Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtoniu ʁoˈdɾiɡu noˈɡejɾɐ], born 2 June 1976), better known as Minotauro or Big Nog,[3] is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist.

Born in the town of Vitória da Conquista, Brazil, Nogueira started training in judo at the age of 4, boxing at 14 and Brazilian jiu-jitsu at 18.

At age 10, he was accidentally run over by a truck and fell into a four-day coma, losing a rib and part of his liver, and was hospitalized for eleven months.

[4] Nogueira made his mixed martial arts (MMA) debut in the World Extreme Fighting promotion, which often held events in southern parts of the United States.

He quickly submitted Valentijn Overeem and Yuriy Kochkine before clashing with middle-aged sambo champion Andrei Kopylov.

Nogueira was able to take him down and threaten him with submissions, but the Japanese fighter kept defending them and coming back at openings.

After a flying kimura attempt by the Russian, Nogueira countered with an omoplata/ankle hold combination, until the match went to the judges' decision.

The fast-paced bout, which saw Nogueira's superiority at both grappling and striking, was considered by some the best heavyweight MMA fight of all time.

[5] Nogueira next defeated Enson Inoue via technical submission due to a triangle choke and then fought for Antonio Inoki's UFO organization, scoring his first MMA KO victory against Sanae Kikuta.

At the end, however, Sapp's stamina started to falter, allowing a very worn out Nogueira to mount him and finally submit him with an armbar.

Nogueira suffered his second career loss, a judges' decision after Emelianenko dominated the fight with his characteristic ground-and-pound through the guard.

Though Rodriguez scored takedowns and maintained top position, Pride's fight-scoring was determined primarily by "effort to finish the fight by KO or submission," and Nogueira's multiple near-submission attempts won him the decision victory.

Nogueira faced the unbeaten professional wrestler and former judoka Hirotaka Yokoi, whom he submitted with the debut of his anaconda choke.

He then repeated the move against Heath Herring in the next round to advance to the semi-finals where he defeated Sergei Kharitonov to again face Fedor Emelianenko in the finals.

In the rematch as in the first bout, Nogueira suffered another unanimous decision loss to Emelianenko after being dominated in the standing positions and being controlled on the ground.

He then entered the 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix, progressing to the semi-final by defeating fellow Brazilians Zuluzinho and Fabrício Werdum.

In the semi-final, he faced the American catch wrestler Josh Barnett and lost a controversial split decision in which many people thought Nogueira had won the fight, as both had landed damaging blows and submission attempts without managing to secure a victory.

Nogueira avenged the loss to Barnett with a dominant unanimous decision win in their rematch at Pride Shockwave 2006.

In an interview with Sherdog.com, Nogueira stated that the best moments of his career were against Bob Sapp and Mirko Cro Cop, both matches he won fighting in Pride.

During the first round, Herring landed a head kick that sent Nogueira to the canvas, in which unofficial judge Eddie Bravo thought the fight could have been stopped.

[9] Nogueira and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir were the coaches for the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), which premiered on 17 September 2008, on Spike TV.

[10] Both winners of The Ultimate Fighter, season 8, light heavyweight Ryan Bader and lightweight Efrain Escudero, were members of Team Nogueira.

[20] Nogueira pulled out of this fight in order to undergo needed surgery on both of his hips as well as his knee and was replaced by Mirko Cro Cop.

[21][22] Nogueira defeated The Ultimate Fighter alumnus Brendan Schaub by knockout due to punches in the first round on 27 August 2011, at UFC 134 in his home-city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

After close early exchanges and a lot of work against the cage, the two separated, and Nogueira rocked Mir with a hard overhand right, jab combo.

[25] However, Nogueira pulled out of the bout, citing that his arm injury had not healed enough to resume the proper training and was replaced by Shawn Jordan.

[30] After dropping Nogueira several times with punches in the first round, Nelson finished the fight via knockout with an overhand right.

In March 2015, Nogueira revealed in an interview with Combate that he had undergone stem cell therapy on his elbows, hips and knees.

Nogueira also confessed a desire to fight Frank Mir for a third time saying,In two weeks I'll be cleared to train freely again.

[41] Nogueira was also known for his solid chin and extreme ability to take punishment, which was showcased in his fights against Bob Sapp, Fedor Emilianenko and Mirko Cro Cop.