Luis Alberto wants to knockout and move on to Bellator finals

Luis Alberto Nogueira, known as Betao, fight on the semifinals of Bellator tournament next Friday. His opponent will be the Japanese Hiroshi Nakamura, who defeated Rodrigo Ratinho on the previous round.

About his next match, the Brazilian athlete guaranteed, on an interview with TATAME, he knows his opponent will try to take him down, but affirmed he set a game plan to block the Japanese’s attempts and use the power of the stand-up game.

“He will try to take me down. He will try, but he can’t do it. I hope I take him down first and punch him from the top of him”, said Betao, hoping for a knockout.

The win would make him go through to the next round, the finale, where he would fight Marcos Loro, on a bout that defines the next contender at Eduardo Dantas’s title.

“I can’t wait to get this GP over to have this rematch, which I’ve been waiting for so long”, explained Betao, who was defeated by Dantas on Shooto’s cage.

Read below the complete interview:

How was the preparation for the semifinals?

I trained a lot. My coach (Marcio Cromado) focused on the technique because I’m already fisically prepared.

Your opponent is an experienced guy who defeated Rodrigo Ratinho on the quarterfinals. How do you analyze his game?

I guess it’s a good fight for me. He will try to take me down. He will try, but he can’t do it. I hope I take him down first and punch him from the top of him.

On the last tournament you felt on the quarterfinals and now you already got further than that. What lessons did you learn from last season?

What I learned was that I can’t let it go to the judges’ card and, if it does happen, you gotta

make sure they’ll give you the win.

Nakamura got most of the wins on his career by points. Do you think he’ll try to test you until the end?

I’m guessing he’s going to try to like he did with Ratinho: take me down and stall me there. He won’t be able to take me down. I’ll trade some punches with him. If I can knock him down on our feet or the floor, I will.

This tournament gives the champion a great reward (USD$ 100 thousand) and a chance at the title. Do you want to win this GP and have the chance to revenge your loss to Eduardo Dantas?

Absolutely. I can’t wait to get this GP over to have this rematch, which I’ve been waiting for so long.

If you defeat Nakamura you’ll confront Marcos Loro, a training partner of Eduardo at Nova Uniao. How do you see a fight against him?

We have to think step by step. First I’m focusing on Nakamura and then I start thinking about Loro.

http://www.tatame.com/2012/05/24/Luis-Alberto-wants-to-knockout-and-move-on-to-Bellator-finals