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 Rising Canadian Light Heavyweight Todd Gouwenberg will be
fighting in the biggest
fight of his mixed martial arts career against former Pride standout
Rogerio Nogueira.
"Lil" Nog is well known in MMA circles as one of the top Light
Heavyweight fighters in the division and Gouwenberg is looking forward
to taking his spot as one of the top fighters in the weight class.
On February 1st, Calgary will play host to Hardcore Championship
Fighting
where Gouwenberg will meet Nogueira at the Stampede Corral and
Gouwenberg spent some time with Arnold Lim to talk about his fight, his
future, and being the underdog.
MMARR: You have been training with some pretty good guys
down there for the people who don’t know who you are training with can you tell
us a little bit about your training partners?
TG: I have been training with Denis Kang obviously he is a
Pride and K-1 veteran, Bill Mahood and then I have a lot of other teammates I
train with as well, some of them are lighter but they are still awesome
partners, Kultar Gill, Tim Thurston, Tyler Jackson, Kajan Johnson, Rob Valek,
the list goes on, “Pele” (Landi) Bibiano Fernandez, I got Nick Ogalla and Colin
Danes both ex Olympic wrestlers, I got Roy Witts my boxing coach who is
awesome, Marcus and Bibiano for jiu jitsu, I got a lot of good coaches.
MMARR: You are much improved what has been the difference
for you?
TG: Back when I first started, I have always taken it fairly
seriously, but not quite as a full time job and I wasn’t eating a certain way
where I would take everything really seriously. Plus I have surrounded myself
with a lot better people. Lance (Gibson) was a trainer but he was only one guy,
there is no one person that can train you enough and be good at all the
disciplines you need to work with a pro boxing coach, jiu jitsu guy, Olympic wrestlers,
if you want to be the best you have to train with the best in all disciplines. I
think that is the biggest difference.
MMARR: What is the most important aspect for an MMA fighter ?
TG: Dedication, being smart, people don’t realize the best
fighters out there are smart fighters. Randy Couture, a lot of good examples ,but
he is the best example. You don’t have to be the best at one particular thing
you know, you have to be smart you have to find a way to win and I think that
is what all the good champions can do.
MMARR: Ultimately what is your goal in MMA? Would you like
to fight in the UFC?
TG: As far as organizations I am not really too concerned
about that I just want to fight the best guys in the world, for any
organization, if Hardcore can bring the good guys in I fight for them. I just
want the best guys out there.
MMARR: What is your prediction for the fight?
TG:I don’t really like predications, but I predict it is going
to be a really good fight probably a war and I am going to come out on top.
MMARR: What can we expect to see from you going forward and
any parting thoughts to the MMA fans out there watching the fight?
TG: You are going to see a good fight. I think it is going
to be competitive, I think a lot of people obviously have me as the underdog
and I would say probably, obviously I am the underdog, but when you watch the
fight you are definitely going to see I belong in the cage with him. I think a
lot of people are going to be surprised by the outcome.
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