‘Minotouro’ Nogueira hopes to stop retirement talk with knockout over Patrick Cummins

CURITIBA -- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira stopped Patrick Cummins in the first round at UFC 198, and hopes to have ended the talks about retirement with his finish.

"Minotouro" ended a two-fight losing skid with a devastating win over Cumming in front of 45,000 fans in Curitiba, Brazil, stopping his opponent with eight seconds left in the first round. The Brazilian fighter, who admits to have taken a few pages off of Glover Teixeira’s previous win over Cummins, was impressed by his opponent’s chin.

"It’s not possible this isn’t ending," Nogueira said at the post-fight scrum when asked what went through his mind at the time of the stoppage. "He went down and I kept punching. Fighters tend to turn their heads and give us the back of the head so we can’t punch, so I was just landing hammerfists and the referee wouldn’t stop it. (Luiz Carlos) Dorea told me there was a minute left so I thought ‘I’ll let him get back up and I’ll drop him again’. When I landed the first sequence, I heard the sound indicating we had 10 seconds, and I thought ‘it’s not possible’ [laughs]."

After scoring his first win since a decision against Rashad Evans in 2013, and his first finish since a TKO victory over Tito Ortiz in 2011, "Minotouro" believes he has proved to everyone that he can do it.

"It was about time," Nogueira said. "I’m in the stage of my career that people say that it’s time to retire already, to put an end to the career, and this fight showed that I’m fighting well with high level fighters. It came in the perfect time."

"Brazilian fans are very critic, but it’s normal in every sport," he continued. "Those who like you criticize you, and we have to listen to fans and media. Their opinion is important to train harder and get another win. I trained harder and better this time, with more quality."

After a long layoff between his previous UFC fights, "Minotouro" hopes to fight again soon.

"There’s a chance I’ll take another fight soon. I’ll rest for a week or 10 days, and then come back to training again and maybe be back in three months. If there’s a UFC card in Brazilian (in September), I’d like to be there."