“Maximus” Uncensored: Aurelio Talks Gomi, “Shaolin”
“Maximus” Uncensored
Josh Gross Jun 3, 2006
Less than a week after Marcus Aurelio (14-2-0) shocked
the mixed martial arts world by choking 2005 fighter of the year
Takanori Gomi (Pictures) to the brink of unconsciousness,
the Brazilian spoke with Sherdog.com editor Josh Gross about the
win and his career.
In his uncensored — and explicit — way Aurelio, who returns to the ring Sunday in Japan versus Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures), discusses the Gomi result and its aftermath.
The American Top Team product also answers questions about his two
career losses, and the dominant Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures), whom Aurelio offers a sharp
opinion of.
Sherdog.com: After defeating Takanori Gomi (Pictures), how was the response for you?
Sherdog.com: How long did you train for Gomi?
Aurelio: Four weeks. They told me about the fight four weeks before. I didn’t have enough time, but it was good. I used the time right and I did good.
Sherdog.com: As soon as you learned about the fight, what were the first steps you took?
Aurelio: I started to train. Right after I started to train and we got all his tapes of his fights and make a strategy. And I said, fuck, I have four weeks. I gotta get in better shape, gotta improve physical condition and boxing, to keep my hands up and make me work good in the ring. The main point is I gotta put my jiu-jitsu better and better and better. I know I could submit this guy on the ground; his ground sucks. And that’s what I did. I did a lot of jiu-jitsu. Everyday I did a lot of jiu-jitsu drills, a lot of repetitions. That’s why I felt good on the ground, you know.
Sherdog.com: When you’re seeing the tapes of him and preparing for the fight, you’re game plan is to take him down and use your jiu-jitsu?
Aurelio: Yeah, that’s what I thought. I thought I know I can exchange punches but I know he has a better level of boxing. He knocked a lot of good guys out. But I knew, man, I can change. I can support that. I can give him good shots, too. I know my boxing is good too; I can hit hard, you know. So I’m not going to be like crazy, because he likes to knock you out and then you go crazy. And I said no, I’m going to wait him and he’s going to be pissed because he always waits for people to come and then he goes. And I said no, fuck that. I’m going to wait for him to come. If he comes to my distance I’m going to punch him, and I’m going to make him feel like “fuck, he’s dangerous too.” I had to make him feel like I’m dangerous too. If he comes in I’m going to punch hard, maybe I can knock him out if he gives me the chance. But if he gives me the chance I’m going to take him down and go to the ground because that’s my game.
Sherdog.com: You finished him with an arm-triangle choke. Did you see when you were preparing, like watching tape, that you could catch him with that choke?
Aurelio: Yeah. That was one of the opportunities that I saw. You know, like I said, his ground is not so good so he does a lot of mistakes. That was one of the mistakes. He always gives the kata-gatame.
Sherdog.com: Why do you think you were successful at finishing with that when others were not?
Aurelio: You know what I think the difference was: I was completely confident. I think he felt this in the beginning of the fight. When I gave him the takedown I thought he was done. I gave him a strong takedown and right away I started to pass, go to the half-guard and start to punch. He was breathing [heavy]. And I said he’s gonna have a hard time now. That fight made me strong. The strong takedown, the work on the ground — half-guard, punching, punching — and I saw he was moving wrong. He doesn’t know what to do. I said man, this was a good time for a submission. He gonna give me something, because I work on my submission a lot. I had a lot of submission to give to him.
Sherdog.com: I don’t know if you saw his comments after the fight, but he was asked what the reason for his loss was, and he said he didn’t train enough. Do you think that’s fair or is he making excuses?
Aurelio: He’s making excuses, man. How the No. 1 guy — he knows everyone is going after his head. How is he not going to train for this fight? If he did this, it’s a big mistake. Bad for him. I don’t think so. I don’t think so. You know what happened? I put him in a different world, you know what I mean. Different planet. So that’s why he felt like shit. Because every guy when he goes to the ring against Gomi he wants to have big balls and prove to the world he can beat Gomi by punch. Sometimes that’s stupid. I’m going to go there to prove how good I am in my game. Man if I need to go punch against everyone, I will do. I train to fucking box everyday. Muay Thai. I know I have a [high] level too. But, you know, strike is a strike. Did you see Azeredo and Hansen? Azeredo was doing good. He got knocked out. Stupid. If he does a right game he can beat the guy. He can punch, do a nice strike and then take him down and punch him on the ground. Work the ground. But he wanted to do a big show. He wanted to show everyone “Hey, I’m fucking tough. I have big balls.” I prefer to go like that. I can show I can be tough too and submit guys on the ground like “Minotauro” does. Nobody can say “Minotauro” doesn’t have big balls. People sometimes think stupid. Fuck. Wanderlei has a big balls. Why? Just because he exchange punches? Fuck, I know he’s tough, but not because he exchanges punches. [It’s] because Wanderlei, if he needs to fight on the ground, he’ll go fight there too. That’s why I think Wanderlei has big balls, not just because he’s crazy and exchanges punches against everyone. Fuck that. Everyone can do that. Everyone can be a crazy bitch: “OK man, I don’t care if he knocks me out.” Man, I don’t care if he knocks me out when I’m doing what I have to do. OK. But if he knocks me out because I want to prove to everybody that I’m a fucking bad boy and don’t go to the ground, I’m going to feel stupid.
