Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira has one of the best records in Mixed Martial Arts, with the record is what I believe to be the most complete resume of any fighter in the UFC heavyweight division. Soon, "Minotauro" will make his UFC debut and this is one fan who can't wait!

Nogueira like Chuck Liddell has gained revenge on every opponent to ever defeat him, with one exception. For Chuck, the exception is Quinton "Rampage" Jackson who he faces on May 26, 2007. For "Big Nog", he will likely need to wait longer to face his nemesis, Fedor.

If you think that Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira's name with nickname is too long and confusing, double your confusion by adding in that he has a twin brother who is also a Mixed Martial Arts fighter. His twin brother goes by Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira...now that's confusing. In fact, the first time I saw his "little" brother competing I thought I was watching Rodrigo.

Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira's record according to Sherdog.com is 29-4-1, that's a lot of experience, most of it against top notch heavyweight fighters. He's beaten the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, Heath Herring, Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodrigeuz, Fabricio Werdum, Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt, Gary Goodridge, Valentijn Overeem, Mark Coleman, Sergei Kharitonov and Jeremy Horn. Only Fedor has had a dominant win over "Big Nog" and even then, he didn't finish Nog. Looking over his losses, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira has only ever lost by decision, no KO's, TKO's, ref stoppages or being submitted for this former Pride champion.

I think that Antonio Rodrigo's amazing submission skills, combined with good stand up and extreme toughness will be hard to beat in the UFC cage. In fact, I only see a couple of fighters with a real chance of beating "Big Nog", one of them is Mirko Cro Cop. Cro Cop had a good first round when he fought against Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, but was caught in an arm bar in the second round.

Let's play the guessing game for who Nogueira's first UFC opponent should be:

Tim Sylvia might be a good choice, former champion vs former champion. Both of these fighters have defeated Ricco Rodriguez and both are looking toward reclaiming championship glory.

Mirko Cro Cop would also be an excellent match up, playing on their previous match and the fact that Mirko just got KO'd by Gabriel Gonzaga.

Andrei Arlovski to decide a title shot would be another excellent match up, but I doubt that this will materialize as Arlovski has already been promised a title shot and a match with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira might de-rail that train.

Most would agree that Nogueira is good enough and has an extensive enough background to deserve a title shot right away, but there is already a line up two deep to face Randy Couture. First will be Gabriel Gonzaga and after that, the winner will face Andrei Arlovski...at least according to Dana White, UFC president. that's how it will play out.

An excellent match up would see either Brandon Vera or Frank Mir against Nogueira, although Mir is not the fighter he used to be (before the accident). In his prime, Mir would have given Big Nog all that he could handle. I hope Mir works his way back up to that level of performance.

There you have it, another great addition to the UFC heavyweight division. Welcome to the UFC "Big Nog", I hope you do well and get a title shot soon.