Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has had an illustrious MMA career. It's not exactly breaking news, however, that that career has been in decline for several years now.
Though Big Nog, 39, has long resisted calls to retire, after sustaining his third consecutive loss Saturday at UFC 190 in his native Brazil, he may be on the last horse out of town whether he likes it or not.
UFC President Dana White, addressing reporters after the event that saw Nogueira (34-10-1-1) drop a unanimous decision to fellow aging lion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, said he was through promoting Nogueira fights.
“I love Big Nog, and I think everybody loves Big Nog,” White said, according to a report from Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. “He’s such a good guy. He’s respected by everybody, and he and I actually talked tonight. I’m done [promoting his fights]. I don’t want to see him fight anymore. He doesn’t disagree."
White's viewpoint is not exactly unique in the MMA community.
I never say someone should retire and I'm a huge fan of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira but I don't want to see him fight anymore. #UFC190
— Sherdog (@TheSherdoggy) August 2, 2015
If White sticks to his word, that would at first glance seem tantamount to a release from the UFC. But not so fast. White also said he would be willing to give Nogueira a front-office job with the UFC, as he has done with other legends like Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes, who, perhaps not coincidentally, also needed a little coaxing before they would leave the big stage.
“He and I are going to get together, and we’re going to talk," White said, according to the MMA Junkie report. "I’m probably going to give him the Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes and Forrest Griffin deal. I’m going to bring him in and make him an employee.”
So far, there has been no word either way from Nogueira. If UFC officials are truly finished promoting his fights, and if Nogueira wishes to continue, it's entirely possible another promotion would take a flyer on him, based on name recognition alone.
Should that be the case—and, to be clear, this is purely theoretical—any promotion signing him would probably not get a lot of output from the deal. Thanks to a litany of injuries, Big Nog has only competed four times in the past three years.
If White is indeed successful in enticing Nogueira into retirement, as he was with Liddell and Hughes, MMA fans would be saying good-bye to one of the best two or three heavyweights of all time, dating back to his days in the Pride promotion, when he held classic battles with the likes of Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop, among a litany of others.
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