Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

In a recent conference broadcast of ufc.com, Dana White stated that the UFC would be offering a fight to Randy Couture, that fight would be against top heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira (Big Nog).

Of course, Randy Couture resigned from his contract with the UFC a couple of weeks ago, stating that he would no longer be fighting for the UFC, announcing for the UFC or otherwise. Randy stated at that time and in his own press conference later that it was a combination of money, respect and that the UFC was unable to secure a fight with Emelianenko Fedor.



Randy believes that the only fight worth fighting is against Fedor, widely considered to be the best heavyweight, if not best pound for pound, fighter in the world. At 44 years old, Randy only has a few fights left in him and he wants to fight the best.

In my opinion, Nogeuira is one of the best in the world after heavyweight. In fact if I had to rank the top four heavyweights in the world, they would be Fedor, Couture, Nogeuira and Barnett, not necessarily in that order. If Randy Couture wants to retire from the sport, all the power to him, but if he wants to quit the UFC just because they were unable to land Fedor, then complain because he heard that the UFC was going to pay Fedor a boat load of money to secure the fight...well, I don't know.

I'm a big fan of Randy Couture and whatever he needs to do, I respect that. However, as a fight fan I'd rather see Couture vs Nogeuira than a court battle between Dana White and Randy Couture.

Please note before reading my list that these are my favourite fighters, not the fighters which are the best. That's a different list, perhaps entitled "Top 10 Best Figthers".

So, I wrote the title to this little entry and now I'm stuck, how do you pick a favourite. I've been watching MMA and particularly the UFC and PrideFC for so long that I feel like I'm picking one of my children as a favourite over another child. It's not fair, but I've made the commitment and now I'm going to follow through with it.


#10 BJ Penn is one of my 10 most favourite fighters. BJ Penn is made of rubber, probably the best natural fighter in MMA. BJ's appearance on the Ultimate Fighter TV series just solidifies this position. The guy is truly funny!

#9 Wanderlei Silva. Silva is an animal in the ring, pure and simple all out agression. A Wanderlei Silva fight is one of the most exciting things to watch. Even his recent losses to Cro Cop and Henderson were amazing fights.

#8 Royce Gracie. When I watch the old UFC fights with Royce Gracie I can't help but be amazed. Certainly Royce had the training advantage over his opponents, but watch carefully. Royce is tough, he took punches and kept coming. Watch his not so old fight against Sakuraba or his fight against Matt Hughes. Royce didn't win those fights, but his toughness came through.

#7 Kevin "The Monster" Randleman. Whenever the "Monster" steps into the ring (or cage), you get the feeling that something super-human is going to happen. Kevin Randleman is a freak of nature, strong and quick. Watching him drop Fedor on his head is still one of my favourite highlights.

#6 Mirko Cro Cop. Mirko suffered a loss recently to Gabriel Gonzaga, but it isn't Mirko's first loss. He came back before and he will again. He's an exciting fighter and doesn't talk trash, for that he's #6

#5 Fedor. Although this is a favourite list and not best fighter list, Fedor deserves to be on here out of simple respect. He's the best of the best.

#4 Matt Serra comes in at #4. Ok everybody, accuse me of jumping on the Matt Serra bandwagon, but Matt has paid his dues in this sport. The first fights I ever saw Matt in were an eye opener to me. I'd never seen anybody transition positions as smoothly and easily as Serra.

#3 Randy Couture makes my favourite MMA fighter list at number three. Randy is a class act, always has respect for an opponent and despite being an underdog in almost every fight he's ever had he's the UFC heavyweight champion at 43 years old.

#2 My second favourite MMA fighter is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He never gives up in a fight, he is tough as nails and seems to always have respect for his opponents. Big Nog is one of the true talents in MMA. In a fight against Nog, if your name isn't Fedor, you'd better be prepared to lose!

#1 My favourite fighter has to be Chuck Liddell. I'm not saying that because Mr Liddell has an upcoming fight with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. In fact, I'm picking Rampage to win that fight. I picked Chuck because he has consistently said what he was going to do, then do it. No fanfare, no badmouthing, just great exciting fights, usually ending in TKO's.

I'm going to claim this outright...UFC 73 is the best card that the UFC has ever put on.

Part of press release from ufc.com

“We have five UFC events lined up now through July in the US and UK, and every one of them is stacked with great fights,” said UFC President Dana White. “No matter where we have a UFC, our goal is always the same – to deliver the best fights between the best mixed martial arts fighters. Our fans know they will always see a good fight, and that’s why the UFC reigns supreme in live sports today.”

White continues, “UFC 73 is one of the best cards we’ve put together this year. It’s going to deliver the one-two punch fight fans want – it has Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans, two all-state college wrestlers, both who dislike each other, settling their differences in the Octagon, as well as title defenses by our two champions Anderson Silva and Sean Sherk. We’re working on more fights right now to pack this card even heavier from top to bottom.”

