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LAS VEGAS – In baseball, an old adage is that swinging for the fences is probably least likely to result in a home run.
If the same theory applies to fighting, Gregory Rodrigues (19-6 MMA, 10-3 UFC) got a great lesson from striking coach Henri Hooft before his finish of Brunno Ferreira (15-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in their rematch this past Saturday to open the main card at UFC 326 at T-Mobile Arena.
Ferreira, who was unbeaten at the time, knocked Rodrigues out in the first round when they fought at UFC 283 in Brazil a little more than three years ago. And while a rematch so soon wasn't on a ton of radar screens, it wound up being a perfect scenario for Rodrigues to get one of his losses back.
"Brunno is a really tough guy, a really tough opponent. He proved it already – he beat me the first time," Rodrigues said at his post-fight news conference. "… Before, in the walkout, (Hooft) looked at me and said, 'Gregory, don't rush. Take your time, work your defense, and we're going to find the perfect moment to connect.' And that's what happened."
After the initial fight and loss to Ferreira, "Robocop" has rebounded in a big way with six wins in seven fights. In the middle was a fourth-round TKO loss to former title challenger Jared Cannonier, but it was a Fight of the Night banger and one of three post-fight bonuses in Rodrigues' past four fights.
Now Rodrigues senses big things could be afoot for him at middleweight, including the potential for a fight with Anthony Hernandez, who will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Sean Strickland in February.
"I'm ready for everything. I sent my message. I sent my message to the division. I'm happy how my career is going. For sure, something big is going to come. I want to fight in the top five – maybe Hernandez. That's a good name, a good match."
But he's positive he'll see Ferreira again, especially now that they're 1-1 against each other, each with a knockout.
"Oh yeah, (we're going to fight again). Definitely, yeah," Rodrigues said. "I told him right after the fight, 'For sure, we'll see you at the top again, and probably we're going to face each other one more time.' Take the bad from this, and maybe in one, two, three years, we're going to face each other again."
Check out Rodrigues' full post-fight interview above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 326: Gregory Rodrigues planned patience, but KO came quickly
Continue reading...
If the same theory applies to fighting, Gregory Rodrigues (19-6 MMA, 10-3 UFC) got a great lesson from striking coach Henri Hooft before his finish of Brunno Ferreira (15-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) in their rematch this past Saturday to open the main card at UFC 326 at T-Mobile Arena.
Ferreira, who was unbeaten at the time, knocked Rodrigues out in the first round when they fought at UFC 283 in Brazil a little more than three years ago. And while a rematch so soon wasn't on a ton of radar screens, it wound up being a perfect scenario for Rodrigues to get one of his losses back.
"Brunno is a really tough guy, a really tough opponent. He proved it already – he beat me the first time," Rodrigues said at his post-fight news conference. "… Before, in the walkout, (Hooft) looked at me and said, 'Gregory, don't rush. Take your time, work your defense, and we're going to find the perfect moment to connect.' And that's what happened."
After the initial fight and loss to Ferreira, "Robocop" has rebounded in a big way with six wins in seven fights. In the middle was a fourth-round TKO loss to former title challenger Jared Cannonier, but it was a Fight of the Night banger and one of three post-fight bonuses in Rodrigues' past four fights.
Now Rodrigues senses big things could be afoot for him at middleweight, including the potential for a fight with Anthony Hernandez, who will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Sean Strickland in February.
"I'm ready for everything. I sent my message. I sent my message to the division. I'm happy how my career is going. For sure, something big is going to come. I want to fight in the top five – maybe Hernandez. That's a good name, a good match."
But he's positive he'll see Ferreira again, especially now that they're 1-1 against each other, each with a knockout.
"Oh yeah, (we're going to fight again). Definitely, yeah," Rodrigues said. "I told him right after the fight, 'For sure, we'll see you at the top again, and probably we're going to face each other one more time.' Take the bad from this, and maybe in one, two, three years, we're going to face each other again."
Check out Rodrigues' full post-fight interview above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 326: Gregory Rodrigues planned patience, but KO came quickly
Continue reading...
