Rogerio finds his target on Banha two minutes into the fight. Photo by Josh Hedges.
Rogerio Minotouro didn’t feel the weight of his Octagon debut at UFC 106, this Saturday, and managed a concussive win over Luiz “Banha” Cane, one of the revelations of the MMA’s new generation.
At the post-event press-conference, by Tito Ortiz’s side, Minotouro commented on the knockout.
“Before the fight I could see he had good boxing. I figured I would use Jiu-Jitsu techniques, but changed plans. I won by knockout and am happy,” said the Brazilian.
For the good performance, Rodrigo Minotauro’s twin brother doesn’t forget to thank his team.
“It’s my first time here and I felt a lot of pressure. Everyone knows what the UFC is, but I have a good team, good coaches, so I was really confident for this fight. They helped me a lot and I think that is why I fought well,” he said in finishing.
With the technical knockout, 1:56min into the fight, Minoto also secured the knockout of the night bonus, to the tune of US$ 70 thousand dollars.
Another to gain some extra financial padding was Josh Koscheck. His fight with Anthony Johnson was voted best of the night – oddly, as the fight was stopped several times for fingers in the eyes and illegal blows. Beyond that, the second round rear-naked choke earned him submission of the night – also odd, considering Kendall Grove’s first round triangle.
Thus, the bleached-blond with the attitude took home US$ 140 thousand more than he could have hoped for.
UFC 106
Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
November 21, 2009
Forrest Griffin defeated Tito Ortiz by split decision
Josh Koscheck submitted Anthony Johnson with a rear-naked choke at 4:47min of R2
Paulo Thiago defeated Jacob Volkmann by unanimous decision
Antonio Rogério Nogueira knocked out Luiz Cane at 1:56min of R1
Amir Sadollah defeated Phil Baroni by unanimous decision
Ben Saunders knocked out Marcus Davis at 3:24min of R1
Kendall Grove submitted Jake Rosholt via triangle at 3:59min of R1
Brian Foster defeated Brock Larson by desistance (strikes) at 3:25min of R2
Caol Uno drew with Fabricio Camões by judges’ decision
George Sotiropoulos submitted Jason Dent via armbar at 4:36 min of R2