Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE 31 “Unbreakable”
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
Feb 24, 2006
NOGUEIRA: BJJ black belt Antonio Rodrigo
Nogueira (Pictures) is a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu
world champion, the RINGS King of Kings 1999 runner up, the RINGS
King of Kings 2000 champion, the former WEF heavyweight champion, a
2000 Abu Dhabi Combat Championships 99-kg division tournament
quarterfinalist and a former PFC heavyweight champion.
He trains with Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), Ricardo Arona (Pictures), Mario Sperry (Pictures) and his brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures) along with the rest of the Brazilian Top Team. “Minotauro” has a professional MMA record of 25-3-1 and he’s making his 17th PRIDE appearance (13-2-0-1).
Nogueira began his MMA career in the U.S. at the World Extreme
Fighting shows. There he faced UFC veteran David Dodd, Miletich
Martial Arts fighters Nate
Schroeder and Jeremy
Horn (Pictures).
“Minotauro” defeated all three, earning the WEF heavyweight title against Horn. He also began competing in RINGS events the same year. Before he even stepped in PRIDE’s ring he was the RINGS King of Kings 2000 champion and was a decision away from winning the RINGS King of Kings 1999 tournament as well.
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures) took Nogueira to a draw at the Millennium Combine 3 and Nogueira next appeared in the KOK 2001 tournament. There he submitted Achmed Lebasanov and Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) to advance to the KOK Finals event. He defeated Volk Han by decision and submitted Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures) with a rear-choke. In the KOK 2001 title bout, Nogueira walked through Valentijn Overeem for the second time to claim the championship honors.
“Minotauro” debuted in PRIDE against the former gatekeeper of the heavyweight division “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge (Pictures). Mark Coleman (Pictures) was supposed to be his first opponent but an injury forced an opponent change. Goodridge was triangle choked in less than three minutes and it opened the door for Nogueira to fight Coleman at PRIDE 16.
Nogueira quickly armbarred “The Hammer” and it set up a bout for the heavyweight championship against Heath Herring (Pictures) at PRIDE 17. This was a war and had everything you could hope for in a title bout. It went the distance but was by no means a boring match. Nogueira claimed his title and battled veteran Enson Inoue at PRIDE 19. Inoue came out of retirement for this bout and had not fought in more than a year. He performed admirably but this was Nogueira’s time. “Minotauro” triangle choked Inoue at just over six minutes into the match.
Nogueira made a pit stop at the UFO Legend show to knockout Sanae Kikuta (Pictures) and just 20 days later he battled the Maurice Smith-trained giant Bob Sapp (Pictures) at the PRIDE Shockwave show. It was a huge risk but Nogueira is a warrior and took the challenge.
In an amazing fight, “Minotauro” took a beating before controlling one of Sapp’s giant arms to secure an armbar late in the second round. From one giant to the next, Nogueira battled Dutch Pancrase fighter Semmy Schilt (Pictures). As many predicted, Schilt provided less of a challenge than Sapp and was submitted via triangle choke late in the first round.
Then at PRIDE 24 he battled the one man to defeat him in MMA competition. Although they fight in different weight classes, Dan Henderson (Pictures) accepted the challenge (in a non-title affair) and gave Nogueira a true test. Henderson, however, was submitted for the first time in his career via armbar late in round three.
At PRIDE 25 Nogueira’s wars with Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) would begin. The first meeting was disaster for Nogueira, as he was dominated by the Russian and was visibly distraught afterwards. Nogueira won a questionable decision versus Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures) at the 2003 Total Elimination show and then submitted Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) in an entertaining battle to end the year.
The next 12 months brought challenges against Hirotaka Yokoi (Pictures), Heath Herring (Pictures) and Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures). Nogueira went 3-0 with only the Kharitonov bout going the distance. His second bout with Fedor took place at Final Conflict 2004 and resulted in a No Contest due to a cut suffered by the Russian. There was controversy with some feeling Nogueira should’ve gotten the victory but they met for a third time on New Year’s Eve ’04 and Fedor won another decision. In his most recent battle, Nogueira faced Polish judo champion Pawel Nastula (Pictures) at the PRIDE: Critical Countdown show last June. Nastula, a first-timer, showed great heart and good instincts. However he could not deal with the frenetic pace of MMA fell to strikes last in the first round.
TAMURA: Japanese submission wrestler Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) is the leader of the U-File Camp and a former UWF and UWFi professional wrester. The former RINGS champion has a professional MMA record of 13-8 and will make his seventh appearance (5-3) in the ring of the PFC.
