News and Notes from Affliction: Banned Fighters Press Conference
Posted by Morgan Marx on 07.21.2008
Quotes from Matt Lindland, Fabio Nascimento, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Mike Whitehead and Renato Sobral.
411Mania was in attendance for the post-event press conference featuring Affliction fighters and representatives. Here is a selection of news and notes to come from the event.
Matt Lindland:
* The fight was "tougher than I expected. My hat's off to Fabio. He's got a great career ahead of him."
* Suffered elbow and knee injuries in training, but still felt in great shape. Had five week training camp. Thought he was "too excited" and used a lot of energy early in the fight.
* Will take time off following November election for Oregon House of Representatives seat. Plans to continue fighting after, saying "I just really enjoy beating people up."
* Feels MMA is a more honorable profession than politics. "In MMA it's easy to know who your opponent is. In politics, you have people sticking you in the back."
* Will stay at 185 for future fights, interested in facing both Murilo Bustamante and David Terrell.
Fabio "Negao" Nascimento
* Felt he fought hard, knew Lindland was a tough opponent. Might fight in different division in the future.
Anotonio Rogerio Nogueira
* Plans to stay in America, working with newly formed fight team in Miami.
Mike Whitehead
* Wanted to strike, felt confident in his stand up game. Felt he reverted back to his customary wrestling because of his years of experience.
* Admitted that he weighed around 280 lbs. in May, not 250 like he said.
Renato "Babalu" Sobral
* Credited work with Josh Barnett in helping him prepare for the fight.
* Fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueria "not the fight he's interested in" but understands it's a business.
* Says Affliction knows which fighter he wants next and hopefully he will be signed. Speculation Sobral was referring to Tito Ortiz.
* After his fight, he changed quickly to watch the rest of the card. Celebrated with Barnett in the ring after Barnett's KO victory.
