Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: I’m Not At 100 Percent Yet, But I Will Be At My Best For ‘Rumble’

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira’s UFC career has been somewhat hindered since he joined in 2010; the former Pride FC fan favourite debuted with a quick first round knockout over Luiz Cane, but then put in a rather sub-par performance against Jason Brilz while edging him on the judge’s scorecards, before then dropping unanimous decisions to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis.

While ‘Lil Nog’ has defeated Tito Ortiz and a deflated version of Rashad Evans in the time since, injuries have meant that Rogerio has been pulled from four different fights. Bouts with Alexander Gustafsson, Rich Franklin, Brandon Vera and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua have all been scrapped due to Nogueira sustaining injuries. Currently booked to face Anthony Johnson at UFC on Fox 12, Nogueira spoke to MMAFighting.com about his health for this fight:

“Anthony Johnson won a big fight against Phil Davis and I’m sure we’re going to do a great fight for the fans. He’s in a great phase of his career, coming off a great win, and I just got back to training this month. I will have a great camp for this fight. “I will be back. No problem, I will be back,” he said. “I was out for so long, right? Rashad fought twice since our fight and I couldn’t because of the injuries. But I will be back.”

One question surrounding Nogueira’s absence from the sport is will the division have shifted too far? A title fight is hard to come by these days, and prolonged lay-offs can often leave people in sticky situations. Currently unranked, Rogerio will have to work hard to get in to contention before retiring. Now 37, this may be the Brazilian’s last roll of the dice.

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“There are a lot of great fighters in the division now,” he said. “I can’t say that I’m getting a shot at the title with a win over Anthony Johnson because there are a lot of great fighters now, but it depends on how I win the fight. A knockout or a submission would get me closer to the title, at least at the top 3. I’m not 100 percent physically yet, but I’m getting there,” he said. “I had two injuries. I had to undergo a knee surgery and had another back injury that forced me out of training for more than a year. But I will be at my best in two and a half months.”

“He’s well-rounded, with some good kicks and great stand-up game, good takedowns. He’s really explosive and hits hard, so it’s going to be a great fight. I think he’s going to try everything. I won’t go in there thinking he will only stand against me because he has a good weapon in wrestling and I don’t think he’s going to waste that.”

Time will tell whether either Nogueira brother has what it takes to hang with the elite, as older brother Rodrigo got starched by Roy Nelson in his most recent outing. As sad as it is to say, I really wish that fighters knew when it was time and acted on it. After having his arm snapped, and being knocked out numerous times, surely ‘Big Nog’ has seen his best days.

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Could the same be said for ‘Lil Nog’? Well he probably has the toughest test available to him in the form of ‘Rumble’, who recently stomped Phil Davis on his way to a unanimous decision win.