UFC 106: Manager talks Cane vs. Nogueira

By Guilherme Cruz

Photo Josh Hedges

On UFC 106, that happens on November 21^st, Rogério “Minotouro” Nogueira will make his UFC debut against the tough Luis “Banha” Cane. Talking with TATAME.com, ATT manager, Alex Davis, responsible for Cane’s negotiations in the UFC, lamented the decision to put his athlete against his compatriot.

“That was the last fight we wanted. When Joe (Silva) offered it to us, I asked to put his against any other American, Forrest, Rashad, Rampage, but they said you have to fight whoever they put in front of you“, said Alex. With an old relationship with Minotouro, Alex was sad with event’s decision.

“Rogério is my friend, Banha is his fan... They don’t train together, but they have an old relationship with me, I was the first to put him to fight outside Brazil, already train a lot of times on ATT and he’s everyone’s friend up there. Banha likes him a lot, we didn’t want this fight“, toldDavis, who also talked to Minotouro about the combat. And his expectation is for a big fight.

“Is going to be a tough fight, nobody needs to talk about Rogério, he has an excellent ground and boxing game. Banha is also really tough, hits hard, and this fight will be dramatic, really tough”, analyses Davis, seeing the combat as a short way of Banha getting closer to the title. “The only thing that cheers me on that is that, if Banha pass thru Rogério, he’ll have possibilities to fight fort he title on a close future”, reveled the manager.