Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - “Anything Left in the Tank?”

With injuries once again plaguing Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, does he have anything left in the tank?

The recent knee injury suffered by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira tells a story of a long punishing career marred by years of brutal brawls. Nogueira or ‘Minotauro’, has long established himself as one of the best heavyweights in Mixed Martial Art’s young history. But as with many of the veterans who once dominated the sport, it looks as the younger breed of fighters are surpassing the shadow that he cast over the fight game.

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Nogueira established himself as a top heavyweight when he won the King of Kings 2000 tournament submitting Valentijn Overeem early in the first round. He then went to Pride and won the heavyweight title. Prior to to winning the Heavyweight title, he caught a lot of people’s eyes when he defeated Mark Coleman via triangle choke, but what surprised most people was his dominance in the standup during the bout. Rodrigo was not just the first heavyweight, but one of the first fighters that had a great ground game, backed by a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, accompanied by solid boxing.

No one was near ‘Minotauro’s’ grappling level during his reign as the Pride heavyweight champion. He went on to defeat such fighters as Dan Henderson, Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt, Enson Inoue, and Heath Herring. He eventually lost his title to world renowned fighter Fedor Emlianenko. Upon losing his title, and after a win over Ricco Rodriguez, he faced heavyweight phenom Mirko Cro Cop. In the early goings of the fight, Cro Crop was getting the best of Antonio, landing brutal shots on the former champion, but Rodrigo rebounded to defeat Mirko via armbar in the second. The fight was an instant classic and went on to be Nogeueira’s signature style of winning, taking punishment then coming back for a submission. Antonio went on to lose to Emelianenko again, but he was not done in the sport.

After Zuffa bought out Pride FC, ‘Minotauro’ went over to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championships, where he won the UFC interim heavyweight championship with another patented comeback submission over former champion Tim Sylvia. He then fought Frank Mir at UFC 92, who had a much similar fighting style to his own. Prior to the bout, Nogueira suffered a vicious staph infection that took its toll on him during their fight. Rodrigo was much slower then Frank Mir in the standup, who finished him in the third round via technical knockout. Wether it was Frank Mir ‘s quicker hands or the staph infection that made the difference in the fight is still up for debate, but fans questioned wether the former two time Pride heavyweight champion was still able to compete. Once again, Antonio answered those questions in a thriller against former three time heavyweight champion Randy Couture in the main event of UFC 102. In a thriller, ‘Minotauro’ walked through Couture’s punches and rocked his elder throughout the fight. Rodrigo also dominated the ground game with brilliant sweeps off his back, earning him the unanimous decision.

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After taking a few months off, Nogueira agreed to take on up and coming heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez in the UFC 110 headliner. Many pundits felt Cain didn’t have the power to finish Rodrigo and wouldn’t be able to handle the veteran’s ground game. However, throughout the short duration of the fight, Velasquez was much quicker to the punch and was able to rock and knock out Nogueira in the first round. It was the first time Nogueira had ever been knocked out, and only the second time he had been finished. It seemed as if years of abuse had slowed down the former champion, and taken its toll on his once iron chin.

After some more time off, Rodrigo was set to get a rematch against Frank Mir in the main event of UFC 120, but he was forced out of the bout due to a knee injury that required surgery. This latest bump in the road has caused fans to wonder if ‘Minotaruo’ has anything left in the gas tank. It is hard to say when a fighter should retire as their financial situations aren’t as secure as those of athletes in other sports, but when Antonio decides to give it up, he still has a bright future as a top trainer at a top camp ahead of him.

By Ryan Silva
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer