Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira: ‘I have two or three years left’

Former Pride and UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira has not fought since losing via submission to Fabricio Werdum last June. The loss was the legend's fourth in seven outings since 2008 and left many fans wondering if it was time for the proud Brazilian to finally hang up his gloves for good.

According to a new interview with MSN, Nogueira isn't done yet, but he has put a definite time limit on his career.

"I still have four fights left in my contract [with the UFC]...Until the end [of the contract], I don’t think too much about the future," Nogueira said.

"It will depend on the results of my fights. I don’t want to keep losing too many fights. I think I have two or three years left. I’m almost 38, and I don’t want to fight after I’m 40."

Nogueira has already fought professionally for nearly 15 years and has sustained a good amount of brain trauma to go along with other serious injuries. So, it's good to hear that he at least has some sense of the fact that he can't go on forever.

"I don’t have a date [for my next fight] yet," the black belt went on. "The UFC said five names, and I believe I’ll be fighting again until May. I’ll be ready in three months."

If he's going to fight again, who do you want to see Nogueira fight next? Let us know in the comments section.

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