A Brazilian mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has a black belt in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo. Nogueira competes in the heavyweight division of the UFC, where he is a former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. Nogueira rose to prominence in the PRIDE Fighting Championship promotion, where he was the PRIDE Heavyweight Champion from November 2001 to March 2003, as well as a PRIDE FC Heavyweight Grand Prix finalist. He is the first and only fighter to have held championship titles in both PRIDE and the UFC. Nogueira appeared as a coach on the SpikeTV reality series, The Ultimate Fighter 8.