In his uncensored — and explicit — way Aurelio, who returns to the ring Sunday in Japan versus Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures), discusses the Gomi result and its aftermath.
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Sherdog.com: After defeating Takanori Gomi (Pictures), how was the response for you?
Marcus Aurelio: Man, you
have no idea how happy I am. Fuck, I’m fucking happy. You know. I’m
feeling great because I said before the fight that I am going to do
that, and I will do, and I did. So I trained hard for the fight. I
did a lot of strategy. So, my teammates, they help me a lot. I put
everything together, you know, and it worked. I beat the guy.
Sherdog.com: How long did you train for Gomi?
Aurelio: Four weeks. They told me about the fight four weeks before. I didn’t have enough time, but it was good. I used the time right and I did good.
Sherdog.com: As soon as you learned about the fight, what were the first steps you took?
Aurelio: I started to train. Right after I started to train and we got all his tapes of his fights and make a strategy. And I said, fuck, I have four weeks. I gotta get in better shape, gotta improve physical condition and boxing, to keep my hands up and make me work good in the ring. The main point is I gotta put my jiu-jitsu better and better and better. I know I could submit this guy on the ground; his ground sucks. And that’s what I did. I did a lot of jiu-jitsu. Everyday I did a lot of jiu-jitsu drills, a lot of repetitions. That’s why I felt good on the ground, you know.
Sherdog.com: When you’re seeing the tapes of him and preparing for the fight, you’re game plan is to take him down and use your jiu-jitsu?
Aurelio: Yeah, that’s what I thought. I thought I know I can exchange punches but I know he has a better level of boxing. He knocked a lot of good guys out. But I knew, man, I can change. I can support that. I can give him good shots, too. I know my boxing is good too; I can hit hard, you know. So I’m not going to be like crazy, because he likes to knock you out and then you go crazy. And I said no, I’m going to wait him and he’s going to be pissed because he always waits for people to come and then he goes. And I said no, fuck that. I’m going to wait for him to come. If he comes to my distance I’m going to punch him, and I’m going to make him feel like “fuck, he’s dangerous too.” I had to make him feel like I’m dangerous too. If he comes in I’m going to punch hard, maybe I can knock him out if he gives me the chance. But if he gives me the chance I’m going to take him down and go to the ground because that’s my game.
Sherdog.com: You finished him with an arm-triangle choke. Did you see when you were preparing, like watching tape, that you could catch him with that choke?
Aurelio: Yeah. That was one of the opportunities that I saw. You know, like I said, his ground is not so good so he does a lot of mistakes. That was one of the mistakes. He always gives the kata-gatame.
Sherdog.com: Why do you think you were successful at finishing with that when others were not?
Aurelio: You know what I think the difference was: I was completely confident. I think he felt this in the beginning of the fight. When I gave him the takedown I thought he was done. I gave him a strong takedown and right away I started to pass, go to the half-guard and start to punch. He was breathing [heavy]. And I said he’s gonna have a hard time now. That fight made me strong. The strong takedown, the work on the ground — half-guard, punching, punching — and I saw he was moving wrong. He doesn’t know what to do. I said man, this was a good time for a submission. He gonna give me something, because I work on my submission a lot. I had a lot of submission to give to him.
Sherdog.com: I don’t know if you saw his comments after the fight, but he was asked what the reason for his loss was, and he said he didn’t train enough. Do you think that’s fair or is he making excuses?
Aurelio: He’s making excuses, man. How the No. 1 guy — he knows everyone is going after his head. How is he not going to train for this fight? If he did this, it’s a big mistake. Bad for him. I don’t think so. I don’t think so. You know what happened? I put him in a different world, you know what I mean. Different planet. So that’s why he felt like shit. Because every guy when he goes to the ring against Gomi he wants to have big balls and prove to the world he can beat Gomi by punch. Sometimes that’s stupid. I’m going to go there to prove how good I am in my game. Man if I need to go punch against everyone, I will do. I train to fucking box everyday. Muay Thai. I know I have a [high] level too. But, you know, strike is a strike. Did you see Azeredo and Hansen? Azeredo was doing good. He got knocked out. Stupid. If he does a right game he can beat the guy. He can punch, do a nice strike and then take him down and punch him on the ground. Work the ground. But he wanted to do a big show. He wanted to show everyone “Hey, I’m fucking tough. I have big balls.” I prefer to go like that. I can show I can be tough too and submit guys on the ground like “Minotauro” does. Nobody can say “Minotauro” doesn’t have big balls. People sometimes think stupid. Fuck. Wanderlei has a big balls. Why? Just because he exchange punches? Fuck, I know he’s tough, but not because he exchanges punches. [It’s] because Wanderlei, if he needs to fight on the ground, he’ll go fight there too. That’s why I think Wanderlei has big balls, not just because he’s crazy and exchanges punches against everyone. Fuck that. Everyone can do that. Everyone can be a crazy bitch: “OK man, I don’t care if he knocks me out.” Man, I don’t care if he knocks me out when I’m doing what I have to do. OK. But if he knocks me out because I want to prove to everybody that I’m a fucking bad boy and don’t go to the ground, I’m going to feel stupid.
