Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira wants to prove he still has what it takes to be one of the top dogs in the UFC heavyweight division as he claims that in the upcoming Nogueira vs Nelson, he going to do what no one in the UFC has done and finish "Big Country" Roy Nelson!
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Nogueira told them:
"I don't think I need to prove to anyone how good my jiu-jitsu is. I do believe I can submit him, I've trained a lot with Bruno Frazatto and Everaldo Penco. The best scenario is get out with the win no matter how. He was never finished in the UFC, but I know I'm capable of doing it."
"He really does have a heavy overhand and is really dangerous in the first minutes of the fight, but I believe that I have better boxing," he said. "I'm ready to stop his game and, if the fight goes to the ground, I believe a lot in my jiu-jitsu. I think that I can be in advantage in every aspect of the fight.
"The secret is in the legs. I need to be light and fast. My speed and movement will be the key to the victory. It's a five-round fight, so we need to be well trained. He was never knocked out or submitted in the UFC. I'm ready to go five rounds, but I would love to finish the fight before that."
Nogueira fights for the first time in Abu Dhabi, so he called an old friend to help him in the finals weeks of camp. Unbeaten under the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) banner, Ricardo Arona is familiar with the place, and traveled to Abu Dhabi with "Minotauro" 15 days before the fight.
"It was great to come here to Abu Dhabi," Nogueira said. "We opened a gym in Dubai, so I brought a good team with me from Brazil. I'm here with my coaches, and I brought Ricardo Arona to help me with training over the last couple weeks.
"We studied Roy Nelson's fights a lot," he continued. "We know what he can do. We know what we have to do. I'm excited to fight in Abu Dhabi and to compete against Roy Nelson because he's a dangerous opponent and demands a lot of respect and hard training to beat. He's a knockout artist and really well-rounded, so you need to be well trained to fight someone like him.0022
Nelson was only finished once during his 28-fight career, in a second-round TKO against former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski at EliteXC in 2008.
