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Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, like his brother Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira does professional MMA fighting in the light-weight category.  Born on June 2, 1876 in Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil, Rogerio got the nickname of Minotoro.  Built light, Rogerio weighs 205 lbs and is 6'3" tall.  He like his brother also specializes in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Boxing.  Some of his creditable achievements were winning the Brazilian Super Heavyweight Championships in 2006 and 2007.

He has also won Gold medals in the South American Games.  Held in Buenos Aires in 2006, Rogerio came from behind in a lot of games, defeated a lot heavier opponents and was crowned as the Super Heavyweight Champion.

His record in the PRIDE Fighting championships has not been any less impressive.  He has fought 10 battles in the PRIDE and has 8 wins to his credit in the PRIDE.  He made his PRIDE Debut in 2002, a year after he started professional MMA fighting.  His debut match against Yusuke Imamura lasted all but 35 seconds.  Rogerio submitted his opponent using the guillotine choke winning the first match in PRIDE. 

Since that match, he has established his grappling prowess over a lot of his opponents.  His mode of defeating opponents would be to choke and submit his opponents.  5 of his 12 victories in professional MMA fighting have come by means of submission.  His fight against Dan Henderson in PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 was the best of all his victories.  Dan, an equally well known grapple specialist gave some tough times to Rogerio initially.  Rogerio got into his groove pretty soon, and within 8 minutes from the start, he grappled Dan and used the armbar submission to win the contest.

His PRIDE losses have come at the hands of Mauricio Rua (PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005) and the recent TKO loss to Rameu Sokoudjou (PRIDE 33 - Second Coming).  The Rameu loss was absolutely unexpected for Rogeiro.  Firstly, he was the overwhelming favorite to win the match.  Secondly, he was slammed out of the contest by the unknown Rameu within 23 seconds of the start of the fight. 
This result came as a big shock for Antonio as he just did not expect such a brutal treatment at the hands of Rameu.

Many critics downplay the loss to Rameu to the fact that Rogerio did not know much about Rameu's style of fighting.  Learning lessons from the loss,  Rogerio is adding some dimensions to his grappling prowess.  This season from now on would see Rogerio implement some new strategies and fight techniques.

Rogerio's longest fight was undoubtedly the one with Dan Henderson in PRIDE Total Elimination.  This battle that was fought bitterly by two fighters who had good fighting experience of Jiu Jitsu lasted for 8 minutes.  One of the shortest matches that Rogerio has been in was his 23 seconds loss in February 2007 to Rameu Sokodjou.

As the year 2007 comes to an end, Rogerio is busy preparing and training for sterner battles ahead.  His opponents know his strong points and his weaknesses.  It depends on how Rogerio deals with them to stake his claim on the PRIDE Championship.

Fighter Statistics

Record:	W:12 L:3 D:0
Nickname:	Minotoro
Hometown:	Brazil
Date of Birth:	6/2/1976
Height:	6'2 (188cm)
Weight:	205lbs (93kg)
Style:	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu