Pedro Rizzo is not done fighting.
The former UFC heavyweight contender was seen in the corner of top UFC fighters Anderson Silva, Glover Teixeira and Jose Aldo over the last year, and he might return to the cage as a fighter in 2014.
World Series of Fighting’s executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz told MMAFighting.com he’s interested in signing Rizzo for their first event in Brazil this year, and the MMA veteran likes the idea.
“They’re doing a good job in the U.S., and it would be great to be able to fight again in Brazil,” Rizzo told MMAFighting.com. “If they give me a good opponent, even better. Give me a good time to get ready and let’s do it.”
Over the past year, Rizzo focused on coaching more than fighting, but that doesn’t mean he’s not training as a professional fighter anymore.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t fought much lately,” he said. “If you ask me if I stopped fighting, I’m going to say no. I haven’t. I’m in shape. I train every day when I’m working with Glover, ‘Bigfoot’ (Silva), Anderson or Jose Aldo in their camps. I’m not in shape to fight, but I’m in shape to start a training camp to fight.
“As a coach, I think like a fighter. I think what would I do against a fight with that style, and then I come up a strategy. I’m from a time where the fighters weren’t as professionals as they are today, so I needed to plan my whole camp by myself.
“I fight because that’s what I love to do. I love to be inside the ring. I don’t care about birthdays, Christmas and those things. I always lived my life by weeks. It’s four weeks for my next fight, ten weeks, whatever. That’s how my life always was. My goal is to fight. Titles and victories are consequences of my training. My motivation is to beat the next opponent.”
The 19-11 Brazilian wants to fight again, and he wants a “good opponent” to get motivated.
“I’m turning 40 and I’ll fight anyone,” he said. “Everybody knows me, I never chose opponents. I went to Russia to fight Fedor (Emelianenko) two years after my last fight. If they come up with a good opponent, it will motivate me even more to continue in this journey for a long time. My goal is to do a great fight for the fans in Brazil, make people think ‘wow, he’s 40 and keeps fighting like this.’ That’s what I want.”