Minotouro on UFC debut / Photo: Josh Hedges
This Saturday the 26th, Jiu-Jitsu black belt Rogério Minotouro enters the world’s most well-known octagon to face off with Phil Davis, a major revelation in MMA’s light heavyweight division, at UFC Fight Night 24.
At 34 years of age, Brazil’s Rogério Minotouro has already made a name for himself in the MMA scene. Besides his stellar performances at events like the now-defunct Pride FC organization and even the UFC, Minotouro has an achievement on his CV not many in the sport can brag of: a bronze medal for boxing at the 2007 Pan-American Games. Despite his winning record, Rogério wants more. Coming off a loss to the USA’s Ryan Bader (UFC 119), the Brazilian knows he needs to win to recover his standing in the sport. The fighter knows, however, that he’ll have his work cut out for him in doing so.
“The guy’s young, he’s good. He was a national wrestling champion and four-time All American. He doesn’t really have all that much experience in MMA, but he has an interesting record (8w-0l) and is really tall. So he’s someone you have to be especially careful about, because he wants it, and that makes him a dangerous opponent, especially with UFC rules, where takedowns count a lot,” explains Minotouro in analyzing American revelation Phil Davis, 26, who comes into the bout with a pristine record.
In the meantime, warm up for the excitement with the video below:
Check out the complete card:
Rogerio “Minotouro” vs. Phil Davis
Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson
DaMarques Johnson vs. Amir Sadollah
Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung
Alex Caceres vs. Mackens Semerzier
Jon Madsen vs. Mike Russow
John Hathaway vs. Kris McCray
Edwin Figueroa vs. Michael McDonald
Sean McCorkle vs. Christian Morecraft
Mario Miranda vs. Aaron Simpson
Johny Hendricks vs. T.J. Waldburger
Nik Lentz vs. Waylon Lowe