Issue 082
December 2011
You can’t keep an old dog down. After a startling knockout win in the Rio heat at UFC 134, ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira reveals his new lease of life…
To hear most MMA pundits discuss it, MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s walk to the cage at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena was supposed to be more funeral procession than prelude to greatness. Nogueira was too slow, too worn down – heck, just too old – to compete with rising young gun Brendan Schaub at August’s UFC: Rio event. The only real question seemed to be whether Nogueira, just 35 years old but with a body that seemed to be aging much quicker than that, would call it quits following the inevitable loss.
‘Minotauro’ would need just three minutes and nine seconds to make the “experts” look foolish.
“For me, it was a great dream,” Nogueira says. “Brendan spent the whole week provoking me, saying he’d knock me out, and when we were exchanging, I saw him goading me with a face like, ‘Come on so I can knock you out.’ He threw a jab, hit me with an uppercut, and then I waited for the next uppercut. I moved my body, avoided his strike, and threw one of my own.
“Before the fight I was talking to Junior Dos Santos, and this is something I trained a lot with Erivan Conceicao, my trainer. For every right that he threw, I’d move my head sideways and throw a counterpunch. I waited for his action so I could counter. We even trained this a bit on the way out of the locker room, with ‘Cigano’ and Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante, and that’s how it went down. In reality, [Brendan] comes in a little exposed when he throws that uppercut.”
The blows stunned Schaub, and Nogueira moved quickly in for the finish shortly after. Schaub was unable to recover in the face of the vintage Nogueira onslaught, and the fight was waved off in the opening round.
It was a stunning result, and one that left Nogueira beaming with a grin from ear-to-ear as the Brazilian crowd vocalized their support at deafening levels. Here was a man who just days prior had admitted to rushing back from surgeries to his hip and knee in order
to fight in front of his native country. But rather than the plodding heavyweight that was dominated by Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir, this version of Nogueira was more akin to the Pride-era superstar who utilized pinpoint striking and an aggressive submission game en route to capturing the Pride heavyweight title and later, the UFC interim heavyweight belt.
Nogueira, who was forced to take a year off from training while recovering from the surgeries, said he never lost sight of his ultimate goal: to return to the cage and finally fight healthy.
“I made a tremendous effort to overcome – to come back to fighting, to come back to fight in Brazil,” reveals Nogueira. “I would not look at this fight as my test. I had three surgeries, and that was the real test.
“I’m only human. I have calluses on my hands because I spent five months on crutches. Three-and-a-half months before the fight, I got rid of the crutches and started training. Many people didn’t believe in me. I think the Brazilian people should believe in me more.”
If Nogueira had any regrets about the victory, it was only that he claimed the evening’s $100,000 ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus – in the process wrestling it away from his training partner and teammate Erick Silva, who floored Luis Ramos in just 40 seconds in a preliminary card match-up.
“I only felt bad because I stole Erick’s ‘Knockout of the Night,’ which Dana White took from him,” Nogueira says with a laugh.
The victory – temporarily, at least – staved off the retirement talk, which was starting to gain real momentum, even from the UFC’s president.
“I talked to Nogueira after his last fight and talked to him about retiring,” White admitted, following Nogueira’s win in Brazil. “He was pretty pissed off about that. That’s why when I came out and was talking about Tito [Ortiz], and Tito won that fight, Nogueira was one of the guys that really jumped on Tito’s side
and said, ‘Listen, he doesn’t make these decisions. We do.’ But it’s not true. I do make those decisions.
“I’m not going to let this thing be boxing. When a guy is done, we know when he’s done. I don’t want to make one dollar of that kind of money. I don’t.”
But in jut three minutes, Nogueira proved he’s got something left in the tank. And while his career is defined by memorable battles with all-time greats such as Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman, Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic, Dan Henderson, Heath Herring, Sergei Kharitonov, Ricco Rodriguez, Semmy Schilt and Tim Sylvia, among many others, Nogueira believes the win over Schaub is among the most memorable of his entire career.
“Fighting in Brazil was a great accomplishment,” says Nogueira. “I came from various surgeries, but the Brazilian people very much give me strength to be fighting.
“This win [ranks at the top of my career]. It was my Brazilian debut and my 40th fight. For me, it was great pleasure. I’d like to thank the UFC for coming to Brazil and giving us a chance.”
There are still a few intriguing fights for Nogueira in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Both he and Frank Mir, the first person to ever stop Nogueira, have agreed to revisit their 2008 meeting three years on at UFC 140 in Toronto in December. With the winner undoubtedly looking to face the victor of the Brock Lesnar – Alistair Overeem clash, destined for the same month, in perhaps a final title eliminator.
Overeem in particular may be willing to face Nogueira for the first time
in his career as a means of avenging his brother Valentijn’s two losses to
the all-time great. And if the Strikeforce heavyweights do eventually make their way to the UFC, as most experts predict, a trilogy bout with grand prix finalist Josh Barnett would likely be a big ticket-seller.
One thing that is certain, however, is Nogueira will almost certainly have his doubters when he next steps into the Octagon. Sure, his UFC 134 result was impressive, but just as Tito Ortiz was humbled by Rashad Evans shortly after shocking Ryan Bader, will ‘Big Nog’ find it difficult to sustain the momentum he built on home soil?
Nogueira doesn’t think so. Citing Henderson and Randy Couture as examples of fighters who gained great success in the latter stages of their careers, Nogueira believes he’s still relevant in the UFC and deserves high-profile opportunities. In fact, he’d like to return to Japan – the scene of so many of his greatest moments – and prove he still belongs among the sport’s very best heavyweights.
“I’m thinking about fighting again as soon as possible,” he admits. “I’m in good physical condition. I aim to fight on the card in Japan, which will be in February, because I also dream to fight again in Japan, a country that received me so well. We had a great campaign there in Japan.
“I don’t care who I fight against. I just want to fight with the top guys in the heavyweight division, to represent Brazil one more time. God willing, I’ll climb upon the Octagon with that flag again.”
