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Pride 25 Body Blow
March 16, 2003
Yokohama, Japan at Yokohama Arena
Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
This scrap occurred very early in each man's career. In fact, this was Nakamura's first pro fight. All we really knew about Kazuhiro leading up to the event is that Japanese Olympic judoka Hidehiko Yoshida helped prepare him for the fight. Nogueira on the other hand, had already competed in six pro fights and won them all but one. We also knew that Little Nog, as he's called was Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's twin brother and that he possessed fantastic Brazilian jiu jitsu skills. There were many questions surrounding this fight, but everyone was looking forward to a highly technical battle between two advanced martial arts styles. Let's answer some of those questions and have a look at the battle.
THE FIGHT
Round 1: Both men touch gloves and we are underway. Nakamura comes rushing in looking for a clinch and eats two nice knees to the stomach before tying Minotoro up in the corner. Kazuhiro picks Little Nog up and performs a nice judo throw of sorts which lands him in half guard. Nakamura stands and delivers a few leg kicks to Nogueira. Kazuhiro dives into the guard and delivers a nice right hand to the dome before standing up again and diving back into guard. Nakamura is nearly caught in two successive triangle choke attempts by Nogueira but evades nicely. Nogueira looks for another triangle choke and transitions to an omaplata, but releases the hold as Kazuhiro stands. The ref motions for Nogueira to rise and he obliges. Back on their feet now and Nakamura rushes in again looking for a clinch. Nogueira peppers out a jab and blocks a shoot for a takedown by Nakamura. Kazuhiro rushes in again but eats a knee to the ribs for his effort. Nogueira leads with a right cross, Kazuhiro ducks under and Nogueira ends up in the half guard of Nakamura. Little Nog lands a few punches to the ribs, but Kazuhiro arches up and performs a beautiful reversal and ends up in Nogueira's guard before standing up. Nice ground work display so far. Nakamura dives into guard again and gets nowhere as Nogueira defends well and constantly searches for submission openings. Nogueira looks for another omaplata and gets it and looks for the sweep. Kazuhiro defends well and gets back to guard. Yet another triangle attempt by Rogerio but Kazuhiro escapes again. The ref repositions them in the ring and the action slows as Nakamura looks to work some ground and pound. The ref stands them up and Rogerio lands a few punches as Kazuhiro shoots in just as the bell sounds signaling the end of round 1.
Round 2 – Rogerio begins round 2 with an inside leg kick and follows up and a left uppercut that hits nothing but air. Kazuhiro evades a few punches and shoots in for the takedown. Nogueira sprawls but Kazuhiro grabs a leg and reverses into the half guard of Nogueira. Beautiful technique being shown here by Kazuhiro. Nakamura stands and looks for an opening again. The ref stands Little Nog up and Nakamura rushes in for the clinch again. Another shoot by Kazuhiro but Nogueira sprawls, reverses, and winds up in the guard of Kazuhiro. Nogueira works some ground and pound of his own and drops a few bombs on the face of Nakamura. The ref repositions them and Nogueira quickly transitions to side control. Kazuhiro gives up his back, Nogueira takes it, slides around, and locks in a fight ending armbar. Nogueira displayed some beautiful transition work here. Mario Sperry and Murilo Bustamante enter the ring to celebrate with the smaller Nogueira brother.
AFTERMATH
Anotonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira: Nogueira went on to become one of the premier light heavyweight fighters in the sport. Little Nog's next fight would be against MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba in what turned out to be an all out war of attrition. Nogueira earned the win via decision and would go on to win his next four fights in a row, including another win over Nakamura at Bushido 4. Included in that four fight block, Nogueira picked up a win over Allistair Overeem, and a stunning submission victory over Dan Henderson in the opening round of the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix. What was next turned out to be one of the greatest battles ever in Pride as Nogueira lost to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in a fantastic battle including multiple knockdowns and some great ground work. Nogueira came back strong a year later with another win over Allistair Overeem via TKO before participating in one of MMAs greatest upsets ever. Nogueira met newcomer Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at Pride 33 in Las Vegas and was knocked clean out in 23 seconds. This was the first time Little Nog had ever been knocked out and the outcome helped launch Sokoudjou into superstardom. Nogueira rebounded a year later and has been on a five fight win streak as of late. He has recently signed on to fight in the UFC and is scheduled to make his debut at UFC 106 against dangerous American Top Team standout, Luis Cane.
Kazuhiro Nakamura: Considering that this was Kazuhiro's first fight, he did extremely well against a top level Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner. Nakamura went on to compete in Pride and the UFC earning some good quality wins and a few losses. He has never become a main eventer, but he does hold wins over some elite fighters, such as Murilo Bustamante, Kevin Randleman, Igor Vovchanchyn, Yuki Kondo, Cyborg Santos, and Travis Galbraith. His losses are not considered terrible and he has earned a lot of respect from his competitors for his capacity to hang on the ground and his striking has improved greatly over the years. He suffered two losses in a row in the UFC and was released from his contract. Since that time, he has been fighting in Japan is currently on a two fight losing streak. It seems his days as being considered a contender may be over, but he always brings the fight and you never know what to expect from Nakamura.
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