MMA Legacy 8.17.09: Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Posted by Bill Wannop on 08.17.2009
With UFC 102 coming up, MMA Legacy examines one of the best fighters in MMA Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. From being run over by a truck when he was 11 to becoming the first PRIDE heavyweight champion, learn how Nogueira went on to become the only person to have held the PRIDE and UFC heavyweight championship!
Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. With the UFC 102 approaching MMA Legacy will focus on the fighters in the main event, starting this week with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Early Life
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira was born on June 2, 1976 in Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil (making him 33 years old). At the age of 5 years old he started to train in Judo. However tragedy struck when he was run over by a truck at age 11. The injuries were very severe and Nogueira was actually in a coma for 4 days following the accident. He lost a rib and part of his liver and was hospitalized for 11 months, but was able to make a full recovery. You can still see the large scar on his back from the injuries. Perhaps this is where his ability to recover from punishment first occurred!
When he was 14 he moved to Salvador to go to electronic school, and he started boxing with coach Arcelino Popo. In 1995 Nogueira started taking Jui Jitsu classes at Dellariva team and he earned his black belt in 1999 in the USA. It was during his visit to the USA that he met WEF promoter Jamie Levine who convinced him to begin fighting.
Early MMA
His first pro MMA fight was on June 12, 1999 at WEF 6 against David Dodd. Nogueira won by submission in the first round due to kimura. Nogueira would go 4-0 fighting in RINGS and WEF winning all his fights by submission to finish out 1999 4-0.
Beginning in 2000 Nogueira would face Jeremy Horn at WEF 8: Goin Platinum. The fight was a more competitive battle then the previous matchups with Nogueira winning by unanimous decision. Nogueira would then take part in the King of Kings 1999 tournament for RINGS where he won his first round matchup by decision over Andrei Kopylov and entered the semi-finals against Dan Henderson. Nogueira could not compete against the superior wrestling of Henderson and lost a split decision, giving him his first defeat and bringing his record to 6-1.
Nogueira would finish out 2000 with a draw against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, and submission victories against both Achmed Labasanov and Kiyoshi Tamura in the RINGS organization before competing in the King of Kings 2000 tournament on February 24, 2001. In the first round Nogueira defeated Volk Han by unanimous decision then went on to submit Hiromitsu Kanehara and Valentijn Overeem to become crowned as King of Kings 2000.
PRIDE
Following becoming the King of Kings Nogueira entered the PRIDE organization and had his first fight at PRIDE 15: Raging Rumble against Gary Goodridge on July 29, 2001. Nogueira would defeat Goodridge by triangle choke in the first round. He would then face off against former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman at PRIDE 16: Beasts from the East. Nogueira would run through Coleman finishing him in the first round by submission by triangle and armbar.
Following the victory over Coleman, Nogueira would get a shot at the newly introduced PRIDE Heavyweight title when he faced veteran Heath Herring at PRIDE 17: Championship Chaos, in the first of many meetings between the two men. In what was one of the greatest heavyweight fights of all time, the fight was all action from start to finish, with Nogueira dominating Herring, but being unable to finish Heath. Nogueira eventually won a unanimous decision to become the first ever PRIDE heavyweight champion.
Following the victory Nogueira would successfully defend the title against Enson Inoue at PRIDE 19: Bad Blood, and then defeat Sanae Kikuta at UFO: Legend by submission.
Nogueira would then find himself defending the title against Bob Sapp at PRIDE: Shockwave. In the fight Sapp was initially able to man handle Nogueira initially dropping right on his head multiple times before becoming fatigued and allowing Nogueira to submit him by armbar. People became a fan of Nogueira after this fight, taking special attention to his ability to recover after taking a ton of punishment.
Following the victory over Sapp, Nogueira faced off against Semmy Schilt at PRIDE 23: Championship Chaos 2, in a non-title matchup (since Schilt had recently lost to Fedor). Nogueira was able to finish the fight once it got to the ground by triangle choke. This would set up a rematch with Dan Henderson at PRIDE 24: Cold Fury 3. The fight was originally supposed to be against Fedor, but Fedor injured himself while training. Unlike their first matchup, this fight was all Nogueira as he attempted submission attempt after submission attempt but Henderson somehow was able to escape them all for two rounds. Nogueira actually looks to be in disbelief at Henderson's ability to survive his submissions at the end of the second round, however once the third round gets underway Nogueira is able to lock in an armbar finally forcing Henderson to tap.
Following the victory the fight with Fedor finally occurred at PRIDE 25: Body Blow. Fedor was considered the huge underdog in the fight, which took place at on March 16, 2003. The fight basically consisted of Fedor ground and pounding Nogueira while avoiding submission attempts and earning the unanimous decision victory to win the PRIDE heavyweight title.
Nogueira hoped to bounce back at PRIDE: Total Elimination 2003 and was able to win a controversial decision victory over Ricco Rodriguez. It was controversial because Ricco controlled the fight and used his ground and pound on Nogueira the same way Fedor did. However Nogueira attempted many submission attempts and stayed busy off his back, and in PRIDE rules they favor the fighter who tries to end the fight, so Nogueira was given the victory.
After Nogueira would continue on his quest for the rematch against Fedor when he faced off against Mirko Cro Cop at PRIDE: Final Conflict 2003 for the PRIDE Interim heavyweight title as Fedor had broke his thumb in training. In the fight Mirko owed the first round using his striking to put major damage on Nogueira. Nearing the end of round 1 Cro Cop actually knocked down Nogueira and looked to finish the fight, however Nogueira was saved by the bell the end the round. In the next round Nogueira was able to get Cro Cop on the ground and go to work, locking in an armbar for the submission decision victory.
