Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira reveals why he was forced to pull out of UFC 149
Former UFC and PRIDE heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has today been speaking about why he was forced to pull out of his UFC 149 clash with Cheick Kongo next month in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, explaining as the intensity of his camp increased his damaged arm just couldn’t cope.
Speaking via Sherdog.com, Nogueira explained:
“I felt pain in my last four sparring sessions, and we had been controlling the pain with physiotherapy. But with the intensified training in wrestling after the arrival of Eric Albarracin, I started doing more complex positions for the arm, and, [since] I put a metal in it [for the surgery], it reached a level of sensitivity that wasn’t expected and didn’t happen at the beginning of training. I had to change the schedule in order to get back to training 100 percent.”
Nogueira is no doubt in the twilight years of his career but proved there was fight in the old dog yet when he defeated Brendan Schaub last August via TKO following a long stint out due to injury. He returned just a few month later to rematch Frank Mir and was submitted in the first round via kimura, having his arm snapped in the process. Stay tuned to MMABay for more news on this situation as we get it.
By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)
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