Wildfire, Avalanche Prepare for MTL Finals
Gleidson Venga Oct 26, 2007
The finals of MO Team League's inaugural season, scheduled for Nov.
10 in São Paulo, Brazil, promises to be very competitive.
Murilo Bustamante (Pictures)'s Wildfire, which defeated Wanderlei Silva (Pictures)'s Hurricane in the semifinals, will face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures)'s Avalanche, which advanced over Pedro Rizzo (Pictures)'s Tsunami. Each semifinal team matchup had come down to the last fight, with the victors prevailing 3-2. The success of those two previous events has made fans anxiously await the championship.
Even though Murilo
Bustamante (Pictures) has more experienced fighters on
his team, like Luciano
Azevedo (Pictures) and Alexandre Ferreira, the
former UFC middleweight champion denies that his squad is the
favorite. He points to his athletes' will to win as their greatest
weapon.
"We know our athletes' potential and we know the responsibility each one of us has," Bustamante said. "This will be a big event that will bring extremely technical athletes with a lot of determination. There are no favorites. There is just a big will to win."
Nogueira bets on the youth of his athletes to win the finals.
"I think we have outstanding fighters, and they are showing a lot of determination," he said. "Brazil is evolving in terms of the quality of its fighters. This is giving more motivation to our athletes to fight well and to conquer this title."
"Minotouro" met with his fighters Wednesday and spoke with them about strategies. "I know I can see the best of each fighter," the Avalanche leader said. "That is how I will advise them. If my athlete has more chances of winning by taking the fight to the floor, or to trade blows in standup, this is what I will require. They have to attack the weaknesses of their opponents."
The promoter's expectations have impressed the teams. According to Mônica Marchett, the MTL owner, the Wildfire-Avalanche championship meeting will be a night of glory for the sport in Brazil.
"After the two previous editions, the crowd could see that Brazil can produce events as good as the events produced elsewhere or even better," Marchett said. "Definitely we are reaching our goal to make MMA popular in Brazil."
Wildfire vs. Avalanche
Luciano Azevedo (Pictures) vs. Rafael Bastos
Gerson Conceição vs. Sergio Moraes (Pictures)
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Julio Cesar (Pictures) Field
Alexandre Ferreira vs. Fabio Maldonado (Pictures)
Joaquim Mamute vs. Junior Cigano
Preliminary bouts
Juliano Belgine vs. Rafael Mota
Marcelo Alfaia vs. Cassiano Tytscho
Murilo Bustamante (Pictures)'s Wildfire, which defeated Wanderlei Silva (Pictures)'s Hurricane in the semifinals, will face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures)'s Avalanche, which advanced over Pedro Rizzo (Pictures)'s Tsunami. Each semifinal team matchup had come down to the last fight, with the victors prevailing 3-2. The success of those two previous events has made fans anxiously await the championship.
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"We know our athletes' potential and we know the responsibility each one of us has," Bustamante said. "This will be a big event that will bring extremely technical athletes with a lot of determination. There are no favorites. There is just a big will to win."
Bustamante also said that the little things will be crucial because
the confrontation will be very balanced. "Even if an athlete has
not yet faced his opponent, we all know the qualities and
characteristics of each one," the Wildfire coach said. "The details
will be crucial to the decision of each fight."
Nogueira bets on the youth of his athletes to win the finals.
"I think we have outstanding fighters, and they are showing a lot of determination," he said. "Brazil is evolving in terms of the quality of its fighters. This is giving more motivation to our athletes to fight well and to conquer this title."
"Minotouro" met with his fighters Wednesday and spoke with them about strategies. "I know I can see the best of each fighter," the Avalanche leader said. "That is how I will advise them. If my athlete has more chances of winning by taking the fight to the floor, or to trade blows in standup, this is what I will require. They have to attack the weaknesses of their opponents."
The promoter's expectations have impressed the teams. According to Mônica Marchett, the MTL owner, the Wildfire-Avalanche championship meeting will be a night of glory for the sport in Brazil.
"After the two previous editions, the crowd could see that Brazil can produce events as good as the events produced elsewhere or even better," Marchett said. "Definitely we are reaching our goal to make MMA popular in Brazil."
Wildfire vs. Avalanche
Luciano Azevedo (Pictures) vs. Rafael Bastos
Gerson Conceição vs. Sergio Moraes (Pictures)
Silmar Rodrigo vs. Julio Cesar (Pictures) Field
Alexandre Ferreira vs. Fabio Maldonado (Pictures)
Joaquim Mamute vs. Junior Cigano
Preliminary bouts
Juliano Belgine vs. Rafael Mota
Marcelo Alfaia vs. Cassiano Tytscho
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