His first fight was a submission victory over David Dodd in 1999. In January 2000 Nogueira won the WEF Heavyweight Superlight Championship defeating Jeremy Horn. He defeated Heath Herring in November 2001 to win his first Pride Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Fedor Emelianenko in March 2003 and won the Interim Pride Heavyweight Championship over Mirko Filipovic in November 2003. In February 2008 Nogueira defeated Tim Sylvia to win the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. He lost that title to Frank Mir in December 2008. As of April 2014 Nogueira’s record is 34 – 9 – 1.
