Antônio Rogério Nogueira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtoniu ʁoˈʒɛɾiu noˈɡejɾɐ]; born 2 June 1976), also known as Minotouro or Lil Nog,[3] is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the UFC.
Antônio Rogério Nogueira hails from the town of Vitória da Conquista, Brazil and trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Ricardo de la Riva.
Before becoming a big star in PRIDE, Nogueira would compete in DEEP and HooknShoot events and would gain a record of 2-0, finishing both opponents in the very first round via armbar.
Nogueira would lose his next fight to Vladimir Matyushenko by decision but would bounce back with a victory over Tsuyoshi Kohsaka.
Nakamura fought very valiantly and even escaped multiple submissions but in the end the experience and skill of Nogueira proved to be too much and he would finish with an armbar in the second round.
Nogueira would go on to take the unanimous decision and by beating such a huge star, he was now seen as a serious force to be reckoned with at 205 lbs.
Nogueira would beat Alex Stiebling in Korea, before returning to Japan to rematch Nakamura in the main event of PRIDE Bushido 4.
Nogueira won a unanimous decision victory at PRIDE 29 against Alistair Overeem in what was for the most part an even fight.
The second and third rounds would belong to Rua however, as he would continue to land diving punches and knocked Nogueira down in the third.
After this fight Nogueira took some time off to heal some old injuries of his and would not fight again until July 2006, where he rematched Overeem and would win a second-round TKO decision, when Overeem's corner threw in the towel after Nogueira staggered him and was continuing to land combos.
Nogueira fought in the United States for only the second time in his career at PRIDE 33 against relatively unknown Sokoudjou.
Nogueira would fight Edwin Dewees next, knocking him out in the first round at Affliction: Banned, before defeating Moise Rimbon at a Sengoku show.
After Affliction closed its doors in July 2009, Nogueira would sign on to compete with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Nogueira made quick work of the Brazilian and dropped him with a sweeping left hook before finishing him off with punches on the mat at 1:56 of the first round.
[6] In a controversial split decision, in which Brilz seemed to control the duration of the fight, Nogueira was declared the winner.
[17] The bout remained on the feet for a majority of its duration in a largely uneventful fight where neither fighter was able to deliver any significant offense.
[21] Though an alleged visa issue created a problem for Sonnen to get into Canada, resulting in Rua being pulled from the event altogether.
[22] At a post-fight press conference in Manchester, Dana White said that Nogueira would be facing Alexander Gustafsson on 8 March 2014 at a UFC event in London.
[33] A pairing with Alexander Gustafsson was scheduled for a third time and was expected to take place on 19 November 2016 at UFC Fight Night 100.
[48][49] As the final fight of his prevailing contract, the trilogy bout with Maurício Rua was expected to take place on May 9, 2020 at then UFC 250.