‘Minotauro’ Nogueira: A Firsthand Account

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TJ De Santis: If you don’t already know, I geek out for effective jiu-jitsu in MMA. “Minotauro” Nogueira was easily one of my favorite fighters to watch when I became obsessed with mixed martial arts; he’s one of the three best heavyweights ever; and he’s responsible for maybe the best submission I’ve ever seen in this sport.

The move that stole my heart is one that many of you won’t remember. It wasn’t flying, spinning or exotic enough to be considered for “Submission of the Year” honors. It was a move so basic, so fundamental, but so overwhelmingly effective that it made me believe that, at that time, Nogueira was the Baddest Man on the Planet. On Sept. 24, 2001 at Pride 16, Mark Coleman lasted just over six minutes with the Brazilian, forced to tap to what I think is the greatest triangle-armbar in MMA history.

Generally when fighters are caught in this position they tap and go quietly, but Coleman was never that type of fighter. With his oxygen and blood cut off to his brain, “The Hammer” started to turn a familiar shade of purple. Struggling, Coleman looked to do anything he could to get out of the choke -- he stood up and pushed away -- but the struggle ended when “Minotauro” inserted pain in to the equation. With a quick adjustment, Nogueira grabbed Coleman’s arm and popped it just to the point where any extra pressure would break it. The former UFC heavyweight champion was toast.

This may seem like a forgettable event in Nogueira’s career when compared to some of those that would come later, but it was his first major win in Pride and put him on the map as the most dangerous heavyweight in the world at the time. Coleman was free from the submission but still struggling for air, as he slumped against the ropes, nearly passed out from exhaustion and spit his mouthguard halfway across the ring while he dry heaved. The 2000 Pride open weight grand prix winner looked like an amateur who was in way over his head.

Triangle chokes for me had always been a methodical, almost gentle, capture of a fighter’s prey. Nogueira-Coleman showed me that a triangle can instantly break and destroy you, and that the “Minotauro” ground game was on a completely different level from what we’d previously seen in the sport.

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Jeff Sherwood: I remember sitting at my post on the far corner of the ring at Pride 25, listening to the national anthems of Brazil and Russia and thinking, “Man, we are about to witness a great moment in MMA.” Nogueira was on a 13-fight winning streak and challenger Fedor Emelianenko was on an eight-fight tear of his own. He was coming in from Rings where, like “Minotauro,” he had been a tournament champion.

We had only seen Emelianenko in the Pride ring twice before this, but with wins over Semmy Schilt and Heath Herring, we all knew he was special. Plus, he had that icy stare. However, Nogueira had already dealt with guys like Schilt, Herring, Mark Coleman and Dan Henderson with such skill that not too many gave the Russian a real shot against the jiu-jitsu specialist.

Nogueira wanted the fight on the ground, even if it meant having to play guard. He got his wish, and as the old saying goes, you should be careful what you wish for. Back then, Nogueira was by far the most effective grappler in MMA, but I will never forget the sound of Emelianenko’s fists landing on his face from full guard, just a foot away from me. I can hear the brutal blows, the rumble in the canvas, the grunts, and I can see the glassy look in Nogueira’s eyes as he took a beating. Even then, it never felt like Nogueira was out of the fight. You always believed another submission could be around the corner, with one shift of the hips, with one quick grab of the arm. At the end of 10-minute opening round, I remember Nogueira slowly staggering back to his corner, battered and beaten, and me thinking, “He’s still in this fight.”

“Minotauro” was never out of a fight in Pride, even when he was taking damage from a guy like Emelianenko. Everyone knew that to be true, which is why they loved him. If “Pride never die,” legends like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are a big reason why.

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Chris Nelson: “Minotauro” was a king in Rings and Pride well before I found my way to MMA fandom. By the time I became aware of him, “Big Nog” was nearing the end of his run in Japan and I had a lot of catching up to do. As I stacked DVDs -- Remember DVDs? -- and made my way through Nogueira’s career, I was awed by his durability and his aptitude for catching big men in submissions on the mat.

Just like Fedor Emelianenko, even when his fights weren’t thrilling, Nogueira was compulsively watchable. However, as I continued to follow him throughout the years, I found other things to admire about Nogueira. This was a man who hung around in the sport longer than many and courted less controversy than most. You won’t find many people in MMA with bad things to say about Nogueira. Although I don’t agree with some of his personal views, there’s no denying the man has been a role model in a sport where role models are often in short supply. Here’s hoping Nogueira enjoys retirement and continues his good work outside of the cage.

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Brian Knapp: It is hard to confine someone like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to words. In short, he embodied everything that is right and good about the sport of mixed martial arts, a sport which remains in desperate need of such people. It seems like we are inundated with unsavory news, from domestic abuse incidents and positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs to champions going off the rails to risk everything for a cheap thrill.

Nogueira is a noble warrior who carries himself with a royal dignity. In terms of the athlete, there are too many memories from which to choose: the post-beating armbar he sprang on Bob Sapp, his failed encounters with Fedor Emelianenko, submission victories over Mark Coleman, Dan Henderson and Mirko Filipovic, the guillotine on Tim Sylvia and his triumphant return after Frank Mir shattered his arm with a kimura. Yes, Dave Herman, jiu-jitsu does work.

I will not remember the shopworn Nogueira who lost his final three bouts to Fabricio Werdum, Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve. He had become a mere shell of the fighter he once was. Age and mileage had finally worn down a man who had long been viewed as indestructible. He is human after all, I remember thinking. Father Time calls upon us all, and so He has now called upon “Minotauro” Nogueira, at age 39, to lay down his arms.

I hope in retirement he can find peace without competition, and I hope his humanitarian side continues to climb out of the immense shadow that was cast by his accomplishments on the mat, in the ring and in the cage. His impact on the world, on the people around him, on his country and even on those he never met is what will carry on long after we forget how many fights he won and lost.

Continue Reading » Nogueira had a transcendent charisma that manifested through his perilous triumphs against larger, more violent men. The fact he revealed his mortality so often in his fights reminded us of how truly real MMA is, how high the human stakes of prizefighting are and how resolute mortal men can be.