Portal das Lutas – What is different about the Minotauro to fight Couture compared to the one who lost to Frank Mir?I'd love to see a Minotauro victory, but I think Randy is the favorite for good reason.
Amaury Bitetti – The difference is that in the other fight he was injured and I think he wasn’t as focused as he is now. This time we did a lot of work and I’ve even been telling him to not overdo it in training. Now it’s time to rest, assimilate what he’s trained and brush up on some details based on what may happen in the fight. Rodrigo likes training a lot, but in this final stretch things have to be done in such a way that he won’t get worn out and will be more objective.
PDL – And what’s the word on the fight?
AB – He has to keep in the middle of the ring. The fencing is Couture’s place and he can’t get taken there. To work on the ground, the middle of the octagon is where it’s easier to sweep or go for submissions, triangles and armbars, which he does really well. At the fencing the guy circles and pummels well, so he’s dangerous. We’ve told him that, Anderson Silva was there too and agreed. We have to make things as hard as possible for Couture and not use force, just skill.
Randy has struggled against larger submission wrestlers like Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez - neither of whom have especially impressive striking. Potential advantage: Nog. Then again, Nog's striking has been suspect against non-K-1 caliber strikers like Heath Herring and Frank Mir. Couture outstrikes both those guys. Potential advantage: Randy.
One thing I've always disagreed with people about is that Nog's best jiu jitsu is off his back. I think he's more effective working a sweep game and getting to the top - as most jiu jitsu players in MMA tend to be. Randy is very confident ground-n-pounding from the half guard. There may be an opportunity to trap Randy in his own comfort zone.
