Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is coming off two wins against UFC champions, but they were his only two bouts in the last 30 months. Despite some of the injuries that have caused his inactivity recently, “Minotouro” told Combate.com that he is clear to fight and seeks a championship fight in the Light Heavyweight division. For this he needs to beat Anthony Johnson this Saturday at UFC on FOX 12.
“This fight is a big challenge to I getting where I want, which is fighting for the belt. It comes in a great moment. It’s do or die for me. This fight probably will put me as one of the top 4 guys in the ranking.”
In his last two appearances, “Little Nog” beat Tito Ortiz by TKO in the first round at UFC 140 back in December, 2011, and then defeated Rashad Evans by unanimous decision at UFC 156 in February, 2013. Fights against Alexander Gustafsson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua were cancelled in the last two years but Rogerio never thought about retirement during the entire healing process.
“I feel that I’m well trained. For now I’m feeling fine. I did a great fight against Rashad. People told me that I did better sparring sessions for this fight with Johnson than last time. I had quite some time to bring the right people to help me to train takedown defense. It’s not time to think about quit fighting. I’ll only think about that when I stop training well.”
“Minotouro” believes it is natural that Johnson be considered the favorite of their upcoming fight.
“He’s coming from a good fight and a big win streak, that is why I think people are trusting him. It’s normal. I went through this last time (against Rashad). My goal is to be the surprise again.”
“Rumble” Johnson most recently fought at UFC 172 last April, when he beat Phil Davis via unanimous decision after a very one-sided bout. Before coming back to the UFC, “Rumble” won six fights in a row in promotions such as WSOF, Xtreme Fight Night and Titan Fighting Championship.