Minotauro and Bader. Photo: Brawlin.net
On September 25 in Indianapolis the undefeated Ryan Bader (11 fights) will face off with Rogério Minotouro in the octagon at UFC 119. Winner of the 8th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, Bader was coached by Minotouro’s twin brother Rodrigo Minotauro. A declared Minotauro fan, now the wrestling specialist will be gunning for the brother.
“He’s a great fighter and great person. I respect what he’s done for the sport a lot. But I’m on my own path and now I need to beat him. He’s great on the ground and at boxing, but he doesn’t kick that much. His weakest part is his wrestling, as he showed against Jason Brilz (Minotouro’s last opponent), when he got caught in a guillotine. I can definitely beat him,” Bader told the Fighters Only magazine website.
Bader knows what he needs to improve on to overcome Nogueira.
“The ground game comes naturally to me, but I have a harder time with striking. I’m working on striking five days a week. I have excellent boxing and muay thai coaches and I’ve made great progress,” he says.
However, Rogério has an ace up his sleeve for the bout. Big brother Minotauro knows well Bader’s secrets.
“I coached him at the UFC house and he won. I like him, he’s good at wrestling, has a heavy hand, but I feel Rogério is more experienced and has a better ground game and better striking. He’s better at wrestling, but Rogério is having a really good phase and wants to fight for the title,” Minotauro told GRACIEMAG.com.
Rogério Minotouro also knows what he needs to watch out for with his opponent.
“He’s a really tough guy who combines wrestling with striking well. He’s a top opponent. It’ll be a tough fight, but I’ll go after him with Jiu-Jitsu and boxing. I’ll have to use my Jiu-Jitsu a lot in the fight; that’ll be one weapon, but my boxing is good, too,” he wagered.