Former interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Brazilian MMA star Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira is coming to Bahrain to attend Brave CF 80, which takes place tomorrow at the Khalifa Sports City Arena, the event’s organisers have announced.
Nogueira, 47, whose twin brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was also a UFC fighter, is one of only three men to have held championship titles in both the UFC and the Pride Fighting Championships – the other two are Brazilian Mauricio Rua and American Mark Coleman.
During his two-day visit to the kingdom, UFC hall of famer Nogueira – who leads Sports Beyond Borders, a programme focused on the development of children’s social behavior through martial arts that currently reaches 15,000 kids in six Brazilian states – and the Brazilian-Arab Chamber of Commerce will hold meetings with their Bahraini counterparts.
In addition to heading Sports Beyond Borders, Nogueira is also the chairman of the Nogueira Brothers Institute, another social project that works to uplift children from destitution, bringing them self-development perspectives in life.