Just some quick infos about this.... Technically speaking is nogueira really "the" first hw champ of both orgs ? Well , yes and no. He never was able to beat Fedor but "before" fedor , yes , he was "the" champ. Some people will also mention Mark Coleman. BUT , there's a difference. Coleman was a ufc hw champ and a "grand prix" pride fc champion. So Coleman was the first guy who was able to grab two belts from two different orgs but in a different prize category. (Like crocop...won GP 2006 , but never won "the hw" belt)
I have to agree with this sentiment. I always thought Coleman was the first Pride HW champ as well. I seem to remember him actually wearing his Pride Championship belt into the ring in his fight with Nog. It's all semantics really. Crocop won the open weight tournament - but not the heavyweight title. His victory in the OWGP should have positioned him as the number one contender against Fedor. But then the fall of Pride came and the rest is history.
It did. Fedor declined the rematch which was one of the reasons Crocop became frustrated and left for the UFC.
