ANTONIO RODRIGO "MINOTAURO" NOGUEIRA

AN EXPLORATION OF TANG SOO DO´s EIGHT KEY CONCEPTS: TONG IL SBN Mary Cayte Reiland

ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA "MINOTAURO"

What defines a sports legend? Overcome adversity? The titles? The disputed wars? The love of fans?

Antonio Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira, did it all in a life that has seen him become an ambassador for the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts around the world. Originally from Vitória da Conquista, in the state of Bahia in Brazil, Minotauro began his journey through traditional Martial Arts at the age of 4, training Judo, but a tragedy at the age of 10 would make it clear to us that his destiny was to fight.

Playing in the street with his twin brother and also a UFC fighter, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Minotauro would be hit by a truck that backed up without seeing him. He would spend four days in a coma and 11 months in the hospital. His lifetime reminder would be his trademark scar on the lower right side of his back.

At 14 years old he would discover boxing and at 18 one of his great loves, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which would give him 21 of 34 victories in MMA by way of submission. Five years after discovering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he would debut as a professional in Mixed Martial Arts, and three fights later he would arrive in the country where 32 of his 46 fights would take place, and which would see him mature as an athlete, be crowned champion and become a legend. : Japan. After a stint in the Rings promotion, Minotauro put the entire sport on alert with his first two fights in the famed PRIDE, submitting Gary Goodridge and Mark Coleman. In his third fight he would have the full belt of the organization.

His legacy would begin to be written by giving us one of the best fights of his career. Against Bob Sapp, giving up a significant amount of weight, Nogueira would be slammed to the mat over and over again, until he caught Sapp with an arm bar. Two fights later he beat Dan Henderson with the same submission. His biggest moment in PRIDE would come in November 2003 against Mirko Cro Cop in one of the best fights in the history of the entire division. A dramatic duel that saw Minotauro, close to being finished in the first round in front of almost 70,000 people in Tokyo, take a dramatic victory via submission.

In 2007 he would reach the UFC octagon and in his second fight in the promotion, at UFC 81, he submitted Tim Sylvia to lift the full interim UFC belt, becoming the only fighter in history to win titles in PRIDE and UFC.

Following his retirement in August 2015, Minotauro took a position at the UFC Brazil office as an ambassador for the promotion, serving as a liaison between the UFC and athletes, sponsors, media and government agencies. His career has passed into the collective memory of a Brazilian people that will continue to honor a true legend who fell in love with generations and was responsible for the explosion of MMA in this country.

Antonio Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira will continue to be an important part of the sport and his influence will continue to be present throughout the world, and today we pay tribute.