Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueria (31 - 4 - 1):

Minotauro is an amazing Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist. It's not common to see his level of speed and skill in the heavyweight division. He's an amazing technician who can secure creative and uncommon submissions in a variety of situations. Training with the Cuban national boxing team has made him an exceptional striker as well.

He's so fast, it's easy to miss the technique if you aren't looking for it. The video above shows some clips of Nogueria's fight against former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. It shows some techniques at normal speed, and then in slow motion. The first section shows Nogueria feinting a straight left and going for a takedown, dropping to half-guard by entwining his legs around Sylvia's right leg and pulling his left leg to complete the takedown.

The second section shows Minotauro on his back, giving Sylvia enough room to attempt to stand up out of his half-guard. As he tries to stand, Nogueria pulls Sylvia's right arm and jerks his right leg out from under him with both of his legs. At the same time, he grabs Sylvia's left leg with his right arm, sweeps Sylvia onto his back and quickly transitions into side control.

In the third section, Nogueria shifts from side control to a high north-south position, causing Sylvia to try to buck Nogueria off and try to get to his feet or reverse their position. As Sylvia moves, Nogueria maintains control of his left arm and slips his own left arm under Sylvia's neck for a guillotine choke. He pulls guard by dropping to his back and wrapping his legs around Sylvia's midsection, preventing Sylvia from escaping the choke and allowing Nogueria to apply more leverage by pushing with his hips and arching his back.

Minotauro has also shown an ability to take an incredible amount of punishment and still pull out a win. Mirko Filipović punished him for ten minutes before being submitted early in the second round. Minotauro easily won his match against the absurdly large Bob Sapp, but he took a lot of damage doing it. Of course, any punch from someone as large as Bob Sapp is going to do a lot of damage.