Brazilian heavyweight Antônio Rodrigo ‘Big Nog’ Nogueira (33-7-1) was looking forward to his rematch with Frank Mir at UFC 140, having lost their first meeting almost three years earlier at UFC 92 by TKO.
Nogueira wanted to even the score to show the world that Mir had only beaten a fighter recovering from a Staph infection.
It may have looked to Nogueira that he was about to make it one fight apiece in the opening minutes of their rematch, having put Mir to the mat with some heavy punches. Instead of trying to finish with his fists, ‘Big Nog’ tried to finish the fight with a rear-naked choke, which proved to be his undoing. Mir would recover, securing Nogueira’s arm in a Kimura submission and eventually breaking the arm to end the fight in the first.
In a message on his personal website, Nogueira admitted it was a mistake to attempt the submission, promising to keep on fighting for years to come.
“Last Saturday I fought and lost via submission for the first time in my career, it was a bad feeling, but it’s part of the sport. Everything that happens in a fight is quick and the fighter acts most based on his instincts and reflexes than on his mind. I knew I made a mistake as I tried to submit on a fight where I could have won by KO. But when Frank Mir was practically knocked out I heard the judge as me to stop punching him at the neck and that exactly when I tried to choke him. Mir put himself together and must be congratulated for submitting me. I checked the videos and I wasn’t hitting him on the neck, but on Mir’s side of the head, which is allowed”, revealed Rodrigo, who’s now focusing on recovering to overcome the most exceptional obstacle of his career.
“But I’m not here to apologize. I lost, I’ll recover from my arm injury and then move on, probably on the second UFC Rio of 2012. The good thing about the loss was that I got many supporting messages, and I really thank the great treatment that the boss (Dana White) gave me, yet in Canada. Dana used to tell me “Nog we’re not sparing any help, you’ll have the best experts so you comeback soon and well”. I’m sure I’ll still fight for many years , I fight because I like it to and I feel I’m in one of the best moments of my career”, concluded the athlete.
Transcription provided by Tatame.com