One Big Shot
It was all going well for about thirty seconds. The heavily favored champion circled the challenger. No serious strikes were thrown, but the expectation was clear: the champion would find a way -- via submission or standing -- to outclass a man who had been beaten several times before. Then the shot hit. One shot to the head; cleaner than it was supposed to be. The heavily favored champion would get hit, and he would not recover. Not on that night; not in his career. The champion was Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira. He came into his fight on December 27, 2008 as the most resilient of champions. He left as a shot fighter who would be finished four more times in his next seven fights. The story of Minotauro has become a sad one. Twelve years ago today (but not tomorrow, as he lost decisively to a young Fedor Emelianenko on March 16, 2003) he was one of the two most admired fighters in MMA history (with Kazushi Sakuraba being the other). Now he is essentiall