ABU DHABI – Mauricio Rua may have already gotten the best of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira twice, but he’s as excited for the trilogy.
Rua (26-11-1 MMA, 6-6 UFC) faces Nogueira (23-9 MMA, 10-9-1 UFC) in the light heavyweight co-main event of UFC on ESPN 14, which takes place Saturday at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. With another win, “Shogun” can make it a shut out in the head-to-head series.
Their first fight took place in the PRIDE middleweight grand prix quarterfinal in 2005, where Rua beat Nogueira by unanimous decision. The rematch occurred a decade later at UFC 190 in August 2015, and once again, Rua won the fight on all three judges’ scorecards.
It’s been 15 years where Rua name has been affiliated with Nogueira, and although Nogueira is out for redemption in what appears to be his retirement fight, Rua is also looking forward to the matchup.
“Yes it’s crazy,” Rua told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on Tuesday at UFC on ESPN 14 media day. “I fought Nogueira (at) the start of my career, the middle and the final. I’m happy because Rogerio is a legend of the sport, and I know this fight motivates him, but for me too and I’m very happy for this fight.
“It’s exciting for me because I know Nogueira wants this fight, and I know he told Dana White, ‘I want Shogun again’ because this motivates him for me.”
The first two fights were back-and-forth battles, with their rematch earning the “Fight of the Night” honors.
Rua expects the trilogy bout to deliver once again.
“We’re both fighters that are looking for knockouts every time.” Rua said. “He fights aggressively standing up, I fight aggressively standing up so naturally our styles match in this way and it opens up and tends to be an exciting fight all the time, and I think that’s what we’re going to be looking for again.”
Ex-UFC champ 'Shogun' Rua highly motivated for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira trilogy despite 2-0 lead