ABU DHABI – Mauricio Rua was proud to be Antonio Rogerio Nogueira’s retirement opponent at UFC on ESPN 14, and now he’s looking ahead to his own career finale. Rua (27-11-1 MMA, 11-9-1 UFC), the former UFC light heavyweight champion, closed his trilogy with Nogueira (23-10 MMA, 6-7 UFC) on Saturday with a split decision win at Flash Forum on Yas Island. The victory gave “Shogun” a sweep in the series, which dated back to their first fight under the now-defunct PRIDE banner in 2005 and before a UFC rematch in 2015. Although there seemed to be little upside to Rua winning a third fight after taking the first two, he said he viewed it differently. He was proud to be Nogueira’s final fight and thinks going 3-0 over a fellow legend of the sport means a lot for his resume.
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