Antonio Rogerio Nogueira admits he needs to show a lot more if he gets another chance to compete inside the octagon

Former PRIDE veteran, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been giving his thoughts on his recent unanimous decision defeat at the hands of top prospect, Phil Davis, admitting if he’s to remain a part of the UFC’s roster he needs to show much more inside the octagon.
Speaking via Tatame Magazine, when asked about how he thought he did during his fight with Davis, Nogueira said:

“I did well, I defended the positions both on the grid and while standing. On the second round things were happening like I planned them to, but then he came with a single leg takedown and, when I tried to stand-up, I slipped and he grabbed my back. He kept punching me from the top and I got tired, he’s heavy. On the third round I was doing ok, but he took me down and held me there forever. I swept, but then he came and held me again until the end. He brought me to the ground, but didn’t try to attack me, and I couldn’t attack him because he was on the half guard. It was a tough fight. I know I could’ve been better, but let’s move on. I have to train more and more and play my game to knock them out.”

“They didn’t try to pass my guard, they even got close to, and they didn’t hit me. Bader didn’t punch me and didn’t try to submit me. He played a game where he was clearly worried about defending himself. Phil Davis presented a better game, but he wasn’t aggressive too. He was going to punch me, but then he stepped back. He didn’t try to do what he’s done before, we’ve trained together before and he did some things I used to do. He’s evolving on the ground too, so as the fights didn’t happen on the floor, he could defend himself.”

When asked whether he thought the Las Vegas based promotion would keep him around for their upcoming August card in Rio de Janeiro, Nogueira said:

“I don’t know, it depends whether they liked the fight or not. I hope so, man… But I don’t know yet. I won’t ask them that, and I won’t be sad in case I’m not there. But yeah, I was sad to have wasted that opportunity to fight in Rio.”

Nogueira is likely to be kept around for the card in Rio, although it would certainly be his last chance saloon after losing back-to-back fights inside the octagon and looking very unconvincing in the fight prior to that. Stay tuned to MMABay for more news on that historic card as we get it.