Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is known by many as one of the greatest heavyweight mixed martial artists of all-time, but was UFC 134 the greatest moment of his career?
Some may say no, and point back to his accomplishments in Pride, but the man himself believes that his victory over Brendan Schaub on tonight’s card, in front of his home country of Brazil, was indeed the best moment of his career.
“For sure,” Nogueira told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani in response to the question. “I’ve had a couple great moments in my career, I beat Cro Cop, I won the Pride belt. I won the UFC belt in 2008… But this time, in Brazil, was my 40th fight. I had a lot of support from my team.”
At 35 years old, Nogueira was believed by many to be nearing the very end of his career. In fact, some believed that he may even announce his retirement with a loss at UFC Rio. But after 10 months of intense, daily physical therapy, “Minatauro” is back.
“When I accepted this fight, I wasn’t ready at all,” he admitted. “But I’m back, I’m feeling good.”
One thing that might have made it even sweeter is that the odds-makers had him as a fairly significant underdog to the relatively inexperienced Brendan Schaub, who was coming off of a knockout victory over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
“Sometimes they’ve got a bad memory,” he said of those who predicted that Brendan Schaub would win this fight. “There are a lot of new guys coming up, and I’ve got respect for them. But I’m still here. I’ve got my place.”
“I like to be the underdog,” he added. “I’ve got to improve a little bit more, with my wrestling.”
At 35, it’s hard to believe that Nogueira can still be getting better, but the results speak for themselves. This legendary MMA fighter isn’t done yet.
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