face Quinton Jackson. A lot of guys want to fight with you and get the coveted belt
Yes, this is one of the strongest divisions since the days of Pride. It is good that they are performing in this weight category. But I can't think about them because I have a fight with Rashad. It will be ugly and disrespectful of me to Rashad if I think of Jones or Bader. I will completely focus on my next fight, not the second or third.
Regarding the Lyoto vs. Rempage fight, two guys you've met before and know their styles. What do you think of this fight?
Yes, it will be a tough fight. Lyoto and Rempage are both good fighters, but I'll be rooting for Lyoto. He is a Brazilian who represents our country. But Rempage also has a chance of winning.
Wanderlei Silva posted a video on the Internet, where he talks about his admiration for you and invites you to Las Vegas for joint training. What do you think of his compliments and invitation?
I watched and it made me very happy. He is the guy that I always wanted to be like and I aspired to be the same as him. I am still a fan of him even now. He has a big heart and is an MMA icon. He and Rafael Cordeiro invited me, and I will think about it and maybe join them. Now I have a strong team and we have a contract, so for now I will stay here, and there it will be visible.
Wanderlei said in an interview that once you wanted to be like him, but now he wants to become like you. How do you like this?
I can only thank him. This is an additional motivation for me. I grew up wanting to be like him, and now he wants to be like me (laughs). Vanderei is a guy that everyone loves and respects.
