Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has seen it all in MMA. Nogueira has fought a who's who of MMA greats including the likes of Mirko Filipovic, Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture. Now, at 37 years old, the submission specialist has had time to reflect on his career and it is no surprise to find out when he thinks was the best period of his career. Talking to MMAJunkie.com, the heavyweight reflected on his time in PRIDE.
"I really miss that time. It was a wonderful time in my life, and I would not change a single thing that took place in the organization."
"I think there isn’t much comparison (between PRIDE and the UFC); they are two different realities.Thank God I managed to become champion in both organizations, but of course I reached my apex fighting in Japan."
"The high points were the victory over Bob Sapp, my first fight in Brazil [UFC 134], and [winning] the PRIDE and UFC championships.The lows were the various injuries I’ve had throughout my career. When dealing with some of my injuries, I didn’t know if I would be able to fight again."
Nogueira put together a 17-3 and 1 no contest record for PRIDE and held both the heavyweight title and an interim title for the promotion. He is currently 5-4 inside the UFC, which included a spell as the interim UFC heavyweight champion. He fights Roy Nelson in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Nelson which goes down on Friday in Abu Dhabi live on UFC Fight Pass.