When Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira walked to the Octagon at HSBC Arena for his 40th professional fight at UFC 134, he was seconds away from competing for the very first time in home soil. He was a legend of the sport, a former champion in the PRIDE ring and the UFC cage, but never had the privilege of performing in front of a crowd of his countrymen before that night.
He’s an exception.
The vast majority of the Brazilian mixed martial arts stars who shined around the world over the past few decades had to compete in regional promotions in Brazil to make a name for themselves before storming the international stages, but the current landscape of Brazilian MMA is making that task harder for young talents.