5 fighters who had more success in the UFC than their brothers

#2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira had more UFC success than Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira never quite stepped out of the shadow of his twin brother Rodrigo

A rare pair of twins to compete in the UFC, the Nogueira brothers – Rodrigo and Rogerio – surprisingly competed in two different weight classes despite being identical.

And despite plenty of success in his own right, it’s probably fair to say that Rogerio – better known as ‘Lil Nog’ – never quite escaped the shadow of his more successful brother Rodrigo, both during their tenure in Pride FC and also when they joined the UFC.

Rodrigo had been Pride’s first heavyweight champion, and at one point he was widely recognized as the best fighter on the planet, period. His wins over the likes of Mark Coleman, Heath Herring and Bob Sapp are part of MMA legend.

And while he was slightly past his prime when he first came to the UFC, he was still able to capture the interim UFC heavyweight title and picked up major wins over the likes of Tim Sylvia, Randy Couture and Brendan Schaub.

Nine years ago today, Minotauro Nogueira knocked out Brendan Schaub#UFC pic.twitter.com/Ti6k4dfC0o

— JReal (@BloodyCanvasJon) August 27, 2020

Rogerio, meanwhile, never quite reached the heights of his brother in Pride despite beating the likes of Dan Henderson and Kazushi Sakuraba. He also joined the UFC about two years after his brother, and despite beating Luiz Cane and Tito Ortiz, losses to the likes of Phil Davis and Ryan Bader always kept him away from a UFC title shot.

Both brothers eventually got old, but even then it was Rodrigo who chose to hang up his gloves at the right time, stepping away following a 2015 loss to Stefan Struve.

Rogerio on the other hand hung around for an extra five years, but rather than surpass his brother, he instead suffered a number of bad losses before retiring in 2020.

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#1. Nate Diaz has had more UFC success than Nick Diaz

Nate Diaz has finally stepped out of the shadow of his older brother Nick

The Diaz brothers are perhaps MMA’s most popular and infamous pair of siblings. And it’s probably fair to suggest that both brothers accomplished a similar amount in the UFC, with both unsuccessfully challenging for UFC titles on one occasion each.

However, while older brother Nick arrived in the UFC first and picked up some huge wins over the likes of Robbie Lawler and Josh Neer, it’s definitely arguable that his younger brother Nate has been the more successful fighter in the octagon.

Nate Diaz actually entered the UFC during Nick’s period away from the promotion, coming in during the summer of 2007 after winning the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

And while it looked like he’d never quite reach his potential – with losses to the likes of Clay Guida and Joe Stevenson keeping him away from the top of the lightweight division – a surprising resurgence in 2012 saw him eventually fight Benson Henderson for the UFC lightweight title in a losing effort.

Nick meanwhile returned to the UFC in 2011 and managed to secure a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, but after losing that fight, stepped away from the UFC for an extended period. Since March 2013, he’s fought just once.

In the interim, Nate of course became one of the UFC’s biggest-ever stars thanks to his two fights with Conor McGregor.

📆 OTD in 2016...Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz went to war at #UFC196 👊pic.twitter.com/SRm2yOHDTg

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) March 5, 2019

And while his activity levels since have been sporadic to say the least, he remains one of the UFC’s most bankable stars, and adds plenty of intrigue whenever he appears on a UFC card.

Both Diaz brothers have been highly successful in the UFC in their own right, but at this stage, Nate is almost definitely the bigger star – meaning that his UFC career has been more successful.