(This piece appeared in 8CountNews on December 2, 2008)

by Mark Lorenzana

When Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira fights, you notice a lot of things. You notice how calmly he stalks his opponent. You notice his poker face and how businesslike and dead serious he is in approaching the art of fighting. You notice that he’s not the biggest heavyweight out there and that on a few given nights his adversary would outweigh him by 15 pounds or more. You also notice that regardless of this, nobody or nothing fazes him one bit; he has extreme confidence in himself and his abilities (superb stamina, great Jiu-Jitsu and boxing skills) —that’s why his opponents regard him with utmost respect.

But perhaps the most noticeable thing about the man better known as “Minotauro” is a large scar on his back, an unmistakable deep indentation that becomes more prominent whenever his back muscles ripple as he unleashes a punch on the stand-up or whenever he dominates someone in the mount.

Although Nogueira started training in judo at the age of five and has been fighting all his life, the scar isn’t a result of his countless battles in the ring. At nine years old, he was run over by a truck. He fell into a coma for 25 days and during this time he lost a rib and part of his liver and had to be hospitalized for almost a year.

He wears his scar like a badge, a testament and symbol of his will to stand up, come back, and continue fighting.

Apart from his scar, his record speaks for itself and is proof of Nogueira’s durability. 37 matches, 31 wins, four losses. None of those losses came by knockout or by submission. He has hit the mat lots of times during his storied career but he has yet to be finished in a bout.

In fact, he hit the mat early in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against Heath Herring in UFC 73. Going into the fight, Nogueira seemed to have Herring’s number. After all, Nogueira already had two wins under his belt against the “Texas Crazy Horse” dating back to his Pride days. In the first few minutes of the opening round, Nogueira seemed to be doing well, stalking Herring and throwing jabs, most of which hit their target. Nogueira was successful in his first takedown attempt, and immediately tried to impose his superior Jiu-Jitsu skills on Herring. Herring managed to get up and Minotauro obliged, rocking Herring with a few punches and staggering him with a left followed by a knee to the face. Herring’s nose was immediately bloodied. Nogueira, the Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt, had turned the fight into a striking match and was winning it. Then, as Nogueira threw a jab, he unwittingly bobbed and ducked and his face smashed into a Herring high kick.

Nogueira went down like a sack of potatoes.

Herring immediately pounced on his fallen prey, raining a barrage of hammer fists on Nogueira’s face. Everyone in the stadium expected Nogueira to buckle under the onslaught. Everyone expected the referee to stop the fight right there and then. But curiously, as furiously as Herring swooped down on Nogueira as a violent tornado ravages a sleepy and unsuspecting town, the blitzkrieg stopped. Herring failed to capitalize and allowed Nogueira to stand up.

Bad move.

Herring should have realized that the man he knocked down and almost pounded out had been through worse situations. Nogueira dug deep and mustered enough resolve to stand up albeit on wobbly knees, come back, and continue fighting. He dominated the next two rounds and won the bout by unanimous decision.

If there’s one man who is known for his resolve and tenacity apart from Nogueira, it is Frank Mir.

Mir knows how it feels to be on top of the world after winning the vacant UFC heavyweight title against Tim “The Maniac” Sylvia four years ago at UFC 48. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 50 seconds into the first round when Mir’s armbar visibly broke Sylvia’s right forearm.

Then, three months after claiming the UFC heavyweight belt, everything went crashing down – literally. Mir was knocked off his motorcycle by a car. The accident caused a break in Mir’s femur and tore all the ligaments in his knee. The bone in his leg had broken in two places and major surgery was needed to repair the damage. An interim heavyweight title was created while Mir was recuperating, which Andrei Arlovski won. Because Mir was not able to fight Arlovski as scheduled, Mir was stripped of the title, and Arlovski was promoted to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.

In his first fight after the injury, Mir fought Márcio Cruz at UFC 57. It was a shocking upset, as Mir was TKO’d in the first round by the relative newcomer. He bounced back with a win against Dan Christison at UFC 61 but lost yet again to Brandon Vera at UFC 65 via TKO in the first round.

Unlike Nogueira, you won’t notice any distinguishing marks on Frank Mir. You have to take him as he is and take his fighting style and disposition as a gauge. With this in mind, he has more than proven that he has the will to stand up, come back, and continue fighting.

Take Mir’s last fight, for instance.

Mir took on Brock Lesnar (now the current UFC heavyweight champion) at UFC 81. In the first round, the hulking Lesnar wasted no time and immediately used his size and strength to take down Mir. While on the ground, Lesnar found himself in half guard with Mir working toward the sweep. Lesnar repeatedly banged Mir’s head with hammer fists, and with the latter in danger of getting pounded out, Steve Mazagatti stepped in and called a timeout. Mazagatti took a point away from Lesnar for hitting Mir in the back of the head. When the fight resumed, Mir went down a second time after getting hit by a Lesnar right. The hammer fists rained down again. This time, however, Mir didn’t wait for divine intervention to come in the form of Mazagatti. Mir found the resolve to maneuver and get a foot lock on Lesnar, and then a kneebar. Lesnar tapped out. Frank Mir, after going down two times and after being fed a steady diet of punches, successfully submitted Brock Lesnar in the first round.

When Frank Mir and Minotauro Nogueira face each other on December 27 at UFC 92, fight fans will notice a lot of things. But no matter what happens and regardless of the outcome, the most noticeable thing will be both men’s collective will to stand up, come back, and continue fighting.

An unfortunate childhood accident and a motorcycle mishap notwithstanding.