Back in training, Minotouro plans to fight for May or June

R. Minotouro trains boxing with Edvaldo Badola. Photo: MidiáticaPress/Disclosure

Without acting for almost a year, Rogério Minotouro returned to training this Wednesday (08). However, the light heavyweight, who boxed with coach Edvaldo Badola for around an hour, prefers not to rush a possible return to the octagon. For Minotouro, due to the time away, the ideal date for his next fight would be in May or June.

“I was out of action for a long time, so now I need to come back little by little to avoid new injuries. Today I need about five months to get physically fit at the time of the fight. You can’t go more than six months without training and prepare well in just two months,” said Rogério.

Regarding his likely opponent, Minotouro mentioned some names, but stated that there was no contact from Ultimate to make the proposals official. “I hear people talking about rematches with Shogun, Phil Davis, Gustafsson, but the truth is that so far there is nothing. I'm restarting my preparation and by May or June I hope to be ready to face anyone the UFC wants to put me in”, he concluded.

At 37, Rogério Minotouro has a record of 21 wins and five losses. In his last fight, on February 2, 2013, Rogério beat the former champion Rashad evans by unanimous decision of the judges. Since then, Minotouro suffered from a herniated disc, which kept him from training for seven months and made him cancel his participation in two fights – against Mauritius Shogun and most recently Alexander Gustafson.