Mixed martial arts legend Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira officially announced his retirement Tuesday after 16 years in the sport, eight of which were spent in the UFC.
The Brazilian finishes his career with a record of 34–10–1 and one no contest, earning Pride and UFC titles along the way.
“Big Nog is a legend in the sport of MMA,” UFC president Dana White said in a statement. “He is respected by fighters and fans worldwide. It has been an honour to watch him compete and I’m happy to see him retire. He will be a huge asset to the UFC, the athletes and the sport as an ambassador. I look forward to working with him in this new chapter of his life.”
The 39-year-old began his career in 1999 and is regarded as one of the greatest submission artists in MMA history. After amassing an 11-1-1 record, he debuted in Pride FC where he became a star. He won the now-defunct organization’s inaugural heavyweight title in 2001. Although he lost his belt to Fedor Emelianenko, Nogueira picked up notable wins over current UFC champion Fabricio Werdum, former champions Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman and Ricco Rodriguez, plus Dan Henderson, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Heath Herring, Sergei Kharitonov and Semmy Schilt. He also beat Bob Sapp, who outweighed him by more than 100 pounds, in front of 91,000 fans in Tokyo at Pride Shockwave in 2002.
Nogueira made his UFC debut in 2007 and in 2008 became the interim UFC heavyweight champion when he submitted Tim Sylvia. However, after that win, Nogueira’s career began trending downwards after that fight as age and years of punishment took its toll. Brutal knockout losses to Cain Velasquez and Roy Nelson, plus having his arm severely broken by Frank Mir resulted in Nogueira looking like a shadow of his former self at UFC 190 on Aug. 1 when he lost a unanimous decision to Stefan Struve in his final pro bout.
One of his most exciting wins came over Randy Couture in a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 102 in 2009, but perhaps his most memorable victory came over Brendan Schaub in 2011. Despite being an idol in his native Brazil, Nogueira didn’t fight there until UFC 134. He was nowhere close to 100 per cent entering that event and faced an 8-1 Schaub who was coming off a knockout win over Cro Cop. Nogueira pulled off a dramatic KO win.
Although he is done competing, Nogueira will continue to work with the UFC. He was named an Athlete Relations Ambassador for UFC Brazil where he will liaise with the UFC and its athletes, assist with sponsorship and media obligations, act as a mentor to young athletes and scout new talent.
