British lightweight prospect Andre Winner has had to wait nearly four months before treading the boards to the cage again. This time he will be walking out to the crowd in North Carolina as part of the UFC Fight Night 21 card, taking on tricky Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stylist Rafaello Oliveira.
“Oliveira is an aggressive, wild striker with a solid jiu-jitsu background,” states the Rough House fighter, before adding confidently, “he lets you think you are getting out of things before using that to set up something else. He is quite crafty in his grappling, but I have been working my ground game and wrestling.”
Winner is known to have fast hands, a good chin, and an explosive style that lends itself well to fighting in the Octagon. His brutal knockout over Roli Delgado proved that he had an antidote to rangy BJJ strikers, but he unfortunately missed the Knockout of the Night bonus. Does he feel any additional pressure to do the same here and bank a big check?
“I feel the same about this as I do any other fight. I know that striking is probably his weakest point and I am used to fighting people who want to take me down. I am just going to go out there and see what happens. It would be nice to have a good technical striking match, but this is MMA and I can fight anywhere.”
The UFC has done well in trying to push British fighters into the mainstream view of other nationalities, taking Brits to America, Australia, Germany, and Canada. Winner’s last outing was on home soil back in Manchester, England; although that holds a special feel for him, he is going to try and enjoy his time out in the States.
“I am completely happy with being taken abroad for fights. For me it’s about being in the UFC and after that I don’t care where I fight,” he offers, although being at home makes the logistics a little easier. “I like to know what I am eating and that is easier in the U.K. When I was out in Las Vegas it was very hard, it’s great for hangover food because everything is fried, but when you are home you can walk into the city center shops and get something healthy and quick.”
Food issues aside (and it is my understanding that Winner’s master strategist and cornerman Nathan Leverton has a George Foreman grill working overtime in the hotel room) he is happy with the training camp back home and is ready to go into action.
“UFC 105 made life easier because four guys from the same camp peaked at the same time. For this one, Dan (Hardy) has been getting ready for his fight, Jimmy (Wallhead) and Paul (Daley) too, so it’s been good working with them, but we also have a lot of other guys coming through the gym to work with and push me hard.”
Facing an opponent shorter than him has meant a slight adaptation in his training with striking coach Emerson George getting him into the mindset of a shorter fighter, wrestling coach Paul Barton working on his takedowns, as well as Ross Pearson and his friend “Titch” helping him work on his speed.
He’ll get the chance to put all that hard work to use Wednesday night when he steps in the Octagon with Oliveira.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 - by Lee Whitehead - MMAWeekly.com
Tags: Andre, British, Delgado, Fight Night 21, Leverton, lightweight, Nathan, Oliveria, Rafaello, Roli, ufc, winner