About his upcoming fight versus Rashad Evans, “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz stated, “Everybody should expect fireworks. Rashad is standing in the way of my getting another title shot, and my prediction is that he won’t be able to handle my tempo or the 18,000 Tito Ortiz fans that are in Sacramento to see me win. My prediction is that fans will definitely get their money’s worth.”

Evans countered, “Tito needs to learn the meaning of respect. On July 7, I’m going to teach him what that’s all about. Let him come down from the mountain to Greg Jackson’s training camp and he’ll see what he’s up against. I’m focused and on a mission, and my goal is to knock him out.”

Read more at ufc.com

The news is out, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's opponent at UFC 73 will be Heath Herring. This news has surprised a lot of MMA fan sites who believe that the UFC is sacraficing one of their potential stars (Heath Herring) to the much more talented Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. This may be true, but a good showing by Herring in this fight might just raise his stock a little. I personally expect "Big Nog" to take this fight, but never count anyone out in this game.

UFC newcomer Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will make his Octagon debut at UFC 73. This according to Dana White.
Dana spilled the beans on the Scott Ferrall Radio Show. UFC 73 will take place on July 7.

I found this info while reading UFCJunkie.com

An informal poll, leave your selection in the comments section.

Who should Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight first in the UFC?

How many fights should Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira he have before a title match?

Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira has one of the best records in Mixed Martial Arts, with the record is what I believe to be the most complete resume of any fighter in the UFC heavyweight division. Soon, "Minotauro" will make his UFC debut and this is one fan who can't wait!

Nogueira like Chuck Liddell has gained revenge on every opponent to ever defeat him, with one exception. For Chuck, the exception is Quinton "Rampage" Jackson who he faces on May 26, 2007. For "Big Nog", he will likely need to wait longer to face his nemesis, Fedor.

If you think that Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira's name with nickname is too long and confusing, double your confusion by adding in that he has a twin brother who is also a Mixed Martial Arts fighter. His twin brother goes by Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira...now that's confusing. In fact, the first time I saw his "little" brother competing I thought I was watching Rodrigo.

Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira's record according to Sherdog.com is 29-4-1, that's a lot of experience, most of it against top notch heavyweight fighters. He's beaten the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, Heath Herring, Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodrigeuz, Fabricio Werdum, Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt, Gary Goodridge, Valentijn Overeem, Mark Coleman, Sergei Kharitonov and Jeremy Horn. Only Fedor has had a dominant win over "Big Nog" and even then, he didn't finish Nog. Looking over his losses, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira has only ever lost by decision, no KO's, TKO's, ref stoppages or being submitted for this former Pride champion.

I think that Antonio Rodrigo's amazing submission skills, combined with good stand up and extreme toughness will be hard to beat in the UFC cage. In fact, I only see a couple of fighters with a real chance of beating "Big Nog", one of them is Mirko Cro Cop. Cro Cop had a good first round when he fought against Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, but was caught in an arm bar in the second round.

Let's play the guessing game for who Nogueira's first UFC opponent should be:

Tim Sylvia might be a good choice, former champion vs former champion. Both of these fighters have defeated Ricco Rodriguez and both are looking toward reclaiming championship glory.

Mirko Cro Cop would also be an excellent match up, playing on their previous match and the fact that Mirko just got KO'd by Gabriel Gonzaga.

Andrei Arlovski to decide a title shot would be another excellent match up, but I doubt that this will materialize as Arlovski has already been promised a title shot and a match with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira might de-rail that train.

Most would agree that Nogueira is good enough and has an extensive enough background to deserve a title shot right away, but there is already a line up two deep to face Randy Couture. First will be Gabriel Gonzaga and after that, the winner will face Andrei Arlovski...at least according to Dana White, UFC president. that's how it will play out.

An excellent match up would see either Brandon Vera or Frank Mir against Nogueira, although Mir is not the fighter he used to be (before the accident). In his prime, Mir would have given Big Nog all that he could handle. I hope Mir works his way back up to that level of performance.

There you have it, another great addition to the UFC heavyweight division. Welcome to the UFC "Big Nog", I hope you do well and get a title shot soon.

There is a new PPV starting April 28th entitled "Pride Fighting: Decade"

It might be worth watching for all the UFC fans who haven't had much exposure to Pride Fighting in the past. Or even PrideFC fans who want to re-live some of the classic Pride match-ups.

From PrideFC.com

Don't miss out on this retrospective on the 10-year history of PRIDE Fighting Championships,
featuring interviews from such PRIDE fighters and icons as: Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Nobuhiko Takada,
Renzo Gracie, Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman, Quinton Jackson, Mark Kerr, Kevin Randleman, Frank Trigg, Don Frye, Matt Hume, Gilbert Yvel, plus many other legends in MMA!

