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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"TUF is going to be important to showcase Brazilian MMA in the US, show them how we train united. I showed them that when I was TUF coach and Cigano will show the same. We'll be going to visit him, me and Anderson, but Cigano is a guy who already knows how to teach, he already teaches. He'll know how to show the techniques and show why he's one of the best in the world. As for Lesnar, he doesn't kick, so Cigano will not need to train too much defensive Muay Thai, as he was training for Cain, he can now rely more on training offensive Muay Thai. And this is the type of fight where he'll look for the KO, train a lot of wrestling, train the guard because he could end up falling underneath [Lesnar], even though Lesnar's ground and pound is not as good as Cain's. But [Cigano] will look for the KO in this fight."
-Antonio Minotauro Nogueira talks to Brazilian site Portal Vale Tudo (translated by Orcus via BloodyElbow.com) about the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, coached by his protege Junior Dos Santos and former UFC Heavyweight Champ Brock Lesnar, as well as Dos Santos' preparation for the fight with Lesnar.
Penick's Analysis: It will be good to see Nogueira and Silva making an appearance during this season of TUF. While their time is sure to be short-lived - as they're not going to Vegas as full-on assistant coaches - their assistance even for a short time will make for an invaluable experience for those fighters on Dos Santos' team. It's interesting that they were preparing for more kicks from Velasquez for that fight, but not surprising, as Velasquez's overall striking game is simply more nuanced and polished than Lesnar's, something that was made abundantly clear in October. Still, this remains a fight in which Lesnar will be extremely dangerous, regardless of some deficiencies in his stand up game. If Dos Santos remains aware of the danger he faces on the ground, and prepares accordingly, it will be his best shot at winning the fight. This is going to be a huge non-title fight for the organization.
[Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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