Gregory Rodrigues is gearing up for a middleweight showdown against fellow knockout artist Chidi Njokuani in the co-main event attraction at UFC Vegas 60 on Saturday night, looking to keep the momentum going three months after a first-round knockout over Julian Marquez.
” I always tell myself that I want to be the champion among the champions and not the champion among the losers,” Rodrigues stated in an interview on MMA Fighting’s podcast Trocacao Franca .. They sent his name and my eyes lit up, so I didn’t hesitate to say, “Let’s go!”
“Chidi may not be ranked, but he is doing well in UFC so this fight makes sense for us both. This fight will be exciting. I’m very excited for this fight. You better be ready brother. [He’s] ‘Bang Bang’, right? You better get your guns loaded, because I have my guns always loaded and ready to shoot .”
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Rodrigues said a close split-decision defeat to Armen Petrosyan in February “taught me a lot about strategy,” and sees many avenues to explore against Njokuani.
” I’ll neutralize him game and win,” Robocop said. “Knockouts and submission happen. “Knockouts and submission happen.
The Brazilian middleweight, a former LFA titleholder, is happy with UFC’s matchmaking so far and hopes that a win over Njokuani leads to a top-15 opponent next.
Although it won’t, 2022, will.
“I told [my manager Jorge Guimaraes] ‘Joinha’ to get me a fight before my daughter is born in October, and they sent me this fight with Chidi right away,” Rodrigues said. “It’s always tense, it gives anxiety thinking how it’s going to be. My friends joke that I will not be able sleep for a while, so I decided to get a fight started as quickly as I could.
” I want to have fun with my daughter, help my wife, and be 100 present for our dreams. I’ll probably get some rest and only come back to fighting next year.”
