But as much as he enjoyed embarking on this journey alongside his brother and sharing the card with him on two occasions in the UFC, neither of those events stand as the moment Nogueira considers the best of his 19-year, 34-fight career.
“I think the best moment in my career was when I fought in the UFC for the first time, my debut,” he said of his UFC 106 encounter with fellow Brazilian Luis Cane in November 2006.
Though he arrived on a five-fight winning streak, there were questions about where Nogueira would fit in the bustling light heavyweight division. On top of that, Cane was on a nice little run of his own, bouncing back from a disqualification loss in his Octagon debut with three straight victories, including a second-round stoppage win over Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, who burst onto the scene less than two years earlier with a knockout win over Nogueira at PRIDE 33.
Roughly 90 seconds into the contest, Nogueira connected with an overhand left that buckled Cane and sent him running to safety. When he finally set his feet to engage again, Nogueira found a home for the same blow two more times before ultimately dropping him with one final clubbing left hand.
“I earned a win and it was so very good for me because I just moved to the new rules, new cage; everything was different,” he continued. “When I came there, I proved for my fans that I have a place in the UFC.”
Injuries were always an issue with Nogueira, and limited him to just a dozen appearances inside the Octagon ahead of this weekend’s third meeting with Rua, but you knew that every time he sauntered out to the cage with “Da Rockwilder” pumping through the arena’s sound system, the respected veteran was going to give his all.
He shared the Octagon with a trio of former titleholders, a few young upstarts as they rose to become contenders, and a couple other additional tough outs along the way, amassing six victories and four post-fight bonuses, all the while adding to his reputation as a consummate professional and respected elder statesman of the sport.