Nothing Mystical About This “Shaolin” Warrior
Gleidson Venga Dec 1, 2006
Among Brazilian lightweights, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro stands out as
one of the best. The 155-pound fighter will put his Cage Rage title
up for grabs against Daisuke Nakamura (Pictures) on Dec. 9 in London. “Shaolin”
spoke with Sherdog.com about his upcoming title defense.
Sherdog.com: What exactly do you know about your opponent?
Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures): I know he made a tough fight
against Marcus Aurelio.
He defended himself very well against Marcus Aurelio’s skills. He is
tough. And he is very hard to be beat. He has great striking skills
because he is agile. He has very fast hands and a good reach; his
arms are long, so he keeps opponents at a good distance. That is
what I saw about him, plus the fact he has a very good keylock —
just like Sakuraba’s — and on the ground he is not a joke. Besides,
Marcus Aurelio took good
positions on him, but it is not easy to pound him.
Sherdog.com: How has your preparation been for this fight?
Sherdog.com: Your last fight, against Abdul Mohamed (Pictures), was not as hard as you thought. Why was that?
Ribeiro: I’ve trained for the worst moments in the ring, but the good part of it all was everything rolled as I planned. I struck a little on my feet, I closed the distance, then I tried a takedown. In the moment I was trying to take him down, he was not able to do the sprawl, so he tried to escape from the ground fight. But I kept myself on the top, in the control. Then I get the full-mount position, he gave me the back, and I submitted him with that reverse Kimura.
Sherdog.com: What do you think about the Cage Rage organization?
Ribeiro: I’m really impressed. Since I was there to face Jean Silva (Pictures), last year, until my last fight against Abdul, things changed very fast. The arena now is bigger; more people can fit in it, a great audience, good sponsors, very good crowd. So the event is getting bigger everyday, it is becoming very known and it tends to improve more because the English people have strong money and they enjoy fights. They are learning more about the fights. I had a good connection with the audience over there and I’m loving it. The event is growing more, and this made me happy, because I feel myself inside it all.
Sherdog.com: This will be the last fight of your contract?
Ribeiro: I’m the champion there. I defended my title against Abdul. I will defend it again in December if I beat this Japanese fighter. I will be waiting for them to contact me.
Sherdog.com: You were supposed to fight in the HERO’S tournament but you got hurt and could not to be there. What is your situation with this event? Is there any contract?
Ribeiro: I came close to fighting there, but I couldn’t because of an injury. There was a fore-contract for me to sign, but I didn’t sign, because of my injury, so, I was out of the tournament. So I am trying to sign with a great organization, but I have no contracts with HERO’S organization and I have no contract with PRIDE either. I’m trying to sign with any of these two organizations. I want to fight in Japan. I’m waiting, and I’m very focused on this fight in Cage Rage and I think, if everything runs well in this fight, I will maybe have good news from Japan.
Sherdog.com: What did you think about Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures) becoming the champion of this HERO’S tournament?
Ribeiro: I thought he did everything right. He beat a very tough opponent in the final, Caol Uno (Pictures). He is a well-rounded guy. He is young, so he will have a long career, an excellent athlete. He is very tough, and he deserves to be the champion. Congratulations for him, my best wishes.
Sherdog.com: MMA fans argue about why it is you are not in PRIDE. A lot of people say you are the right guy to beat Takanori Gomi (Pictures). There have been some complaints on the MMA forums all over the world. What do you think about this?
Ribeiro: I think it is great that people support my work. I think it is nice the audience wants another Brazilian fighting in Japan, and I know I’m able to be there, win or lose. It is funny how the guys are really complaining about this. I see people really angry because I’m not in PRIDE. I didn’t have my chance there because no one offered it to me. In God’s wish, with the support from these guys, and my good results in the ring, I think something good is coming for me next year. Its nice to see people you don’t know talking good things about you — this is the result of a long time job in jiu-jitsu, submissions and now in MMA. The guys are doing a very good protest, and I hope the Japanese read this and make it happen.
Sherdog.com: You are a very good friend of Pedro Rizzo (Pictures). What do you expect from his fight against Heath Herring (Pictures) in the WFA? (Editor’s note: This interview was conducted before the WFA postponed its Dec. 9 card in Las Vegas.)
Ribeiro: I’m cheering for Pedro because he is my friend, and I support him. I think this will be a great fight against Heath Herring (Pictures), who is very close to Rizzo’s weight. He is also a tough guy, well rounded. But Pedro now has a good motivation; he wants to come back, reborn from the ashes. This motivation will make him give his best, the wish to beat all the heavyweights is back inside of him. His training sessions have been great; he has a good support. He gets Assuerio Silva (Pictures), Vitor Miranda, really good training partners. There is been very intense training, so I think he have everything to come back. WFA is back with strength, so I think Pedro will beat this guy. Of course we will only know it during the fight, but I’ve seen his preparation and I know his potential. He knows that last only one month to this fight, so he is training hardest. I think he will show us a great performance.
Sherdog.com: Leave a message to everyone who access Sherdog.com, and to everybody who supports you.
