Marcos Rogerio de Lima: “Don’t Blink” – UFC Vegas 13
Marcos Rogerio de Lima is coming into his next fight with Alexander Romanov coming off of a heavyweight win over Ben Sosoli and a COVID-19 recovery. Coming into UFC Vegas 13 with a new vigor. Opening up the main card, Rogerio de Lima promises violence and a career best performance.
Marcos Rogerio de Lima was originally supposed to fight Romanov back in September. Rogerio de Lima failed a COVID test and was pulled from the fight. Now, Rogerio de Lima is back and says despite a rough bout with the virus, he is ready to roll. “I am feeling very well,” says Rogerio de Lima. “I ended up contracting the virus one day before the fight, I spent five days very bad but now I am 100% recovered.”
The positive test had Marcos Rogerio de Lima quarantined for 2 weeks. He sought the help of his doctor and has been back in training. COVID has left it’s victims feeling weak and Rogerio de Lima needed to make sure he’s physically fit for his fourth heavyweight fight. “I stayed two weeks and after that I went back to normal training. In those two weeks I followed a return protocol that my physiotherapist gave me and I was able to get back strong for training.”
Marcos Rogerio de Lima vs. Alexander Romanov
Alexander Romanov is making his second trip to the UFC cage against Marcos Rogerio de Lima who is making his eleventh trip to the octagon. Romanov is big. He has made his name bullying his opponents in his fights. Romanov’s last win outside the UFC came by way of slam. He has wins by punches, forearm chokes and more. De Lima is not backing down and doesn’t find his opponent that intimidating. De Lima will be leaning on his tools in his fight coming up. “I don’t think he’s that big, he’s a guy with good wrestling and I see myself as a much more dangerous fighter.”
De Lima was originally supposed to fight Romanov in his September bout before he failed his COVID-19 test. He went out and requested for that fight to be rebooked. De Lima believes that this fight has major fireworks potential and thinks the fans of the sport are in for a treat. “I want to do this fight and I told the UFC, this fight has the potential to be one of the best of the year.”
As for the size, De Lima insists he is built for heavyweight. He not focused on what Romanov, but what he is doing. “I weigh 118kg naturally, I keep training hard and I only worry about increasing my performance.”
Should he get past the dangerous Romanov, Rogerio de Lima believes he is ready for a ranked heavyweight fight. “Winning this fight I will deserve to be among the top 15 in the division and this brings me closer to my goal each day.”
As for what we can expect, Marcos Rogerio de Lima promises an exciting opening to the card. “You can expect a guy who is fast, powerful and very aggressive. Don’t blink.”
