Minotauro’s Gutsiest Performances

In Japan, they call it “samurai spirit.” “Kampfgeist” is the German equivalent. Italians refer to it as “grinta.” They all have the same meaning: heart, courage, determination, testicular fortitude. In U.S. sports history, a couple of shining examples have become permanently engraved in the collective memories of fans.

When Willis Reed limped into Madison Square Garden for game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, it was a moment of extreme bravery and inspiration. Though he’d torn a thigh muscle just nine days earlier, Reed hobbled onto the court and scored New York’s first two baskets. He left the game soon after. The Knicks won 113-99 and delivered the first NBA title to New York City.

Three years later, Muhammad Ali fought challenger Ken Norton for 10 rounds with a broken jaw. Even though he went on to lose a split decision -- it was just the second defeat of Ali’s illustrious career -- it became another testament as to why Ali’s commonly referred to as the “greatest of all time.”

In a more recent example, then Green Bay Packers quarterback and future hall of famer Brett Favre played more than half a season with a broken thumb in 2003. He also put grief behind him, threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns and led his team to a 41-7 victory in an important road game against the Oakland Raiders just 24 hours after he learned of his father’s unexpected death.

All those moments were created by special sportsmen, who are revered by their fans and peers. Mixed martial arts has also produced an athlete who has shown more guts and more cojones than any other fighter in the sport’s brief history. His name is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, known by most as “Minotauro.”

The 32-year-old Brazilian -- who will defend his interim heavyweight championship against Frank Mir at UFC 92 this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas -- has made a name for himself, not only for his incredible jiu-jitsu and club fighter-level boxing skills but also for his ability to take an absurd amount of punishment and author unbelievable comeback victories.

Nogueira delivered his first superhuman performance in August 2002 when he faced 400-pound behemoth Bob Sapp in front of more than 90,000 spectators at Pride “Shockwave” at Tokyo National Stadium.

The Sapp he faced then was not the complacent movie and pop music star the MMA world knows today. He was a hungry beast with raw power that was just starting to learn the game, and he was coming off three straight knockouts over K-1 World Grand Prix finalist Cyril Abidi, seven-year veteran Yoshihisa Yamamoto and Rings heavyweight champion Kiyoshi Tamura.

In their fight, Sapp outweighed Nogueira by 170 pounds -- the size of a separate welterweight fighter -- and brutally pounded him in the first 10-minute round. Minotauro had to survive a pile driver, a modified guillotine/can opener choke and vicious ground-and-pound that opened a nasty cut below his left eye.

The Brazilian’s strategy worked to perfection, however. He weathered the storm, and, in the second stanza, the gigantic former NFL offensive lineman was spent and running on fumes. At 4:03 of the second round, Nogueira isolated one of Sapp’s thigh-sized arms and secured a textbook armbar for a big comeback win. The monstrous Sapp was beaten for the first time.

The wounds from the Sapp war had barely healed when Nogueira again had to face a Goliath-like physical specimen in 6-foot-11 Semmy Schilt and two-time Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson -- the only fighter to previously defeat him -- within one month of each other. He passed both tests with flying colors, as he submitted both men with his patented triangle choke and armbar submissions.