Following that victory Nogueira would defeat Hirotaka Yokoi, Heath Herring, and Sergei Kharitonov before finally getting the rematch with Fedor in the finals of the Heavyweight Grand Prix, at PRIDE: Final Conflict 2004. However the fight would end up as a huge letdown as a clash of heads would open up a gaping gash in the head of Fedor. The doctors would not allow the fight to continue and the fight was ruled a no-contest. Four months later the two would rematch at PRIDE: Shockwave 2004. The matchup was similar to their first match up with Fedor using ground and pound to punish Nogueira eventually earning the unanimous decision victory.
After the loss Nogueira would go on to defeat Pawel Nastula, Kiyoshi Tamura, Zuluzinho and Fabricio Werdum by TKO, armbar, armbar and unanimous decision respectively. Nogueira would then get a tough test in the form of Josh Barnett at PRIDE: Final Conflict Absolute. In what was one of the best fights in MMA history, which saw the two men exchanging submission holds and Barnett locking in a knee bar in the dying seconds of the fight only for Nogueira to be saved by the bell. The judges would give the razor close decision to Barnett allowing him to advance to the finals of the tournament.
The two men would have a rematch at PRIDE: Shockwave 2006, 3 months later. In what was another close match up, Barnett seemed to fatigue in the closing minutes of the fight, allowing Nogueira to earn the unanimous decision victory to bring his MMA record to 29-4-1.
UFC
That would be Nogueira last fight in PRIDE and after that he entered the UFC. He made his UFC debut against former PRIDE nemesis Heath Herring at UFC 73: Stacked. During the first round Nogueira was hit with a high kick square on the jaw, knocking him down to the ground, many people thought Nogueira was out. Herring however did not take advantage, instead allowing Nogueira to get back to his feet allowing the first round to come to and end again saving Nogueira. In the second round Nogueira again showed his recovery ability and he controlled the fight taking it to the ground and eventually earning a unanimous decision victory.
Following the Victory Nogueira earned a shot at the interim UFC heavyweight title against Tim Sylvia at UFC 81: Breaking Point. Although he was knocked down by Sylvia in the first round and unable to get the fight to the ground in the second, Nogueira finally was able to pull guard and lock in a guillotine choke in the third round to be the first and only man to hold both the PRIDE and UFC heavyweight titles.
This fight set up a matchup with Frank Mir and in order to hype the fight both athletes coached on the Ultimate Fighter 8 reality series. The two would fight at UFC 92: Ultimate 2008. Coming into the fight Nogueira had a staph infection that required 5 days in the hospital as well as a knee injury while training. Because of this Nogueira looked sluggish and had little movement allowing Mir to use his much improved striking to knock down Nogueira repeatedly finally ending the fight in the second round. This was the first time in his career that Nogueira had been stopped in a fight.
Future Outlook
Nogueira has another big test coming up at UFC 102 in Portland Oregon where he will take on another fighter coming off a loss in Randy Couture. Nogueira has a record of 31-5-1 and has never suffered back to back losses in his career. He is coming off his first loss via TKO, so he should be more focused then ever. However I do not see him winning this fight. He seems to have difficulty with strikers and strong wrestlers and I see Couture using the clinch and his dirty boxing to pick apart Nogueira. Even on the ground, Nogueira had difficulties with Josh Barnett and Fedor who were able to use their strong ground and pound to wear him down, and I see Couture being no different.
Nogueira has had a storied career and has fought the who's who of MMA, defeating everyone (with the exception of Fedor). His ability to recover from punishment is unheard of, however it may be the case that the punishment he has taken over the years is beginning to take a toll on his body. The next fight with Couture will give us a good indication if Nogueira is still in the prime of his career or if he is on the downswing.
That does it for another week of MMA legacy. Next week we will examine the other man in the main event of UFC 102, in the "Natural' Randy Couture!
Each and every week MMA Legacy shines the spotlight on a MMA legend. The legends may be retired or may be still actively competing. The column will begin with a bio on the selected legend following his career throughout its highs and lows. With the UFC 102 approaching MMA Legacy will focus on the fighters in the main event, starting this week with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira 
After Nogueira would continue on his quest for the rematch against Fedor when he faced off against Mirko Cro Cop at PRIDE: Final Conflict 2003 for the PRIDE Interim heavyweight title as Fedor had broke his thumb in training. In the fight Mirko owed the first round using his striking to put major damage on Nogueira. Nearing the end of round 1 Cro Cop actually knocked down Nogueira and looked to finish the fight, however Nogueira was saved by the bell the end the round. In the next round Nogueira was able to get Cro Cop on the ground and go to work, locking in an armbar for the submission decision victory.
After the loss Nogueira would go on to defeat Pawel Nastula, Kiyoshi Tamura, Zuluzinho and Fabricio Werdum by TKO, armbar, armbar and unanimous decision respectively. Nogueira would then get a tough test in the form of Josh Barnett at PRIDE: Final Conflict Absolute. In what was one of the best fights in MMA history, which saw the two men exchanging submission holds and Barnett locking in a knee bar in the dying seconds of the fight only for Nogueira to be saved by the bell. The judges would give the razor close decision to Barnett allowing him to advance to the finals of the tournament. 
Following the Victory Nogueira earned a shot at the interim UFC heavyweight title against Tim Sylvia at UFC 81: Breaking Point. Although he was knocked down by Sylvia in the first round and unable to get the fight to the ground in the second, Nogueira finally was able to pull guard and lock in a guillotine choke in the third round to be the first and only man to hold both the PRIDE and UFC heavyweight titles.
