Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

On 7/7/07, the day of UFC 73: Stacked, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be welcoming a PRIDE legend into their heavyweight division. His name is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Nogueira is one of the most dangerous heavyweights in the world and most rankings have him listed in the top 3 heavyweights.

Nogueira is a legend in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts for a handful of reasons. His world class boxing skills and his legendary Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu abilities are among them, but what sets him apart is something even more incredible.

Nogueira, affectionately known as Big Nog to man MMA fans, started his professional MMA career in June of 1999, submitting his way to prestige and gaining entrance to the RINGS organization, which also birthed many other stars that would later become famous in the PRIDE organization.

Nogueira's first loss came at the hands of Dan "Hollywood" Henderson, who would later go on to become the first fighter in history to hold belts in two different weight classes at the same time. Henderson is the only fighter to do so and currently holds the PRIDE 205 and 185 pound titles. While Nogueira did lose on the judges scorecards, the fight was close and he beat the Olympic silver medalist on one scorecard.

Nogueira then went 13-0-1, finishing 10 of his opponents with the Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu he quickly became known for. Among the opponents he beat were former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman (submission), Gary Goodridge (submission), Heath Herring (Unanimous Decision), Bob Sapp (submission), Semmy Schilt (submission) and a cleansing of his only loss by beating Dan Henderson (submission).

After the displays of his groundgame, Nogueira was considered one of the most dangerous fighters in the world, but his next fight would be a challenge that many would never forget.

Nogueira stepped in the ring with Fedor Emelianenko at the PRIDE 25: Body Blow event in 2003 and though the fight would prove to be the most grueling of Nogueira's career and establish a hold on the PRIDE heavyweight division that Emelianenko would never let go of, Nogueira showed the world what he was really about.

For 20 minutes the fight between Emelianenko and Nogueira went on, and Emelianenko's standing ground and pound attack would overwhelm Nogueira and keep him from getting any of the leverage that he needed to pull of a submission victory, Nogueira hung tough and though he took punch after punch from Emelianenko.

The future PRIDE champion was unable to finish Nogueira and though he won on the judges scorecard, Nogueira became famous for his ability to take punishment and not give up.

Nogueira has only lost to one other fighter besides Emelianenko since then, a split decision loss to Josh "The Baby-Faced Assassin" Barnett which he avenged on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2006.

While Nogueira has accumulated another loss to Fedor, he has still never been finished, a feat that is very impressive, given the level of competition he has fought.

Nogueira is ranked by many the #3 heavyweight in the world and will be making his UFC debut on the UFC 73: Stacked card against Heath Herring for the third time. It promises to be a new chapter for the UFC heavyweight and gives the UFC two of the sports top 3 heavyweights under contract.