The 411 MMA Top 5 02.15.10: Week 29 – Favorite Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Moments

Posted by Larry Csonka on 02.15.2010

From his long awaited battle with Randy Couture and surviving near death against Bob Sapp to submitting Mirko Cro Cop with an arm bar and even his PRIDE 24 battle with Dan Henderson, the 411 MMA writers share their favorite Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira moments! Check out the full column to see which moments made the list and why!



Welcome:
Welcome back to the MMA Top 5! What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 MMA will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. At the end, based on where all of these topics rank on people's list, we will create an overall Top 5 list. It's highly non-official and final, like WAMMA.


And now…



411's FAVORITE BIG NOG MOMENTS!
No overall top five this week.


Jonathan Solomon

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Fedor Wars - Nogueira and Emelianenko were involve in nothing short of amazing fights. Classic MMA.


5. Nogueira's UFC Debut - I can recall watching UFC 73 and thinking, "Holy crap, Big Nog is actually going to fight in the cage." His rematch with Heath Herring could have turned out awful for the Brazilian in his UFC debut. Herring caught him with a big power shot but for whatever reason, did not follow through and allowed Nogueira plenty of time to get his wits back. Nogueira went on to win the second and third rounds en route to a decision.

4. Big Nog Dominates Mir at Soccer - Call me a moron because while Mir went on to knock Nogueira out at UFC 92, this experience during TUF9 was awesome. Despite being from Brazil, Nogueira said he never played his native sport and was actually bad at it. Mir never tried throughout the competition and literally stood in the goal, allowing Nogueira to score at will.

3. Nogueira Stops The Beast - Bob Sapp was pushed like a megastar when he began fighting for PRIDE. He looked unstoppable until he fought Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE Shockwave. Sapp came at him like a ball of fire and even power bombed him. Nogueira had a badly damaged back heading into that fight but persevered and ended up locking in an armbar as Sapp tapped feverishly.

2. Big Nog Submits Mark Coleman - This 2001 fight was a much anticipated bout between a successful Coleman and a young Minotauro Nogueira. Coleman had won six straight in PRIDE when he met Nogueira. On the ground, Coleman tried to land his famous ground and pound but could not land anything. Instead, he was caught in the grasps of Nogueira who clamped on the triangle hold until the fight was called off.



1. Nogueira Submits Cro Cop - Cro Cop was undefeated heading into this fight for the interim PRIDE heavyweight title in 2003. Cro Cop did not want to fight on the ground, going so far as walking away and calling Big Nog to stand up. Well, it made no difference. Nogueira took Cro Cop down and submitted him with an armbar. The win made sure Nogueira was considered the sole #2 heavyweight in the world, behind only Fedor.

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Samer Kadi

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Nogueira and Barnett engage in a grappling clinic - Minotauro's first fight with Josh Barnett is in my opinion, the greatest heavyweight fight of all time.


5. Heath Herring is attacked by an Anaconda - While a trilogy wasn't really necessary, all of Big Nog's fights with Heath Herring were very memorable. Their first fight was one of the best in PRIDE history. But the one that really sticks out to me was their rematch. After a very entertaining battle, Minotauro locked in a beautiful anaconda choke – his second in as many fights – to seal the victory.

4. Nog and Couture battle in an epic - While the fight lost some of its luster due to both men's setbacks coming in, this was still a dream match for longtime MMA fans. Both Couture and Nogueira are two of the greatest heavyweights of all time, and their fight delivered big time. Nog dominated the majority of the fight, but Randy showed tremendous heart to persevere. In the end, Nogueira's performance silenced some of the critics who thought he simply didn't have it anymore.

3. Nogueira chokes out The Main-iac - Coming into this fight, many saw Sylvia as a match up nightmare for Minotauro due to his size, reach and boxing. The opening rounds seemed to have confirmed these theories, as Nogueira was taking a beating. But as he did his entire career, Nog came back strong, took the fight to the ground and submitted Sylvia with the greatest guillotine choke I've ever seen. The set up was truly breathtaking.

