Marcos Rogerio de Lima finished Andrei Arlovski with a rear-naked choke at UFC Vegas 63.
Heavyweight Marcos Rogerio de Lima scored another quick finish in the Octagon last Saturday, but not in his usual way. Known for his heavy hands, ‘Pezao’ picked the third submission victory of his professional career, when he submitted former champion Andrei Arvloski at UFC Vegas 63.
In an interview with Combate, Lima talked about his preparation ahead of the fight and what he thinks his next move should be. Although the win came in before the two-minute mark of the first round, the Brazilian says he was not surprised by how quickly he was able to put Arlvoski away, claiming that he was preparing to do exactly that.
“I think I deserve to be there. In my second to last fight, I ended up losing to Blagoy Ivanov, but it was really close. I walked out feeling that I had won it. I think I deserve to be in the top 15 and fight for a spot in the top 10 or 5 of my division. The ones who have been following me know I’m constantly evolving. At 37, I’m still evolving, training to improve the aspects of my game that need to be improved. It was a great win. It was the result of what I’ve been practising. I think I was able to show some more of my top control. I have a heavy jiu-jitsu game. I smother guys hard, but now I’m also looking for the submission,”
“I was not surprised,” Lima said. “I have an explosive style on the feet, I’m really powerful. On the ground, my game is also all about pressure. We had studied some of his fights, we knew he did that lot. He often gives up his back when he’s trying to get up. It didn’t surprise me. I really respect Arlovski. He’s a great champion, but I still think my greatest win was against Paulo Filho in 2010. I really respect that guy.”
The win over Arlovski made Lima (20-8-1) bounce back from a unanimous decision loss to the aforementioned Ivanov, back in May of this year. Prior to that, the 37-year-old was on a two-fight winning streak, with a knockout win over Ben Rothwell and a unanimous decision won against Maurice Greene.