5 UFC legends who hung on for too long

#5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's body betrayed him years before his 2015 retirement

Once widely considered the best Heavyweight fighter on the planet, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira reigned at the top of PRIDE’s mountain for years until Fedor Emelianenko defeated him in 2002. Even after losing his title, though, Nogueira remained one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, defeating the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Josh Barnett and Heath Herring before PRIDE closed shop in 2007.

Nogueira unsurprisingly joined the UFC later that year, but upon his arrival, ‘Minotauro’ didn’t quite look in as good physical shape as he had done in Japan. That didn’t matter though, as he quickly defeated both Herring and Tim Sylvia to claim the interim UFC Heavyweight title.

A fight with Frank Mir for the title was then booked, but despite being a heavy betting favourite, Nogueira ended up being knocked out – the first time he’d been stopped in his lengthy career.

The Brazilian returned to action in 2009 and defeated Randy Couture in one of his best showings, but a knockout loss to Cain Velasquez followed, and ‘Minotauro’ spent the rest of 2010 on the shelf following surgery to both of his knees and hips.

Despite being just 35 at the time, Nogueira was clearly far past his physical prime at that point and probably should’ve hung up his gloves.

Instead, he returned again, and despite pulling out wins over Brendan Schaub and Dave Herman, his body betrayed him in fights with Mir, Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve; the former two fighters broke his arm while Nelson knocked him out in a frightening scene.

By the time he finally retired in 2015, ‘Minotauro’ looked physically broken, needing multiple surgeries and being practically blind in one eye. To say he hung on too long would be an understatement.