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Minotauro Nogueira, or ‘Big Nog’ as he is better known to UFC fans is a UFC legend.

As one of the pioneers of the UFC heavyweight division, the Brazilian is regarded as a future UFC Hall of Famer and justifiably so given his outstanding career where he won the UFC interim heavyweight belt in 2008 and was a finalist in Pride Grand Prix back in 2004.

Jim Edwards got the opportunity to speak to Nogueira on the shoot of EA Sports’ UFC 2: ‘Finish the fight’ in London where he spoke of his retirement and what he has been up to since.

Nogueira on being in London

Nogueira was in London last week to see his fellow countrymen Anderson Silva take on Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC London at the O2 Arena. Speaking at the EA SPORTS UFC 2 'Finish the Fight’ shoot, Nogueira said: “I was here a couple of years ago at a UFC show and it was really exciting to see how the sport is growing in the country and how many good fighters they have right now. It was great to see Bisping in the main event in London.”

On life since he retired from the sport

Nogueira retired from competitive action in the UFC back in 2015 following a loss to Stefan Struve at UFC 190.

Since then, he told us that he’s worked for the UFC helping the younger talent in Brazil and has been enjoying his new role in the organisation: “I’ve been working for the UFC since I stopped fighting. It’s been very exciting, looking at all the new guys, all the young talents in Brazil and trying to help them out, promote themselves and get them into the UFC.”

Helping his brother prepare for his fight at UFC 197

Minotauro’s brother, ‘Little Nog’, will face American Patrick Cummins at UFC 197 and he revealed that he’s been helping his younger sibling to prepare for the fight next month: “Rogério has been getting in shape. He’s working his wrestling a lot and we’ve brought in some high-level Russian to help him out.

“He’s also working his Jiu Jitsu and he’s training with a boxing coach who worked with the Brazilian boxing team.”

He added: “He’s going to be well prepared. Pat Cummins is a real high-level wrestler but Rogério will be ready to fight.”

Read more:The biggest rivalries in UFC history

On Frank Mir breaking his arm

In 2011, Nogueira was involved in a back and forth war with Frank Mir at UFC 140. The fight ended when Mir locked Nogueira in an armbar and the Brazilian refused to tap.

Mir broke his arm and the Brazilian was forced to have surgery to replace the damage caused by a compound fracture. Nogueira revealed why he didn’t tap: “I had the fight in my hands. I knocked him down and was hitting him, but then the referee stopped me and said ‘don’t hit him behind the head’.

“I stopped hitting him and then had to go for a guillotine choke but he rolled and caught my arm. I really thought I could escape until the end.”

Pointing to a big scar on his arm he added: “I have sixteen screws in my arm and it was a big thing. It still hurts me sometimes, even today when I was hitting the punchbag.

His memories of his friend Kevin Randleman

The sad news that Kevin Randleman had passed away stunned the MMA community just a few weeks ago. With a big smile on his face, the Brazilian recalled some fond memories of him from their days in Pride.

“He was a tough fighter and one of the biggest guys we had. I remember him doing that super throw against Fedor.

“I also remember this one time in Japan when he was about to fight ‘Cro Cop’, he came to my room and he said to me ‘I’m going to knock this guy out’. I thought he was crazy but he did it and he won the fight." He added:

“He was my friend of mine. He was a very intense guy, trained very hard, was very powerful but he had a kind heart.”

Antonio Nogueira was speaking behind the scenes at the EA SPORTS UFC 2 ‘Finish the Fight’ challenge event. Out on the 17th March on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, pre-order now and find out more about the launch of EA SPORTS UFC 2 at easports.com/uk/ufc