Minotauro Nogueira retires from MMA

MANILA, Philippines – One of the most accomplished careers in professional mixed martial arts (MMA) history has come to a close as Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira decides to hang up his gloves for good.

The 39-year-old Brazilian announced his retirement from the sport on Wednesday, September 2 (Manila Time) and will continue to work for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as the promotion’s athlete relations ambassador in his home-country of Brazil.

According to the UFC, Nogueira will serve as a liaison for the organization between athletes, sponsors, media and government bodies, as well as a mentor in the development of young athletes in the South American region.

In addition, Nogueira will also help the world’s premier MMA company in discovering talent throughout the aforementioned territory.

“It’s a great pleasure and an honor for me to further my ties with the UFC. I’ve always had a passion to follow the development of new athletes and that’s what I intend to continue doing,” Nogueira stated. “I want to help further the spread of MMA around the world and give my contribution to the emergence and development of young talent.”

Nogueira (34-10-1), who made his prizefighting debut in June 1999, retires as a former PRIDE heavyweight kingpin and an ex-UFC interim titleholder.

Under the PRIDE banner, he scored notable triumphs over the likes of Mark Coleman, Dan Henderson, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Ricco Rodriguez, Sergei Kharitonov, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett.

Nogueira became the inaugural PRIDE heavyweight champion in 2001, defeating Heath Herring via unanimous decision.

The 6-foot-3 submission specialist is perhaps best known for a trilogy against fellow legend Fedor Emelianenko.

Nogueira lost the belt to Emelianenko in March 2003 before both men had their rematch in August 2004 that resulted into a no contest.

Four months later after their second encounter, the two decorated heavyweights crossed paths again, but Nogueira dropped a unanimous decision to Emelianenko once more.

When PRIDE was purchased by the UFC, Nogueira made his first Octagon appearance in July 2007 by outpointing Herring before submitting Tim Sylvia with a guillotine choke to bag the UFC interim heavyweight title in February 2008.

Nogueira earned noteworthy victories versus Randy Couture and Brendan Schaub during his UFC run, but he ended his tenure on a 3-fight losing streak, most recently yielding to Stefan Struve by way of 3-round verdict.

“Big Nog is a legend in the sport of MMA,” UFC president Dana White said. “He is respected by fighters and fans worldwide. It has been an honor to watch him compete and I’m happy to see him retire. He will be a huge asset to the UFC, the athlete and the sport as an ambassador. I look forward to working with him in this new chapter of his life.” – Rappler.com