Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Will Fight ‘Whoever is Put in Front of Him’ in UFC Return
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is still recovering from knee surgery that knocked him out of a September rematch with Frank Mir and sidelined him since a February loss to Cain Velasquez, but the former champion remains in good spirits as he prepares to fight anyone when he returns to the UFC next year.
“”He’s good,” Nogueira’s manager Ed Soares told ESPN.com. “He’s a great guy, so he’s always in good spirits. It’s pretty hard to get that guy bummed out. The knee: He is rehabbing it right now in Brazil. He’s not training, just rehabbing the knee. I’d like to see him come back when he feels 100 percent. I am assuming it will be sometime in late spring, early summer.
“I think [Nogueira-Mir II] is a great fight. Does he want to even the score? Absolutely! Is it a motivating factor? Definitely! Big Nog is a warrior. He’s never chosen an opponent. Whoever you put in front of him, he will fight.”
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I’d love DW to put him in with his brother then just to be mischievous.
Wrong weight classes.
lets see brock with him. brock has little to fear, as far as, being knocked out, so maybe he won’t be doing any cartwheels.
I have zero interest in Nogueira/Mir II, especially now that Ed Soares has basically requested it.
That guy is such a tool.Nogueira is at least a solid win away from getting back into the thick of things with the contenders at Heavyweight. He needs a tuneup.I hope the fat man can squash his other contract obligations soon and get back to the UFC, because I would love to see Nogueira/Nelson. As much as I respect and like Big Nog, any body associated with Ed Soares I usually find myself cheering against, and I would love to see Big Country whip someone from that camp.
You know better than that. -BSBiz
Hey, it was against Ed Soares, not a fighter. Seriously? lol. I think everyone here will agree that it’s true about the guy.
Anywhoo, noted.
Funny how you can’t call Ed soares a tool when it’s basically common knowledge and not even a curse word. In fact markus j calling Roy Nelson fat should be considered bad as well if we are going by your logic BSBiz. Just sayin
Tool is a subjective term. Calling someone a tool is bashing. It can be classified as a personal attack. Saying Roy Nelson is fat is statement of the obvious and something that he has said about himself. If you can point out somewhere where Ed Soares has called himself a tool, I will gladly unmoderate that. Until then…
On this whole Ed Soares/”tool” thing, I think it bears posting that almost every agent/manager/handler-type is a tool to someone, somewhere, at sometime, whether it be to a fan or another fighter or a promoter.
Its the nature of their job.
Consider the following:
If you ask Anderson Silva, he’ll tell you that Soares is a saint that has helped make him both a millionaire and one of the biggest names in the sport.
If you ask the Nogs they consider the guy a lifelong friend that has helped them expand their MMA influence beyond just fighting in the ring/cage.
If you ask Jose Aldo he’d tell you that Soares is helping him become “the next big thing” in the sport.
If you ask Lyoto Machida he’d credit Soares as being helpful in his winning the UFC 205 title, and as a help in getting back to the mounatintop.
Guys like Junior Dos Santos and Mark Munoz and Paulo Thiago rely on Soares’ MMA savvy and UFC stroke to get them fights that keep them in or near the title mix at HW and 185 and 170.
Strikeforce champions Cavalcante and Souza would probably not be where they are today without Soares’ guidance, regardless of whether it be perceived as benevolent or malignant by the fanbase.
A lot of that same fanbase consider BlackHouse to be the most successful MMA camp on the planet, and they sort of have the gold to back that POV up.
Like it or not, Ed Soares is a part of that.
Does that make the guy a “tool”?
Maybe, if you’re facing one if his fighters, or taking a hardline on contract negotations, or attempting to mispromote or mishandle one of his guys.
Sponsors reportedly have little or no problems with Soares, who is described as “tough but fair” in dealings.
And to his credit I’ve never seen the guy rock a suit and tie and a briefcase, which in my experience is usually the uniform for being a tool.
WTF more can be reasonably asked of a sports businessman?
Lets set aside the mod ruling for a second here, with the full understanding that if bsbiz or any other mod says “tool” is out of bounds, its out of bounds, case closed.
Beyond that, a fighter pays a guy a percentage of his coin to rep him, even to the point of perceived toolishness.
Soares is just very good, some would say the best, at his job.