2. The Beast kills Big Nog… and loses by armbar - Do you know about Nogueira's reputation of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat? Well, this is where it originated. In a fearsome sight, the 400 lbs monster picked Nogueira up and powerbombed him on his head in the opening seconds of the fight. Then, for fourteen minutes, he proceeded to lay an absolute beating on the Brazilian. Somehow, late in the fight, Nogueira found the strength to sweep, mount, and finish the fight with an armbar that sent the normally docile Japanese crowd into a frenzy.

1. Nogueira armbars Cro Cop - This, in my opinion, is the greatest victory of Minotauro's career. Head-kicking sensation Mirko Cro Cop was picking Big Nog apart for the duration of their fight. After punishing him with leg kicks, body kicks and straight lefts, Cro Cop landed a trademark high kick that sent the Brazilian to the canvas. Luckily for him, time ran out on the opening round and he survived. In the second round, Nog finally secured the takedown he desperately needed and immediately moved to mount. As Cro Cop attempted to shake him off, Minotauro grabbed a hold off Cro Cop's arm and sunk in the submission for the win.

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Jeremy Lambert

5. PRIDE 24: Nogueira vs. Dan Henderson - Up until this point in his career Nogueira only had one loss and that was a close split decision loss to Dan Henderson. Nogueira got a chance to avenge that loss in PRIDE and he made sure this one didn't go to the judges. Nogueira avenged his only career loss to this point and became the first man to finish Dan Henderson with an armbar in the third round.

4. PRIDE Shockwave 02: Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp - Only a man that has been hit by a truck in his lifetime only to survive could take a beating like Bob Sapp put on him only to comeback and win. Sapp beat on Nogueira for almost 15 minutes including dropping him on his head in the opening moments and body slamming him a couple of times. Nogueira took every Sapp had and in classic Nog fashion, came back to submit "The Beast" late in the 2nd round with an armbar.



3. UFC 102: Nog vs. Randy Couture - Heading into UFC 102 most people were writing off Nogueira. He was just finished for the first time in his career, he didn't look competitive and he was getting KO'd in sparring (if you believe those reports). Nog proved any doubters wrong in the main event by turning in his best UFC performance to date. He looked sharp on his feet, ate everything Couture had to offer, showed off his slick ground game, and almost finished Couture a number of times. It was a big win for Nog and one that showed that he's still a contender in the UFC Heavyweight division.

2. PRIDE Final Conflict 03: Nogueira vs. "Cro Cop" - A classic striker vs. grappler match up where the striker was clearly winning the fight for the better part of 10 minutes. Cro Cop was able to avoid the ground most of first round while picking apart Nog on the feet. Nog was dropped at the end of the first round with a high kick but was saved by the bell. Nog finally got Cro Cop to the ground in 2nd round and quickly locked on an armbar for the victory. It was another classic Nogueira comeback.

1. UFC 81: Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia - This fight is classic Nog and the fight that won him the hearts of many UFC fans. Tim Sylvia dominated this Nogueira for the better part of three round on the feet and even dropped him multiple times. Sylvia was fighting the perfect fight until Nog was finally able to get the fight to the ground and when Sylvia tried to sweep to his feet, Nogueira quickly caught him with a guillotine choked. The victory gave Nog the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title and sent Sylvia packing from the company. A win-win for any MMA fan.

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Daniel Bonnizzio

5. PRIDE Shockwave 2002 - Bob Sapp literally almost killed this man in the opening minutes of the fight. He lifted the smaller Brazilian up into the air and dropped him right on his head, then proceeded to use all 400+ pounds of muscle and mass to lay a beating on Nogueira that would make some men cry while watching. Miraculously, later in the fight Nogueira managed to use his old-man jiujitsu to sweep the monster and secure a fight-ending armbar to win.

4. PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 - Nogueira weathered an early onslaught of brutally technical leg kicks, body kicks and lefts that would have left a lesser man wobbling, but in a trademark fashion he took the beating for ten minutes of this historic fight. Then, he managed to take the Croatian down to the mat where he secured the mount and proceeded to armbar his way to winning his second PRIDE championship and the right to an eventual rematch with Fedor.

3. PRIDE 17: Championship Chaos - The first of the three fights between Heath Herring and Nogueira took place at PRIDE 17 where the first 93kg+ champion was to be decided. In an exciting 20 minutes of action, Nogueira walked out not only the winner but the first ever PRIDE Heavyweight Champion and went on an astounding run following, not losing until his first fateful encounter with the Last Emperor.



2. UFC 81: Breaking Point - Antonio was hot on the heels of one of his trademark come-from-behind victories against thrice-fought Heath herring when the UFC decided they needed an Interim Champion. They decided to pick arguably the single most talented heavyweight under UFC contract at the time - and former PRIDE champion - to match up with two-time former champ Tim Sylvia in an attempt to get this Interim Champion. What happened was Tim using his ridiculous reach for two rounds to keep Rodrigo at bay until finally, in the third, Nogueira managed to sweep the former champ and grab a guillotine, forcing the tap and getting another come-from-behind win to become the first man to hold a belt in both PRIDE and the UFC.

1. UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira - Coming off of his first stoppage loss of his storied career, Nogueira needed a win to keep the US fans on his side. They decided to create a loser's-bracket of the mini-tournament they had set up, and he was matched against the impossibly-game Randy Couture. In a Fight of the Year candidate that saw both men use everything they had, one moment in particular stands out to me. Replicating one of the great moments of MMA, Randy and Nogueira clinched and just went all-out in a hockey brawl, which had the fans roaring. Following, Nogueira controlled the rest of the fight on the way to a well-earned victory and reinsertion into the upper echelon of heavyweights.

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Jeffrey Harris

5. UFC 81: Nogueira vs. Sylvia - UFC's champion, Randy Couture, had "resigned" from the company since they failed to bring in Fedor. This left the UFC heavyweight division in serious jeopardy. Nogueira and Sylvia stepped up for an interim title bout, and the fight played out like the blueprint Nogueira fight. Sylvia was getting the upper hand standing in the early rounds, but Nogueira was staying in it. And then Nogueira's top level ground game came through executing an amazing sweep followed by a choke that led to Nogueira winning his first ever UFC title. This made Nogueira a UFC and Pride double heavyweight champion.

4. PRIDE Shockwave 02: Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp - Yup. As far as MMA goes, Sapp is more or less a glorified can these days. But man was Nogueira's performance in this fight amazing. Nogueira surviving that ugly piledriver only to come back and get the armbar submission is nothing short of astounding.

3. Pride Shockwave 2006: Nogueira vs. Barnett II - Nogueira gets retribution over Barnett after his first loss dominating Barnett on the way to a victory. Another impressive and fine performance for Nogueira on good, stacked card for Pride.

2. UFC 92: Mir STOPS Nogueira - Why am I putting this on here? Because up until this point, no one had ever been able to finish Nog in his career. Fedor didn't. Cro Cop didn't. Josh Barnett didn't. No one believed in Frank Mir. Mir didn't even believe in Mir. But Nogueira TKO'ed Nogueira giving Nogueira's first loss that wasn't a decision and that makes this a pretty huge Nog moment for me. Plus drinking the tears of all the upset Nogueira fans.

1. UFC 102: Nogueira vs. Randy Couture - Despite the complaints of internet crybabies, this was every bit the legendary heavyweight fighter showdown we wanted it to be. Fans complained that this fight had nowhere near the meaning it could have had years before. But when the fight finally went down on Couture's home turf, suddenly none of the petty complaints mattered anymore. Couture and Nogueira delivered an amazing fight worthy of their names. After coming off the first stoppage loss of his career, Nogueira looked more motivated and in better fighting shape than he'd ever been in for years for this fight. It definitely paid off and showed.

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