The brazillian website tatame.com has conducted an interview with Maurício “Shogun” Rua. I have corrected some translational errors. The original interview can be found here.

How is the preparation for the fight against Coleman?
I’m 100%, thank God. I’m training a lot and I’ll give a show to all my fans in Brazil, and from all over the world. For sure, he’ll also be 100% prepared and I’ll, certainly, be in the total gas, so I think it’ll be a good fight. The expectative is the biggest possible, and I think he’ll be in his best phase.

You received the reinforcement of Nino Shembri, who gave you the black belt, in the Jiu-Jitsu…How does this help you in the preparation?
He was with us a week ago and it was very good. He’ll fight in Fury now and it’ll certainly add in the whole team.

Who’s commanding your training in the Universidade da Luta?
Carioca is taking care of the Jiu-Jitsu, Danilo in Boxe and Fefê in Muay Thai.

How much are you weighing now?
I’m at 101kg (222 pounds) now. I lost some weight now and I’ll keep like this until closer to the fight.

Some guys from UFC are recording in Curitiba for the promotion of the event. What can you advance about the video?
On Monday we recorded some training and yesterday (Tuesday) we recorded one more social, in my house, then I went to my mother’s house, in the street where I grew up…I made a barbecue in my house for my birthday and they came to film, it was very nice…

The ambience of revenge against Coleman is one more factor to motivate you. Do you try to keep it out of your mind while training?
We already have fought and all that happened. This is a fight that I wanted a long time ago, but I respect him, I know that it’ll be a difficult fight. He’s a top athlete and this is a fight that I want very much.

How do you see your weight-class today in UFC?
I think that this is the most difficult category in the world, there are many good athletes wanting the belt and I think it depends on each one to run after their goal.

Which is the expectative for the fight between Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans?
It’ll be a tough fight. Rashad proved that he’s a good athlete and Forrest is good too, but I wouldn’t wager anything…It’ll be a good fight, for sure.

If you face Forrest today, do you believe that the fight would finish like the last one?
Certainly it would be different. The difference is that I’d get in there more prepared and focused. This is not an excuse, I recognize his victory, but that fight I lost to myself.

What are you expecting for the fight between Wanderlei Silva and Quinton Jackson?
‘Wandeco’ wins. I’ll be cheering for him, the whole Brazil certainly will send some positive energy for him to defeat Rampage one more time.

Did you watch the fight between Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture? What did you think?
It was a big fight and impressed the crowd. Actually, I knew that (Lesnar) would win, he entered very calmly, he had nothing to lose. He didn’t impress me, actually, I knew that this could happen.

Risking a tip, who wins the fight between Rodrigo “Minotauro“ and Frank Mir?
I think Minotauro will win easily…He’ll face that giant.

And how would be a fight between Minotauro and Brock? Will it be a Minotauro vs. Bob Sapp II?
I think that’s a more difficult fight for him, because Brock is a Wrestling athlete and he’s learning quickly, but Minotauro is still favourite.