The promoter of the U-Style submission-wrestling event trains with Ryuki Ueyama (Pictures) and Ryo Chonan (Pictures). In 1996 Tamura joined RINGS and battled many of the top athletes in the event at the time: Mikhail Illoukhine (Pictures), Volk Han, Joop Kasteel, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures), Yoshihisa Yamamoto and even founder Akira Maeda (Pictures).
Tamura’s first recognized MMA bout was against UFC veteran Pat Smith in the K-1 Hercules show in 1995. He submitted Smith via heelhook in less than a minute. The following year he submitted Maurice Smith in a RINGS event and holds a win over Elvis Sinosic (Pictures) as well.
In April of ’99, he met Frank Shamrock (Pictures) and looked impressive in their fight to draw. Later that year RINGS went to full shoot cards as opposed to the shoot-work mix they popularized in the mid 1990s. During the first King of Kings tournament Tamura defeated Dave Menne (Pictures) and Renzo Gracie (Pictures). Tamura lost his spot in the tournament via decision loss to UFC veteran Renato Sobral (Pictures).
The Japanese fighter took a beating against Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) and lost his RINGS title in the process. Decision wins over MFS fighters Jeremy Horn (Pictures) and Pat Miletich (Pictures) helped keep Tamura in position to get bouts of interest. He competed in the KOK 2000 tournament but was vanquished by his opponent on Sunday, “Minotauro” Nogueira, in the opening round.
Tamura fell into a five-bout losing streak that included brutal losses against Gustavo Machado (Pictures), Bob Sapp (Pictures) and, in his PRIDE debut, Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). Tamura beat Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) by decision in a DEEP show and knocked out Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) in his return to the PFC.
After nearly a year away from MMA, Tamura faced Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) and lost by gi choke. His most recent appearance was a decision victory over another judo medal winner, Makoto Takimoto (Pictures) at the ’05 Critical Countdown show last June.
MY PICK: Nogueira. Given the fact “Minotauro” only fought once last year, I see him looking at this bout as a chance to try some things out eliminate any ring rust before the Open Weight GP starts. For that reason I think this bout may go longer than expected. Nogueira enjoys a four-inch in height edge and certainly a significant reach advantage, so he’ll likely only take punishment to get the “feel for the ring” back, if at all. Tamura is an accomplished submission fighter and has quality kicking skills but this is a bad match-up for him. He likely took it for the same reasons as Nakamura, in hopes of advancing to the GP. He’ll also have to endure the punishment to get there. Nogueira by submission (likely some form of choke) late in the first round.
He trains with Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), Ricardo Arona (Pictures), Mario Sperry (Pictures) and his brother Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures) along with the rest of the Brazilian Top Team. “Minotauro” has a professional MMA record of 25-3-1 and he’s making his 17th PRIDE appearance (13-2-0-1).
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“Minotauro” defeated all three, earning the WEF heavyweight title against Horn. He also began competing in RINGS events the same year. Before he even stepped in PRIDE’s ring he was the RINGS King of Kings 2000 champion and was a decision away from winning the RINGS King of Kings 1999 tournament as well.
Nogueira submitted two opponents (Iouri Kotchkine and Valentijn Overeem) and
advanced to the final round of the RINGS King of Kings. In the 1999
Finals event, Nogueira beat Sambo stylist Andrei Kopylov by decision and
lost a decision to Team Quest wrestler Dan Henderson (Pictures).
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures) took Nogueira to a draw at the Millennium Combine 3 and Nogueira next appeared in the KOK 2001 tournament. There he submitted Achmed Lebasanov and Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) to advance to the KOK Finals event. He defeated Volk Han by decision and submitted Hiromitsu Kanehara (Pictures) with a rear-choke. In the KOK 2001 title bout, Nogueira walked through Valentijn Overeem for the second time to claim the championship honors.
“Minotauro” debuted in PRIDE against the former gatekeeper of the heavyweight division “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge (Pictures). Mark Coleman (Pictures) was supposed to be his first opponent but an injury forced an opponent change. Goodridge was triangle choked in less than three minutes and it opened the door for Nogueira to fight Coleman at PRIDE 16.
Nogueira quickly armbarred “The Hammer” and it set up a bout for the heavyweight championship against Heath Herring (Pictures) at PRIDE 17. This was a war and had everything you could hope for in a title bout. It went the distance but was by no means a boring match. Nogueira claimed his title and battled veteran Enson Inoue at PRIDE 19. Inoue came out of retirement for this bout and had not fought in more than a year. He performed admirably but this was Nogueira’s time. “Minotauro” triangle choked Inoue at just over six minutes into the match.
