The word on the MMA circuit is that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is on his last legs; his chin is not what it used to be. In all fairness, his last two defeats have come by way of TKO via punches courtesy of Frank Mir and a knockout at the hands of Cain Velasquez.
His opponent is the rising star: Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub. Since his first round knockout loss to the durable Roy “Big Country” Nelson in the heavyweight finale of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, Schaub has amassed a record of four wins.
Schaub is becoming something of a knockout artist, compiling a record of seven KO/TKO’s in the eight fights that he has been victorious.
Schaub’s most recent and most notable win came against none other than the former Pride Open weight champion Mirko Filipovic, who is famous for his left head kicks. “The Hybrid” knocked him out in the third round.
Ever since then, Schaub has been vying for a fight with the UFC’s elite or anyone who could ensure his path to the Holy Grail: The UFC Heavyweight Championship.
It might be said that Schaub is a prodigy; young, hungry and willing to take on all comers. That comes with the brashness of youth. So who would emerge to try and tame this young lion? The man, the legend: Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira, twin brother to Antonio Rogerio. “Big Nog” is the legend that Schaub called out to further his career.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is the former interim UFC Heavyweight Champion and the former Pride Heavyweight Champion. Nogueira is one of only four men, to hold both the UFC and Pride championship belts at the same time, the others being Dan “Hendo” Henderson, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.
Nogueira may be on the slide, but he is a legend nonetheless. His mastery of jiu-jitsu is renowned worldwide, with 20 of his 32 wins coming via submission.
So why did Schaub want to throw down with a legend supposedly on the decline? Maybe he saw it as a sure-fire way of advancing even further towards a shot at the heavyweight title. It doesn’t really matter what his reasons were or are. He got his wish and it’s on.
Not so long ago, there was another young buck in the title hunt, this time in the light heavyweight division, who called out a legend. At the time, most MMA purists believed Ortiz was cannon fodder for Bader, presumably, Ryan himself.
We all know what happened there? Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz dispatched Ryan “Darth” Bader in shocking fashion via guillotine choke. At this point in time, Ryan’s out of the light heavyweight title picture for who knows how long.
As the saying goes “Be careful what you wish for, less it come true.” Schaub’s wish might not be what “The Hybrid” had envisaged.
So who takes this?
Nogueira could stand and bang and take his chances, but that would be too risky. The fight could be over in a blink of an eye, as Schaub seems to have dynamite in his fists. Minatauro’s best bet is to take the fight to the ground where his supreme jiu-jitsu skills would more or less decide the outcome of the fight.
It’s the submission king vs. the knockout specialist, the veteran vs. the prospect and the legend vs. the wannabe.
My heart tells me Nogueira, but my head says Schaub.
The old lion will roar once again in front of his native country Brazil.
Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira via submission.
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