"Little Nog" had a big career, and the 44-year old capped it off against his toughest rival -- Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
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— UFC (@ufc) July 26, 2020
---- Brazilian legends meet for the third & final time next!#InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi #UFCFightIsland3 pic.twitter.com/CynDs1NjCg
The two finished off their 15-year long trilogy this past weekend on Fight Island for a UFC Fight Night event, which Antônio Rogério Nogueira proclaimed would be his last fight ever. Though he was 2-2 in his last four fights heading into this one, he'd competed only eight times since 2011.
Rua and Nogueira first competed against one another at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005, where Rua was victorious in the PRIDE Middleweight GP Quarterfinal. Rua also won their second bout in 2015 at UFC 190 -- both via unanimous decision. He'd win the third, but with a split.
SHOGUN IS IN RETREAT! --#InAbuDhabi @VisitAbuDhabi #UFCFightIsland3 pic.twitter.com/GaVXPoCk1Q
— UFC (@ufc) July 26, 2020
The two slugged it out for the duration of three rounds. It went all the way to the scorecards, where Rua would take a win on two scorecards.
Nogueira retires with a 23-10 record. His biggest wins include victories over Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans, and Alistair Overeem twice. He never held a championship across PRIDE, UFC, or Affliction.
See our full coverage of UFC Fight Island 3 at this link.
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