Antônio Rogério “Lil Nog” Nogueira may have his farewell fight at UFC 250 on May 9 at Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Brazilian native will face his rival Maurício “Shogun” Rua in a trilogy fight. In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Noguiera said: “This fight will probably be the last fight of my career, my farewell fight.”
Nogueira MMA career spans almost 19 years. His first fight was against Katsuhisa Fujii at Deep 2nd Impact on August 18, 2001, in which he won by submission. Nogueira would find his way to Pride Fighting Championship in 2002 and had his first fight under Pride FC against Yusuke Imamura at Pride 20 on April 28, 2002, that he won by submission. Going on a nine-fight win streak, Nogueira beat the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Handerson, and Alistair Overeem. His first loss in Pride would be his rival Rua at Pride FC: Critical Countdown 2005 on June 26, 2005, by unanimous decision.
When Pride got bought by the UFC in 2007, Nogueira would make his UFC debut against Luiz Cane at UFC 106 on November 21, 2009, and won by TKO. Nogueira didn’t have the same success he had in Pride but still picked up great victories against notable names. In his time in the UFC, Nogueira has beaten Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans, Patrick Cummins, and Sam Alvey.
Nogueira rivalry with Rua has been one-sided in Rua favor. Rua defeated Nogueira in Pride and defeated Nogueira in their rematch at UFC 190 on August 1, 2015. Both wins were by decision. UFC 250 will be an important night for Nogueira because it will possibly be Nogueira’s chance to finally get a victory over Rua. With a rivalry that spans 15 years, MMA may never see a rivalry like this every again. A victory at UFC 250 will symbolize a chance at redemption and closure for the legendary career of “Lil Nog.”