What a difference a year makes, especially to the UFC heavyweight division. Just a year ago, it was thought by many that the UFC heavyweight division was the least interesting of the weight classes. In fact, the moment that Tim Sylvia defeated Andrei Arlovski for the UFC heavyweight title in April 2006, it became the UFC's most boring division. In fact, 2 minutes and 43 seconds into that fight Arlovski went down and with it, the excitement left.

July of last year saw a rematch with Sylvia facing Arlovski again, but unlike their first two bouts this one would go the distance. It was the longest 25 minutes of my MMA watching life. Neither fighter engaged, neither landed big shots or attempted big take downs. Something had to be done, the hard core UFC fans did not want to see Arlovski Sylvia 4, and there were no other real challengers.

Something has happened since then, barely 9 months have passed and one title defense later sees the UFC's heavyweight division as the best in the sport. The first event was the signing of Pride standout heavyweight Mirko "Cro Cop". Mirko's incredible striking and strong take down defense earned him recognition as one of the 5 best heavyweights in the world. It was assumed by many, including myself, that Mirko was brought in as a hired gun to end Tim Sylvia's reign of terror and restore honor to the UFC heavyweight ranks.

Mirko may not get the chance...somebody beat him to it. As it turns out 43 year old Randy "The Natural" Couture decided to come out of retirement and challenge for the heavyweight title. While I'm not a huge Tim Sylvia fan, I did not give Randy much of a chance because of Tim's enormous size and reach advantage, not to mention that he's 12 or 13 years younger than Randy. Randy proved me wrong by dominating a 5 round fight. The excitement was back and Randy Couture was back on top!

UFC president Dana White was apparently not satisfied with just having a few good heavyweight fighters though, recently he's signed Brazilian submission masters Antonio Rodrigo Nogeura and Fabricio Werdum to UFC contracts. It is unknown when "Big Nog" will get his first fight in the UFC, but we do know that Werdum is to fight former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski on April 21, 2007 at UFC 70 "Nations Collide". Oh, did I forget to mention the perennial heavyweight contender Heath Herring? While Heath hasn't looked spectacular in his first two UFC outings, he was always near the top when he fought in Japan's Pride organization.

So, here's how the UFC Heavyweight division stacks up as I see it:

1 Randy Couture - UFC Heavyweight Champion
2 Mirko Cro Cop - #1 contender (will get a title shot if he wins at UFC 70 against Gabriel Gonzaga)
3 Antonio Rodrigo Nogeura - #2 contender, no fights set yet.
4 Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum are all tied for this spot as I see it.
5 Gabriel Gonzaga - if he beats Cro Cop at UFC 70 he will get a title shot.

It's also been rumored that a win at UFC 70 by Andrei Arlovski will get him another title shot later this year.

2007 is a banner year for UFC heavyweight fans. I for one am enjoying the it.

If you've never heard of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, maybe this video will help. "Big Nog" is the best submission master in heavyweight MMA. He has an iron chin and decent stand up. His only weakness (that I can see) is his takedown defense could be better. Of course, that said, there is almost nobody who Nog needs to fear on the ground. The only person who has been able to dominate Nog on the ground is Fedor.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Video

Video Removed by YouTube

Dana White made it official last night at UFC 69 Shootout. Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira (Big Nog) is joining the UFC heavyweight division. In the last 6 months, the UFC's heavyweight division has gone from being a big joke (compared to Pride) to being the best heavyweight division in MMA. In fact, PrideFC now has Fedor, Hunt and Barnett. With the exception of Fedor, I'd take the UFC's line up of Big Nog, Cro Cop, Couture and Arlovski any day.

Welcome to the UFC big nog. We're expecting "big" things from you.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has long been one of PrideFC's top heavyweight contenders. He's got victories over Josh Barnett, Mirko Cro Cop and just about everybody else, with the exception of Fedor.

Well, Nogueira was at UFC Fight Night 9 last night, causing some to speculate that he might be joining the UFC's heavyweight ranks. Here's my take on it.

Both Pride and UFC's heavyweight divisions have become kind of stale. Nog keeps loosing to Fedor and the UFC had nobody. However, recently things have brightened up. Monson moving over to Pride makes things a little interesting, Cro Cop and Herring moving to the UFC brightens up the UFC heavyweight division. Where would Nog fit in?

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop and Randy Couture would be the creme of the UFC heavyweight crop. Each man, capable of defeating one of the others on any given night. Here's what I think the UFC/Pride conglomerate should do:

1) Ship Tim Sylvia to Pride and let him take on Fedor and Barnett
2) Bring Big Nog over to the UFC.
3) Bring Coleman over to the UFC (it fits his style better and who wouldn't want to see Coleman vs Couture...living legends)

What about Barnett? I think Barnett and Fedor should stay in Pride for at least another year. PrideFC can squeeze one more bout with these two before fans lose interest.

One thing is for sure, things could get intestesting. Let's see if there is an announcement on April 7th.