Under the Microscope: Analyzing Heavyweight Greats

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

* Heavyweight Record: 23-9-1
* Opponent Winning Percentage: .723
* Longest Winning Streak: 13
* Record in Major Heavyweight Title Fights: 3-3-1
* Finish Percentage: 70
* Finished Percentage: 55
* Notable Victories: Gary Goodridge, Mark Coleman, Heath Herring (thrice), Bob Sapp, Ricco Rodriguez, Mirko Filipovic, Sergei Kharitonov, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia, Randy Couture
* Career Accomplishments: Pride heavyweight champion; interim Pride heavyweight champion; interim UFC Heavyweight Champion; 2004 Pride heavyweight grand prix runner-up; 2000 Rings “King of Kings” tournament winner; tied for most submissions in Pride history; four-time UFC “Performance of the Night” winner

CASE FOR: In a sport full of tough sons a guns, “Minotauro” Nogueira might be the toughest. No one has endured as much punishment and no one has made punishment a vehicle to victory quite like Nogueira. Even more remarkable is that his penchant for back-from-the-brink wins has come in big matches against elite opponents. However, the man can do more than catch a beatdown in clear conscience; his boxing is crisp, his wrestling is stout and his jiu-jitsu is split-second venomous. This combination of skills was ahead of its time, and if it were not for Father Time catching up with him late in his career, he would still be in line with the current iteration of MMA skill sets. Only “Minotauro” did it first. Nogueira also holds the special distinction of being the only heavyweight to hold titles in both Pride and the UFC. Nogueira enjoyed a healthy stint as the sport’s undisputed heavyweight kingpin and loitered in the top shelves for another five years after his prime. Boasting one of the strongest winning streaks and beating more G.O.A.T. candidates than anyone else on the list, Nogueira is not just one of the greats; he is the greatest.

CASE AGAINST: Let us not get ahead of ourselves. “Minotauro” has beaten a lot of great fighters, but he has also lost to a lot of them. Of the 15 fighters considered for this list, Nogueira has a record of 6-7-1 against them, hardly the mark of a definitive G.O.A.T. Having a flat .500 record in title fights does not help much, either, but these are all minor infractions in the big picture. The bigger issue with his title missteps is that he was never able to defend his championship. It is the mark of a champion to verify his status with a belt, but it is the mark of a legend to defend that status against hungry up-and-comers. “Minotauro” won three different belts at three different times and proceeded to lose convincingly in his next title fight every time out, save for the draw, of course. Also, that is to ignore the fact that two of his three titles were cheap facsimiles of the real thing. That brings us to the final strike against him: 0-2-1. Nogueira just so happened to be a contemporary of a man he could not beat in Fedor Emelianenko. As has been oft repeated in this series, in order to be the Greatest of All-Time, it is a prerequisite to be the clear pick as the Greatest of Your Time. Unfortunately for Nogueira, his successes only further validated the Russian’s claim.

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