Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 PRIDE FC
4 Post-PRIDE Career
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira (born June 2, 1976) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Ricardo de la Riva.

He stands 6 ft. 2in. (188cm) and fights in the light heavyweight division.

He is a veteran of the PRIDE Fighting Championships currently fights as a light heavyweight for various promotions including Affliction and Sengoku.

He is twin brother of former PRIDE heavyweight champion and UFC interim Champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Early Career

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira made his professional mixed martial artist debut on August 18, 2001 for the Japanese, DEEP promotion. He faced Katsuhisa Fujii (3-5-1) and scored a technical armbar submission victory over the Japanese fighter to kick his career off on a positive note.

Rogerio picked up another armbar victory in his next bout when he submitted Jim Theobald at a HooknShoot event in Indiana.

PRIDE FC

Only 2-0 in his professional career, Minotoro made his debut for the PRIDE Fighting Championships at PRIDE 20 in April of 2002.

Rogerio entered the organization in the shadow of his brother, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira who was the organization's heavyweight champion at the time. Rogerio did his best to shed that shadow in his debut when he impressively dispatched of Japanese fighter, Yusuke Imamura with a guillotine choke 35 seconds into the first round.

Minotoro did not immediately return to PRIDE however, as a little under four months later he returned to a Japanese, UFO event where he suffered the first professional loss of his MMA career when he suffered a unanimous decision victory to Vladimir Matyushenko.

He wasted no time in bouncing back however as he returned to Japan under a month later to score a unanimous decision victory over UFC veteran, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at a DEEP event.

At PRIDE 24, Rogerio returned to the ring against former UFC tournament champion, Guy Mezger. In a razor thin decision, Nogueira edged out Mezger via split decision.

In March of 2003, at PRIDE 25, Minotoro faced Japanese judoka, Kazuhiro Nakamura in Nakamura's mixed martial arts debut. Nakamura was game but eventually succumbed to an armbar submission five minutes into the second round.

At PRIDE Shockwave 2003, Nogueira was matched up against Japanese mixed martial arts legend, Kazushi Sakuraba. He outweighed Sakuraba by a fair amount but Sakuraba was game for the length of the fight with "Lil Nog" eventually prevailing via unanimous decision.

Following a victory over Alex Stiebling at a Gladiator FC event in of June of 2004, Nogueira faced off in a rematch with the new and improved Kazuhiro Nakamura at PRIDE Bushido 4. In a much more competitive bout, Nogueira prevailed via split decision in a bout that really should have been a unanimous decision victory for him.

At PRIDE 29, Nogueira faced Alistair Overeem in a bout that was said to earn the winner a place in the upcoming 16 man PRIDE middleweight tournament. Overeem looked dangerous early on but as the fight wore on his gas tank emptied with Nogueira eventually being able to have his way with Overeem in every aspect. Minotoro picked up the unanimous decision victory and a place in the middleweight tournament.

In the opening round of the tournament at PRIDE: Total Elimination 2005, Nogueira faced Dan Henderson. After Henderson surprisingly pulled guard around 7 minutes into the first round of the fight, Rogerio quickly joined his brother Rodrigo as the only man to submit Henderson when he passed to mount before securing an armbar, which forced the tap 8.05 into round 1.

In the quarter finals, which were held in June of 2005 at PRIDE: Critical Countdown 2005, Nogueira faced Chute Boxe member, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. In a tough and close fight which saw both fighters dropped by punches, Shogun was adjudged the victor by unanimous decision, effectively knocking Rogerio out of the tournament.

Following the Shogun loss, Rogerio had over a year break between fights before returning at PRIDE: Critical Countdown Absolute in a rematch with "The Demolition Man" Alistair Overeem. Things didn't fare much better for Overeem in the rematch with Nogueira outworking Overeem on the way to a TKO stoppage 2.13 into round 2.

Nogueira took another seven months off from competition before returning at PRIDE 33 where he was a 16 to 1 favorite over PRIDE debutant, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. The unthinkable occured however as the African judoka put Nogueira's lights out 23 seconds into the first round.

Post-PRIDE Career

Nogueira took almost a year off from fighting following the shock loss to Sokoudjou and by the time he made his return to mixed martial arts competition, the PRIDE Fighting Championships had been bought out by ZUFFA and had disbanded.

Rogerio instead signed to the Canadian based Hardcore Fighting Championships where he faced Todd Gouwenberg. Nogueira some impressive muay thai to batter Gouwenberg en route to a second round TKO victory.

As a free agent, Nogueira signed some more non-exclusive contracts which included Affliction Entertainment and Sengoku.

On July 19th, 2008, Nogueira made his Affliction debut. Originally scheduled to face Vernon White, his opponent was instead changed to TUF 4 veteran, Edwin Dewees after White failed a pre-fight drug test. Against the undersized Dewees, Nogueira dished out a great deal of punishment with the mismatch eventually decide at 4.06 of the first round via TKO.

For his third and final fight of 2008, Nogueira returned to Japan for the Sengoku promotion's sixth event where he faced French fighter Moise Rimbon (moist rib bone?). Nogueira proved to be superior in all areas, eventually taking the unanimous decision victory.

Minotoro next face off in a rematch against Vladimir Matyushenko at Affliction Entertainment's sophomore effort, Affliction: Day of Reckoning. In a lacklustre fight, Minotoro brought it to an end when he knocked Matyushenko cold with a knee at the end of the second round.

In May, 2009, Nogueira fought on Brazilian soil for the first time in his professional MMA career as he submitted Dion Staring with a triangle choke in the third round.