Ricardo Almeida

Ricardo Almeida
Born (1976-11-29) November 29, 1976
New York City, New York, U.S.
Other names Big Dog
Residence Bordentown, New Jersey
Nationality American, Brazilian[1]
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 170.5 lb (77.3 kg; 12.18 st)
Division Welterweight
Middleweight
Light heavyweight
Reach 74.0 in (188 cm)
Fighting out of Irvine, California
Team Gracie Barra/Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu/Ricardo Almeida BJJ
Rank 4th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active 2000-2004
2008-2011
Mixed martial arts record
Total 18
Wins 13
By submission 5
By decision 8
Losses 5
By knockout 1
By submission 1
By decision 2
By disqualification 1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Ricardo Almeida (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaʁdu awˈmejdɐ]; born November 29, 1976) is a retired American Brazilian mixed martial artist and currently a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler residing in Bordentown, New Jersey. He is the former King of Pancrase Middleweight Champion.[2]

Background

Almeida is a fourth degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie, and part of the Gracie Barra combat and competition team. Almeida is a veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Grapplers Quest, and a former Middleweight King of Pancrase. In Pancrase he had notable wins over Nate Marquardt and Kazuo Misaki. Almeida trains with and teaches former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar at his longtime Gracie system gym in Robbinsville, NJ.[3]

Hiatus

Almeida retired for a four-year period after a six-fight win streak to focus on running his Jiu-Jitsu school in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey.[4]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

His return bout in the UFC occurred at UFC 81, where he submitted Rob Yundt at 1:08 in the first round. Almeida's next fight was against Patrick Cote at UFC 86, where he lost a close split decision.

Almeida returned at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann, this time on the preliminary card, to face Matt Horwich, winning by unanimous decision. His next fight took place on August 8 in Philadelphia against Kendall Grove at UFC 101. Almeida won by outgrappling his opponent for the majority of the bout and controlling the fight to earn a unanimous decision victory.

He was scheduled to fight Jon Fitch at UFC 106 but had to withdraw due to a knee injury suffered while training.[5]

Almeida faced Matt Brown on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111 in his welterweight debut.[6] Almeida defeated Brown by rear naked choke at 2:30 in round 2.

Almeida faced former UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117 and lost via technical submission due to a Dave Schultz front headlock.[7]

Almeida faced TJ Grant on December 11, 2010 at UFC 124.[8] Almeida defeated Grant by unanimous decision.

Almeida faced Mike Pyle on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128.[9] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Retirement

Almeida retired for the second time on March 30, 2011, saying that he could not focus 100 percent on fighting, citing his family, his son (who was diagnosed with autism), and teaching at his academies as other areas of his life that needed attention.[10] He added that he would continue to support the UFC and teammates such as Frankie Edgar and Kris McCray.[10]

MMA Judge

A week after his retirement, Almeida became a professional MMA judge in New Jersey.[11] On May 5, 2012, he made his major-event debut as a judge at the UFC on FOX 3 card at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.[12]

Personal life

Ricardo resides in Bordentown, New Jersey with his two children. He is the head instructor and owner at Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School located in Robbinsville Township, New Jersey and in Newtown, PA where he trains his protege Max Bohannon who graduated from Bordentown in 2009.[13]

Grappling credentials

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship

ADCC 2003 88–98 kg: 4th place

ADCC 2001 88–98 kg: 2nd place Openweight: 4th place

ADCC 2000 Openweight: 3rd place

ADCC 1999 88–98 kg: 3rd place

ADCC 1998 88–98 kg: 2nd place

CBJJ Pan American Championships

1999 Brown Belt pesado: 1st Place

CBJJ Brazilian Championships

1997 Brown Belt Pesado: 1st Place

1996 Purple Belt Médio: 1st Place Purple Belt Open Weight: 3rd Place

IBJJF Pan American No-Gi Championship

2012 Black belt Meio-Pesado: 1st Place

IBJJF No-Gi Worlds Championship

2013 Black Belt Masters: 1st Place

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 13–5 Mike Pyle Decision (unanimous) UFC 128 March 19, 2011 3 5:00 Newark, New Jersey, United States Retired shortly after the fight.
Win 13–4 TJ Grant Decision (unanimous) UFC 124 December 11, 2010 3 5:00 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Loss 12–4 Matt Hughes Technical Submission (Dave Schultz front headlock)[14] UFC 117 August 7, 2010 1 3:15 Oakland, California, United States
Win 12–3 Matt Brown Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC 111 March 27, 2010 2 3:30 Newark, New Jersey, United States Welterweight debut.
Win 11–3 Kendall Grove Decision (unanimous) UFC 101 August 8, 2009 3 5:00 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win 10–3 Matt Horwich Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann April 1, 2009 3 5:00 Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Loss 9–3 Patrick Côté Decision (split) UFC 86 July 5, 2008 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 9–2 Rob Yundt Submission (guillotine choke) UFC 81 February 2, 2008 1 1:08 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 8–2 Ryo Chonan Decision (unanimous) Pride Bushido 3 May 23, 2004 2 5:00 Yokohama, Japan
Win 7–2 Nate Marquardt Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase - Hybrid 10 November 30, 2003 1 4:53 Tokyo, Japan For the Pancrase Middleweight Championship.
Win 6–2 Kazuo Misaki Decision (majority) Pancrase - 10th Anniversary Show August 31, 2003 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 5–2 Yuki Sasaki Decision (unanimous) Pancrase - Hybrid 4 April 12, 2003 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 4–2 Ikuhisa Minowa Decision (unanimous) Pancrase - Hybrid 2 February 16, 2003 3 5:00 Osaka, Japan
Win 3–2 Osami Shibuya Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase - Spirit 8 November 30, 2002 1 3:25 Yokohama, Japan
Loss 2–2 Andrei Semenov TKO (punches) UFC 35 January 11, 2002 2 2:01 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Win 2–1 Eugene Jackson Submission (triangle choke) UFC 33 September 28, 2001 1 4:06 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Middleweight debut.
Loss 1–1 Matt Lindland DQ (repeated fouls) UFC 31 May 4, 2001 3 4:21 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Fought at Light Heavyweight.
Win 1–0 Akira Shoji Decision (unanimous) Pride 12 - Cold Fury December 9, 2000 2 5:00 Saitama, Japan

References

Preceded by
Nate Marquardt		 Pancrase Middleweight champion
November 30, 2003–November 7, 2004 		Succeeded by
Nate Marquardt
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