In 2006, Thiago Pitbull was surprised by Jon Fitch and was knocked out on his fourth fight on the UFC. From that time, the Brazilian won seven times, being five of them by knockout, and was only beat by the champion of his division, Georges St. Pierre. On August 7 (UFC 117), Thiago will come back to UFC’s octagon wanting to revenge his loss to Fitch, and promises an outstanding win. “I can’t wait for it to happen, man… This fight needed to happen, but I’ll get it this time, I’ll beat this guy up”, warns, commenting his wish of a rematch with St. Pierre, as well as the new acquisition of the division, Jake Shields, his brain surgery and a lot more.

How are your trainings going for this next bout?

The trainings are intense, thanks God, and very hard. There’re many guys helping me like Jucão, Tyron Woods and all the guys from ATT like Jorge (Santiago), Thiago Silva, Katel (Kubis), and our Muay Thai coach, Master Libório… The tem is very united with this goal to bring ATT back to the top.

How does it feel to rematch Fitch?

I can’t wait for it to happen, man… This fight needed to happen, but I’ll get him this time, I’ll beat this guy up, I’ll knock him out.

How do you see your evolution in this period since you last confronted each other, in 2006?

I believe we both improved a lot, but I’m much better than him now. When I fought him, I wasn’t on my best shape, but there’re no apologies, he won. I’m much more complete when it comes to that last fight, I can’t wait to show people who the new Pitbull is.

You were supposed to confront him on UFC 11, but end up cut right before it because of a problem you had in your brain… What was it?

I did some routine exams for UFC and they discovered a bad formation on my brain and there wasn’t time enough to find out if I was born with that or if it had happened sometime during these last five years. After the event, they compared the exams to an old one I had and they said I was born that way. It wouldn’t bring me any harm, but they thought it was best to just cure it for good.

Were you at risk during the surgery or could something happen to you in case you decided not to do this procedure?

There’s always a risk because it’s a brain thing, right? If you do one little thing wrong, the guy can become retarded for the rest of his life (laughs), but everything went great. They said that if I didn’t have this surgery it could blow and cause a bleeding, so that’s why they had to fix it.

Did all this time away from the octagon disturbed you in any way?

Man, it makes me more anxious than if I was fighting all the time, but it won’t be a problem. I’ve been doing this since I was 14 years old. When I get the first punch on my face, everything will look like it always was (laughs).

You don’t fight since UFC 100, when you disputed the belt with Georges St. Pierre. Is your wish to reach for the top and have this rematch?

Everything happens for a reason, everything I’ve been through in my life… I got there and had my chance to fight against the champion, but I learned that it’s not that easy, I had to be happy not only my profession, but in my life in general, I had to feel fine with myself so that I could become the number one. I fixed what I had to fix. There’re no apologies, he was better than me on that night, but nowadays things would be different. But, first I have to beat Jon Fitch.

Georges St. Pierre’s next opponent is Josh Koscheck, who has been beat by the Canadian before. Do you think he has any chance against the champion now?

I believe it’ll be tougher than the first one, but I think it won’t change much. Koshcheck improved a lot, but St. Pierre evolved a lot more. But you can never now, a bout is a bout.

St. Pierre said he would like to get retired after a win over Anderson Silva. How do you think this confrontation would be like?

Man, I think it’d be a great fight, but Anderson is much bigger and stronger, and on the fight, it matters a lot. St. Pierre would not impose his rhythm neither put Anderson where he wants. His takedowns might work, but when there’s down there, Anderson is very efficient and there’s the distance difference…

Jake Shields, Strikeforce’s former champion, should have his debut on UFC soon. Would you like to “welcome” him?

For sure, it’d be great. He’s fucking good, I don’t know why he was not on UFC yet. Thanks God he decided to come to UFC and, if they ask me to “welcome” him, it’d be my pleasure to show how things work inside the UFC (laughs).

Would you like to send a message for your fans?

I’d like to send a great hug for everybody, thanks to all the support. Be faithful, because in 2010 we’ll reach the top and get this belt.