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Nogueira’s future in PRIDE
By Zach Arnold | February 14, 2006
By Zach Arnold
In a recent interview in Brazil, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was asked about what his future in DSE would be. He was asked specifically what his future after the Kiyoshi Tamura fight would be, and what he thought the best creative direction would be for him. His response was very interesting.
Well, I had a big expectation at the end of the year to fight in PRIDE on 12/31. They didn’t find an opponent for me, so I didn’t take part in that show. I wasn’t in 100% condition last year, but I felt a little harmed by not fighting on the last show of the year. I trained a lot to fight on 12/31, and I wasted time and energy preparing myself for a possible fight that didn’t happen.
In my opinion, a fighter has a short time in this sport, so if there was a chance to fight and you prepare yourself during a long and tough period of two months and don’t fight due to lack of opponents, it’s bad. They booked some fighters on the 12/31 show that didn’t have a good showing, while I would have done it. I hope to fight on 2/26 in Saitama and in May (5/5 Osaka Dome) to erase this string of lack of fights.
Sankei Sports (Fuji TV line of media) did an angle where they talked about Yosuke Nishijima being sent to train in Amsterdam with Emelianenko Alexander. Nishijima has been sent by DSE to train in Seattle (at AMC Pankration) and now Amsterdam for his 2/26 Saitama fight against Mark Hunt.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Big Nog isn’t happy with missing the NY-Mania show or Prides lack of attention to him. But, where does he go that will treat him better? K-1 is about it. I’m not sure the UFC would even make a respectable contract offer to him but the Heavyweight UFC belt would be Nogs at will–and the rumor mill really supports Arlovski getting out of the one horse division in UFC. How sad would it be for Nog to come into the UFC and face stellar competition like Eilers, Aldano and Buentello? Nog could fight once a month and not risk burning out in Dana-ville. Nah, in the end its either Pride or K-1 for Big Nog.