Nogueira made a pit stop at the UFO Legend show to knockout Sanae Kikuta (Pictures) and just 20 days later he battled the Maurice Smith-trained giant Bob Sapp (Pictures) at the PRIDE Shockwave show. It was a huge risk but Nogueira is a warrior and took the challenge.
In an amazing fight, “Minotauro” took a beating before controlling one of Sapp’s giant arms to secure an armbar late in the second round. From one giant to the next, Nogueira battled Dutch Pancrase fighter Semmy Schilt (Pictures). As many predicted, Schilt provided less of a challenge than Sapp and was submitted via triangle choke late in the first round.
Then at PRIDE 24 he battled the one man to defeat him in MMA competition. Although they fight in different weight classes, Dan Henderson (Pictures) accepted the challenge (in a non-title affair) and gave Nogueira a true test. Henderson, however, was submitted for the first time in his career via armbar late in round three.
At PRIDE 25 Nogueira’s wars with Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) would begin. The first meeting was disaster for Nogueira, as he was dominated by the Russian and was visibly distraught afterwards. Nogueira won a questionable decision versus Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures) at the 2003 Total Elimination show and then submitted Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) in an entertaining battle to end the year.
The next 12 months brought challenges against Hirotaka Yokoi (Pictures), Heath Herring (Pictures) and Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures). Nogueira went 3-0 with only the Kharitonov bout going the distance. His second bout with Fedor took place at Final Conflict 2004 and resulted in a No Contest due to a cut suffered by the Russian. There was controversy with some feeling Nogueira should’ve gotten the victory but they met for a third time on New Year’s Eve ’04 and Fedor won another decision. In his most recent battle, Nogueira faced Polish judo champion Pawel Nastula (Pictures) at the PRIDE: Critical Countdown show last June. Nastula, a first-timer, showed great heart and good instincts. However he could not deal with the frenetic pace of MMA fell to strikes last in the first round.
TAMURA: Japanese submission wrestler Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) is the leader of the U-File Camp and a former UWF and UWFi professional wrester. The former RINGS champion has a professional MMA record of 13-8 and will make his seventh appearance (5-3) in the ring of the PFC.
The promoter of the U-Style submission-wrestling event trains with Ryuki Ueyama (Pictures) and Ryo Chonan (Pictures). In 1996 Tamura joined RINGS and battled many of the top athletes in the event at the time: Mikhail Illoukhine (Pictures), Volk Han, Joop Kasteel, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures), Yoshihisa Yamamoto and even founder Akira Maeda (Pictures).
Tamura’s first recognized MMA bout was against UFC veteran Pat Smith in the K-1 Hercules show in 1995. He submitted Smith via heelhook in less than a minute. The following year he submitted Maurice Smith in a RINGS event and holds a win over Elvis Sinosic (Pictures) as well.
In April of ’99, he met Frank Shamrock (Pictures) and looked impressive in their fight to draw. Later that year RINGS went to full shoot cards as opposed to the shoot-work mix they popularized in the mid 1990s. During the first King of Kings tournament Tamura defeated Dave Menne (Pictures) and Renzo Gracie (Pictures). Tamura lost his spot in the tournament via decision loss to UFC veteran Renato Sobral (Pictures).
The Japanese fighter took a beating against Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) and lost his RINGS title in the process. Decision wins over MFS fighters Jeremy Horn (Pictures) and Pat Miletich (Pictures) helped keep Tamura in position to get bouts of interest. He competed in the KOK 2000 tournament but was vanquished by his opponent on Sunday, “Minotauro” Nogueira, in the opening round.
Tamura fell into a five-bout losing streak that included brutal losses against Gustavo Machado (Pictures), Bob Sapp (Pictures) and, in his PRIDE debut, Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). Tamura beat Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures) by decision in a DEEP show and knocked out Nobuhiko Takada (Pictures) in his return to the PFC.
After nearly a year away from MMA, Tamura faced Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) and lost by gi choke. His most recent appearance was a decision victory over another judo medal winner, Makoto Takimoto (Pictures) at the ’05 Critical Countdown show last June.
MY PICK: Nogueira. Given the fact “Minotauro” only fought once last year, I see him looking at this bout as a chance to try some things out eliminate any ring rust before the Open Weight GP starts. For that reason I think this bout may go longer than expected. Nogueira enjoys a four-inch in height edge and certainly a significant reach advantage, so he’ll likely only take punishment to get the “feel for the ring” back, if at all. Tamura is an accomplished submission fighter and has quality kicking skills but this is a bad match-up for him. He likely took it for the same reasons as Nakamura, in hopes of advancing to the GP. He’ll also have to endure the punishment to get there. Nogueira by submission (likely some form of choke) late in the first round.
