The sport of mixed martial arts does not get any more regal than Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira—two men who set the heavyweight bar for the better part of a decade.
As memories of their historic rivalry continues to fade into the past, a by-the-numbers look at what made Emelianenko vs. Nogueira so unforgettable:
656: Days between their first and third meetings. Emelianenko laid claim to a unanimous decision over the Brazilian in their first pairing at Pride 25 on March 16, 2003 before their long-awaited rematch at Pride Final Conflict 2004 ended in a no contest due to an accidental clash of heads on Aug. 15, 2004. Emelianenko then closed out the trilogy with a three-round unanimous decision over “Minotauro” at Pride Shockwave 2004 on Dec. 31, 2004.
115,274: Fans to witness the three chapters of the Emelianenko-Nogueira rivalry. Attendance peaked for their third battle, which drew a crowd of 48,398 to the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
2,632: Seconds of fight time for the Emelianenko-Nogueira series. They fought one another inside the ring for a total of 43:52.
133: Significant strikes by which Emelianenko outlanded Nogueira in their head-to-head encounters. He connected with 158 such strikes while absorbing only 25 of them in return.
389: Total strikes landed against one another in their rivalry. Emelianenko was responsible for 61% of them (239).
7: Takedown attempts from Emelianenko in his three appearances against Nogueira. He completed six of them. Nogueira, meanwhile, went 1-for-12 on his tries.
58: Percent success rate for Emelianenko on his significant strikes against Nogueira. He found the mark with 182 of his 313 attempts. Nogueira, by comparison, landed at a 52% clip (99-for-192) against the Russian.
1: Knockdown credited to Emelianenko in the series. He floored Nogueira in the first round of their third and final confrontation.
3: Submission attempts levied against one another, two of them by Nogueira.
.690: Cumulative winning percentage between the two men following the completion of their trilogy. Emelianenko compiled a 19-6 record and cemented himself as the greatest heavyweight of his generation, with wins over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Mark Hunt, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski. Nogueira, meanwhile, went 10-7, with victories against Sylvia, Josh Barnett, Fabricio Werdum and Randy Couture.