Mauricio Rua left no doubt that he is superior to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on Saturday when he made it 3-0 over his longtime UFC rival on ESPN 14.
After “Shogun” posted victories in the first two meetings in 2005 and 2015, Rua (27-11-1 MMA, 11-9-1 UFC) did a clean sweep of the series over Nogueira (23-10 MMA, 6 -7 UFC) with a split decision victory in the trilogy bout with scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.
Nogueira was looking to finish his MMA career at the top, as he called the matchup as his retirement fight. However, Rua had none of that and did not allow his Brazilian teammate to come out on top.
The light heavyweight bout was the UFC’s co-main event on ESPN 14, which aired on ESPN and aired on ESPN + from the Flash Forum on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Both men were tentative to start the fight, but Rua pressed the action first with a couple of powerful kicks. He moved and pressed Nogueira against the fence, but Nogueira broke free and connected a hard hook. Rua respected the shocking and landed kicks on his opponent’s leg and body. Offensive moments began to recover in the final two minutes, with both men hitting each other with hooks. Nogueira seemed to amaze Rua, who responded by ensuring a takedown in the last 30 seconds.
Rua came out in the second with more kicks on Nogueira’s leg, who sought to counterattack with his punches. Some more intense exchanges followed, then Nogueira ran into Rua with his body and sent him to the ground. Nogueira began to sneak away with punches and punches while Rua waited for his time to get back to his feet. He did so with approximately two minutes remaining, then came after Nogueira with a combination punch and kick before firing for a takedown that was stopped. Rua got his best right hand of the fight moments later, but Nogueira remained calm. They traded for the last two minutes, and both had some solid shots.
Nogueira came out looking to push the action in the final round of his career. He pushed forward through Rua’s kicks to the body and head and worked his boxing on the head. The pace slowed down in the middle of the round, with both men hitting their opponent’s face and body. Rua connected a tight right hand, but his power seems to be doing little to Nogueira. He landed a couple more after Nogueira hit him with a straight left. Rua responded with a flurry of clean punches that prepared a takedown attempt. He worked away from half-guard during the last minute to close a hotly contested third and final bout.
After the fight, Nogueira confirmed that he would move away from the sport.
“I fight very well. I know I can fight very well, “said Nogueira. “But I think it’s time for me to leave this behind.”
Rua, meanwhile, was delighted to get another victory.
“I am very happy,” said Rua. “I beat the legend Nogueira three times. I’m very happy. Every fight with Nogueira is a war.
Updated UFC results on ESPN 14 include:
Mauricio Rua def. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) Fabricio Werdum def. Alexander Gustafsson via submission (arm) – Round 1, 2:30 Carla Esparza def. Marina Rodríguez by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27) Paul Craig def. Gadzhimurad Antigulov by submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:06 Alex Oliveira def. Peter Sobotta by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Khamzat Chimaev def. Rhys McKee via TKO (Ground-and-Pound) – Round 1, 3:09 Francisco Trinaldo def. Jai Herbert via TKO (beats) – Round 3, 1:30 Jesse Ronson def. Nicolas Dalby by submission (bare rear choke) – Round 1, 2:48 Tom Aspinall def. Jake Collier via TKO (blows) – Round 1, 0:45 Movsar Evloev def. Mike Grundy by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Tanner Boser def. Raphael Pessoa via TKO (Hits) – Round 2, 2:36 Pannie Kianzad def. Bethe Correia by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Ramazan Emeev def. Niklas Stolze by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) Nathaniel Wood def. John Castaneda by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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