Ribeiro: My biggest message is the same: cheer for me against the Japanese. Those who saw my last fight and enjoyed it, cheer for me now. Fighting against a Japanese guy is always important and difficult. This will be important because the Japanese media will be there, and the Japanese are a people who never surrender. So this will be a big challenge, and I will try to reach a good position to submit him. For the next year, I hope the guy’s support me to be in a big Japanese organization, and I’ll show to everybody that I’m not only a ring monster, but I’m able to face every tough opponent there is.
Sherdog.com: What exactly do you know about your opponent?
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Sherdog.com: How has your preparation been for this fight?
Ribeiro: Better than never. This will be my last fight this year
and I fought last September. So I could keep the rhythm of the
training for that fight and bring it to this one. I spent only one
week resting, so my body is used to that routine, the workout
sessions, the boxing sessions. Now I just have to work and improve
myself based on the videos I saw about him.
Sherdog.com: Your last fight, against Abdul Mohamed (Pictures), was not as hard as you thought. Why was that?
Ribeiro: I’ve trained for the worst moments in the ring, but the good part of it all was everything rolled as I planned. I struck a little on my feet, I closed the distance, then I tried a takedown. In the moment I was trying to take him down, he was not able to do the sprawl, so he tried to escape from the ground fight. But I kept myself on the top, in the control. Then I get the full-mount position, he gave me the back, and I submitted him with that reverse Kimura.
Sherdog.com: What do you think about the Cage Rage organization?
Ribeiro: I’m really impressed. Since I was there to face Jean Silva (Pictures), last year, until my last fight against Abdul, things changed very fast. The arena now is bigger; more people can fit in it, a great audience, good sponsors, very good crowd. So the event is getting bigger everyday, it is becoming very known and it tends to improve more because the English people have strong money and they enjoy fights. They are learning more about the fights. I had a good connection with the audience over there and I’m loving it. The event is growing more, and this made me happy, because I feel myself inside it all.
Sherdog.com: This will be the last fight of your contract?
Ribeiro: I’m the champion there. I defended my title against Abdul. I will defend it again in December if I beat this Japanese fighter. I will be waiting for them to contact me.
Sherdog.com: You were supposed to fight in the HERO’S tournament but you got hurt and could not to be there. What is your situation with this event? Is there any contract?
Ribeiro: I came close to fighting there, but I couldn’t because of an injury. There was a fore-contract for me to sign, but I didn’t sign, because of my injury, so, I was out of the tournament. So I am trying to sign with a great organization, but I have no contracts with HERO’S organization and I have no contract with PRIDE either. I’m trying to sign with any of these two organizations. I want to fight in Japan. I’m waiting, and I’m very focused on this fight in Cage Rage and I think, if everything runs well in this fight, I will maybe have good news from Japan.
Sherdog.com: What did you think about Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures) becoming the champion of this HERO’S tournament?
Ribeiro: I thought he did everything right. He beat a very tough opponent in the final, Caol Uno (Pictures). He is a well-rounded guy. He is young, so he will have a long career, an excellent athlete. He is very tough, and he deserves to be the champion. Congratulations for him, my best wishes.
Sherdog.com: MMA fans argue about why it is you are not in PRIDE. A lot of people say you are the right guy to beat Takanori Gomi (Pictures). There have been some complaints on the MMA forums all over the world. What do you think about this?
Ribeiro: I think it is great that people support my work. I think it is nice the audience wants another Brazilian fighting in Japan, and I know I’m able to be there, win or lose. It is funny how the guys are really complaining about this. I see people really angry because I’m not in PRIDE. I didn’t have my chance there because no one offered it to me. In God’s wish, with the support from these guys, and my good results in the ring, I think something good is coming for me next year. Its nice to see people you don’t know talking good things about you — this is the result of a long time job in jiu-jitsu, submissions and now in MMA. The guys are doing a very good protest, and I hope the Japanese read this and make it happen.
Sherdog.com: You are a very good friend of Pedro Rizzo (Pictures). What do you expect from his fight against Heath Herring (Pictures) in the WFA? (Editor’s note: This interview was conducted before the WFA postponed its Dec. 9 card in Las Vegas.)
Ribeiro: I’m cheering for Pedro because he is my friend, and I support him. I think this will be a great fight against Heath Herring (Pictures), who is very close to Rizzo’s weight. He is also a tough guy, well rounded. But Pedro now has a good motivation; he wants to come back, reborn from the ashes. This motivation will make him give his best, the wish to beat all the heavyweights is back inside of him. His training sessions have been great; he has a good support. He gets Assuerio Silva (Pictures), Vitor Miranda, really good training partners. There is been very intense training, so I think he have everything to come back. WFA is back with strength, so I think Pedro will beat this guy. Of course we will only know it during the fight, but I’ve seen his preparation and I know his potential. He knows that last only one month to this fight, so he is training hardest. I think he will show us a great performance.
Sherdog.com: Leave a message to everyone who access Sherdog.com, and to everybody who supports you.
Ribeiro: My biggest message is the same: cheer for me against the Japanese. Those who saw my last fight and enjoyed it, cheer for me now. Fighting against a Japanese guy is always important and difficult. This will be important because the Japanese media will be there, and the Japanese are a people who never surrender. So this will be a big challenge, and I will try to reach a good position to submit him. For the next year, I hope the guy’s support me to be in a big Japanese organization, and I’ll show to everybody that I’m not only a ring monster, but I’m able to face every tough opponent there is.
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