UFC 134 Fight Card: Will This Be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's Last Fight?

On June 12^th, 1999 a 23-year-old Brazilian named Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira made his professional MMA debut against David Dodd.  

Nogueira would go 18-1-1 in his next 20 fights defeating fighters like Dan Henderson, Mark Colman, Jeremy Horn and Heath Herring. During this time, Nogueira would be one of if not the best heavyweight fighter in MMA, becoming Pride Fighting Championship’s first heavyweight champion.

Despite losing the title to Fedor Emelianenko, Nogueira would go on to beat fighters like former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez, Mirko Cro Cop and Sergei Kharitonov.

After Pride closed, Minotauro, or Big Nog as he’s nicknamed, signed with the UFC where he would go on to win the interim UFC heavyweight championship.

Nogueira has only fought three times since defeating Tim Sylvia for the interim title. He’s gone 1-2 with the lone win coming by decision over an aging Randy Couture.

The two losses have come by stoppage to Frank Mir and current UFC champion Cain Velasquez.

Due to nagging injuries, hip surgery and surgery on both of his knees, Nogueira has been out for over a year.

That will soon change as he is set to return at UFC 134 against Brendan Schaub.

This fight will be significant for Nogueira for multiple reasons.

For one, the former champ has never fought in his home country of Brazil. Nogueira will be fighting with a sense of pride as he enters the Octagon.

Nogueira will also have to prove that he can still win against the younger guys. Nogueira recently turned 35, but has taken many shots with all the wars he's been involved in.

His opponent, Schaub has also been on a roll, winning his last four fights and going 8-1 overall.  If Schaub beats Nogueira in convincing fashion, we could be seeing Nogueira in the same boat as fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz.

Given the recent surgeries, the long lay over and the amount of punishment Nogueira has taken over his career, whether he wins or loses, I don’t think it would be a bad idea for Nogueira to retire.

Nogueira’s one of MMA’s best and really, he has nothing left to prove. But if he does win, it will prove that he still has some fight left in him.

No matter the outcome, Nogueira’s return should not be missed.