Big Nog: 'They’re trying to retire me'

They’re trying to retire me,” Nogueira said at the UFC 153 post-fight press conference Saturday night. “I can still fight. I feel amazing. I’m still hungry. I still feel like I can go and fight and throw some good things. Physically, I feel good. I know my arm broke, but I had good physical therapy, and I’ve been working an extra hour every day.”

“I have 16 screws in my arm, and I didn’t know if I was coming back too soon. I want to say thank you to the UFC. When I broke my arm, I had a lot of support from Mr. Dana White. I flew in his plane when I came back from UFC 140 in Canada, and the UFC sent me to the best doctors. They fixed my arm and got it ready 10 months later.”

“There will always be a special taste to this win, obviously, because I won it with jiu-jitsu, a Brazilian martial art. I see many different guys out there saying it, but it’s a lie that jiu-jitsu doesn’t work. Now, all fighters who do not know jiu-jitsu are at a disadvantage. It was really great to get the submission, because I haven’t had a submission in MMA for some time. I was very happy to earn the win with the support of the Rio crowd.”

“I want to fight Top 10 guys. I can’t ask for the belt, because my buddy, Junior dos Santos, [is the champion. He’s kind of my brother, and I’m going to be helping him for the next two weeks for his fight against Cain Velasquez. But I want to fight against the best guys.”