Antonio Rogerio Nogueira’s career will officially come an end on July 25.
Back in February, the MMA veteran teased the possibility of retirement when it was expected of him to fight Maurício Rua at UFC 250:
“This fight will probably be the last fight of my career, my farewell fight,” Nogueira said to MMA Fighting. “So being able to have this rematch with ‘Shogun’ is both challenging and motivating. I thank ‘Shogun’ for giving me this opportunity. I’m sure we’ll put on a great fight again.”
That bout was eventually pushed back to July 25 and the long-time light heavyweight has confirmed that it will indeed be his last bout inside of the octagon, though the decision wasn’t an easy one:
“I think the time has arrived,” Nogueira said. “It’s a lot of work, several projects, the head doesn’t stop. I’ll do my things, but I’m sure I’ll adapt to not fighting anymore. It’s going to be hard [laughs], maybe I’ll have to do more yoga and meditation to get me focused on doing other things instead of thinking about fights. And I’ll be a coach, I have my team, I’ll be able to train them, so it’s okay. Maybe finding new champions will satisfy this desire or winning.”
The 43-year-old will wrap a professional career that spanned nearly 20 years. Nogueira first became a name under Pride Fighting Championships where he defeated future UFC talents such as Alistair Overeem and Dan Henderson in spectacular fashion.
During his time in the UFC, the light heavyweight consistently delivered strong performances against names such as former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans, and even won fight of the night on several occasions.
Nogueira isn’t worried about his post-fight career due to his outside projects, something he’ll be putting 100% focus on following his third bout against Maurício Rua:
“You go to the gym and watch athletes training, it will get to a point where you will train but won’t have the competition,” Nogueira said. “You’re always moved my goals, competitions, but it’s time to think about the post-career, take care of other projects, think about other things. You can’t focus 100 percent in everything. We have the Team Nogueira project, my seminars and lectures. We were splitting the energy and focus, and now I’ll be able to close (my career) with a great fight.”
Nogueira feels that he's made a mark in both UFC and PRIDE, and reminisces a bit about the great fights he's had:
“Getting so close, being one of the five best in the UFC, and always being one of the three best in PRIDE,” he said, “but I think I’ve done great things. Great fights. It was a great career. It’s been a great career.”