And its hard to argue with his results…
Sorry BSBiz. You know I love this site and you mods do a wonderful job but no agent/manager bashing?? Seriously? Ed Soares
is a tooland he is not a fighter. I think modding Markus’ post there is going overboard.See below…
I’ll follow that up with why I agree Ed Soares
is a tool. Jcohl is right in his post, every manager/agent/handler type is a tool to someone. that being said, when Soares was passing himself off as an interpreter to Brazilian fighters, he changed around what they said to suit his and their interests according to him. English speaking fighters don’t have the option of having a publicist speak for them, especially after a possibly grueling fight. I believe that Soares is equivalent to the Don King of MMA in some ways.I agree with no fighter bashing on this site completely, but when business is involved and people other than fighters are pulling so many strings in MMA people should be able to voice their opinion on those folks. I have heard many people bash Dana White on threads and they are usually not modded, so why Soares?
See my comment below. -BSBiz
We have made an effort to clean up the Dana bashing and to be honest Soares isn’t the only guy acting as an interpreter whose changed the words of what a fighter is saying to make it sound better. Soares is revered amongst his clients and isn’t a bad guy at all from when I met the guy. The truth is agents/managers tick people off and take the blame for things because that’s their job. We see other managers getting fired/sued all the time due to ethical/criminal infractions against fighters… the fact that Soares hasn’t had those issues speaks volumes.
1) It says “Be nice,” but that is extended to everyone, not just fighters.
2) You are changing definitions of “tool” in the middle of the conversation. The insulting ones are modded out. Think of it this way: If you wouldn’t want someone on this site saying the words you’re typing about you, don’t type them. You would be offended if I said you were a tool.
3) There is a difference in saying that you don’t think someone does a very good job or is wrong about something. However, name calling is unacceptable.
yeah the heavywieght in that camp is Junior Dos Santos.
Took Conversation to the forums – TY BSbiz + Chris.
Also- I haven’t had the chance to meet Soares in person, so my opinion is limited to what I have read and seen of him. Good to know he was a decent guy when you met him though.
I’d like to see him in a tune-up fight. Let him get his “Cage Legs” back before fighting a top 5 guy.
Big Nog vs Kongo , they both share a common loss via stoppage now too Frank Mir. so why not??? this may not sound like a marquee fight, but throw it on the schedule for late april/early may, and why not???
Kongo doesn’t deserve the chance to beat a legend like Big Nog.
@ Thestandard
Agreed, Kongo is one of my least favorite fighters and I consider him to be one of the dirtiest fighters in the UFC(outside of Yvel if he’s even still around) If Kongo beat Nog it would be a very sad day for humanity.
No one has ever questioned BigNog’s heart when it comes to fighting, however, a lot of us are wondering how much he has left when you factor in PRIDE syndrome and this latest knee injury.
HWs are getting bigger, better, and entering the sport with a much stronger wrestling base than they were a decade ago.
In PRIDE they had a few top shelf HW wrestlers, but nowadays it seems like almost every new HW has AT LEAST an NCAA pedigree. That combined with fighting in a cage doesn’t really seem to lend itself to BigNog ever challenging for the UFC HW title.
Hopefully the guy comes back strong, and is able to finish out his long and illustrious career on his own terms…
Nog vs carwin?
Of course BigNog-Carwin is as likely as anything else, but when you consider Carwin’s superior size, strength, punching power, and wrestling ability, it certainly wouldn’t be a great way for BigNog to make his return…
..but what I statement Nogueira could make by beating Carwin. If Nogueira could sub Carwin, it would launch him right back into contention.
I just want to see Noguiera on top.
I think if the UFC were to sign BigNog and Carwin, and BigNog got the win, especially by submission, it would send a huge reaffirming statement that technique still trumps size, even when we’re talking about Neanderthals.
IMO both things are unlikely to happen, but its possible.
Consider:
Cain Velasquez beat Brock Lesnar thru a combination of superior technique and Lesnar underperforming in the fight and underestimating Velasquez before the fight.
If BigNog could gekk another guy who bumps right against the HW limit, it would not only re-establish him as relevent in the HW title mix but give even more hope to those MMA HWs in the 225-240 range, particularly the non-wrestlers, that they haven’t [yet] been completely shoved out of the picture by larger and more aggressive wrestling cavemen…
PLEASE ufc, might be over soon, but i wanna see nog vs crocop 2 that will be the fight of the heavyweight legends. they been in ufc for 3 years and ufc still hasnt made them fight yet. come on
I personally enjoy having this ONE SITE that does not allow bashing. That crap gets old and is the sole reason I will not use sherdog as compared to a site like this.