Nov-18-2009

Cane Not About to Waste Golden Opportunity Against Nogueira

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By Martins Denis

A record of 3-1 among the light heavyweights of the UFC is a good mark, especially when the only defeat was not the result of a beat down, but due to a fault committed. Include on this record two technical knockouts and one decision over a man that was added to the UFC’s 205-pound cast with a WEC championship belt around his waist, and the mark becomes even more impressive.

Luiz "Banha" Cané is the man we are talking about and with things going so well, his aspirations for upcoming matches after his fight against Steve Cantwell in UFC 97 were high, but some unexpected pain started to inconvenience the Brazilian when he returned to training camp.

"It was kidney stones," he says. "I did not know anything about that and it all began with a little pain that I imagined was muscular, but it was not."

With the pain and the diagnosed kidney stones, Cané (11-1, 1 NC) underwent a surgery that sidelined him from what he loves the most – training - and put him out of action for more than three months.

"People wanted to interview me during that time, but I preferred the silence. People could misunderstand my problem with the damage I suffered in my last fight, and they have no relation. And a fight against Rich Franklin was being negotiated for UFC 103, but due to my problem I could not take it," Cané says about a fight that would have been the most important of his career so far.

But enough speculation, let’s go back to the reality of UFC 97 in April, the event where Cané had his toughest match inside the Octagon thus far. Battling with Cantwell, the 28 year old went the distance for the first time in the UFC and in that duel he passed through various tests.

"The Cantwell fight unfolded like I expected," Banha says. "I landed shots that reached the target and during the first round I imagined I would knock him out, but he kept himself standing in front of my strikes."

If a KO over Cantwell initially seemed to just be a matter of time, the fight instead turned into a complicated one for the Brazilian in the second round as his foe fired back.

"I think his corner instructed him very well between rounds," says Cane. "Even though I think I took this round by a close margin. The good point is that I could see that my preparation kept my stamina strong for a three round fight."

The unanimous decision victory after three rounds of battle was a real test for Cané, who will have to use all he learned in his next bout at UFC 106 this Saturday against fellow countryman Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (aka Minotouro), the brother of the legendary Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. For this fight, considered the toughest to date for Banha, he does have the added experience from his last fight to use against the vastly more experienced Nogueira, as well as his work with his new camp - American Top Team.

"I brought from my ex-team, Gibi Thai/Pamplona, the discipline of the training to keep high level workouts here in Florida," he says. "The training and the life here are different, but I am already adapted to it all."

Cané, who has been a Florida resident for exactly eight months, sharpened not only his fight skills, but his English language too in the United States.

"In the beginning it was rough, to ask for a specific food was a drama," he says, laughing. "Now I am going okay, and I have already granted interviews in English."

Here in Brazil, when two Brazilians have to fight in the Octagon, except for the Marcus Aurelio vs Hermes Franca grudge match in UFC 90, everybody, including the fighters, laments the meeting. For Cané vs Nogueira it is no different, with both fighters already making their considerations, but accepting the terms with the professionalism that the sport demands. Cané, who watched Nogueira in Pride and had his countryman as an example of athlete to be followed, says he admires and respects his next opponent, but does not want his feelings misunderstood.

"I respect him, but inside the Octagon this will be a war," he says. "I am focused and very confident for this fight. Anything can happen - those who liked my Muay Thai and still have not seen my Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling can have a chance of seeing it now. Who knows?"

In preparation for the bout, Cané also learned a different way of watching his upcoming foe's videos. "That is funny how we think that if you follow a fighter's road, you know all of him," he says on Nogueira. "I watched his stuff in the past and I imagined I knew all of him, but when our fight was booked and the ATT coaches watched his fights along with me, they showed me tricks I never would find by myself."

The 20 fights Nogueira has already engaged in, and the name he made for himself in Pride, have placed Cané in a position he did not expect to be in. Even though he is a UFC fighter since 2007, it is Nogueira, a debutant in UFC, who has been appointed the favorite.

"I do not care about this," Cané says. "I know what I want and what I represent in the very talented light heavyweight category. He is a nice guy, and this will be an honor to fight him, but this is my chance to beat a top ten fighter, a fighter with an excellent reputation. My aspirations for a title shot are still growing, and I am not in rush for this, I can wait, but I know what a victory over him can represent and I do not intend to waste this opportunity."