Ricardo Almeida - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ricardo Almeida is a retired Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

grappler

Grappling

Grappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial...

residing in Bordentown, New Jersey

Bordentown, New Jersey

Bordentown City is in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 3,924. Bordentown is located at the confluence of the Delaware River, Blacks Creek and Crosswicks Creek...

Background

Almeida is a third degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

under Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie

Renzo Gracie is a Gracie Barra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr. and a former mixed martial arts competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship . He is member of the Gracie family of Brazil. He is the son of Robson Gracie, grandson of Carlos Gracie, nephew of Carlos...

, and part of the Gracie Barra Combat Team. Almeida is a veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Grapplers Quest

Grapplers Quest

Grapplers Quest is an organization mainly concerned with the promotion of Submission wrestling, Grappling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments. Founded in 1997 by Brian Cimins, Grapplers Quest currently hosts competitions of various division, age, and weight class internationally.Grapplers Quest...

and a former Middleweight King of Pancrase

Pancrase

Pancrase is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. Pancrase is taken from Pankration, a sport in the ancient Olympic games. Suzuki and Funaki are particularly skilled in the art of catch wrestling and based the...

. In Pancrase he had notable wins over Nathan Marquardt

Nathan Marquardt

Nathan Joel Marquardt is an American mixed martial artist. He is a three-time Middleweight King of Pancrase Champion and former UFC middleweight title contender....

and Kazuo Misaki

Kazuo Misaki

Kazuo Misaki is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former judoka. He was the 2006 Pride Welterweight Grand Prix winner, and is currently competing in Sengoku. He is a long time veteran of Pancrase and has also competed in Strikeforce...

. Almeida trains with and teaches current UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar at his longtime Gracie system gym in Hamilton, NJ.

Marquardt incident

On November 30, 2003, Almeida was involved in an altercation with middleweight opponent Nate Marquardt in a Pancrase title fight. Marquardt was put into a guillotine choke in which the referee believed he tapped out. The referee was unable to immediately separate the fighters and the choke remained applied around Marquardt's neck after Marquardt's apparent submission. After the choke was let go, Marquardt threw a strike at Almeida's face, prompting both corners to storm into the ring – including Renzo Gracie, who was cornering Almeida and kicked Marquardt in the face. The confrontation came to an end and Marquardt approached Almeida after the bout to congratulate him. Almeida then vacated his title in July 2004.

Hiatus

Almeida retired for a four-year period after a six fight win streak to focus on running his Jiu-Jitsu school in Hamilton, New Jersey. Then, he fought in the Welterweight division of the UFC, and retired in 2011.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

His return bout in the UFC occurred at UFC 81
UFC 81
UFC 81: Breaking Point was a mixed martial arts event held on February 2, 2008 by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip....

, where he submitted Rob Yundt at 1:08 in the first round. Almeida's next fight was against Patrick Cote

Patrick Côté (fighter)

Patrick Côté is a French-Canadian mixed martial artist. He currently fights as a middleweight, most recently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and was the TKO Major League MMA middleweight champion...

at UFC 86

UFC 86

UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 5, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada....

, where he lost a close split decision.

Almeida returned at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann
UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann
UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann, also referred to as UFC Fight Night 18, was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 1, 2009. The event was broadcast on Spike TV, as a prelude to the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United...

, this time on the preliminary card, to face Matt Horwich

Matt Horwich

Matthew Peter Horwich is a journeyman American mixed martial artist. Previously fighting for the Portland Wolfpack of the International Fight League where he held the middleweight championship in 2007, BAMMA and in the UFC, he holds notable wins over past and present UFC fighters Jake Rosholt,...

, winning by unanimous decision. His next fight took place on August 8 in Philadelphia against Kendall Grove

Kendall Grove

Kendall Kekoa Grove is an American mixed martial artist. He was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3 on Spike TV.- Early life :...

at UFC 101
UFC 101
UFC 101: Declaration was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

. 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

Jon Fitch

Jonathan Parker Fitch is an American mixed martial artist. He is currently ranked as the No. 2 welterweight in the world by Sherdog, as well as many other publications.-Background:...

at UFC 106

UFC 106

UFC 106: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 21, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.-Background:...

but had to withdraw due to a knee injury suffered while training.

Almeida faced Matt Brown

Matt Brown (fighter)

Matthew Burton Brown is an American professional mixed martial artist.Brown starred in the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter television series and was eliminated from the show in the ninth episode due to a loss to Amir Sadollah by Triangle Choke...

on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111

UFC 111

UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 27, 2010 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, United States.-Background:...

in his welterweight debut. 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

Matt Hughes (fighter)

Matthew Allen Hughes is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer, and former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks in the UFC, won the welterweight title on two occasions, defended the belt a record seven times, and holds the...

on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117

UFC 117

UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, United States.-Background:...

and lost via technical submission due to an anaconda choke.

Almeida faced TJ Grant

TJ Grant

Timothy Jerome Grant is a Canadian mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia...

on December 11, 2010 at UFC 124

UFC 124

UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 11, 2010 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec...

.Almeida defeated Grant by unanimous decision.

Almeida faced Mike Pyle

Mike Pyle (fighter)

Michael Wayne Pyle is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He held the WEC Welterweight Championship in 2005/6 before joining the IFL and UFC competitions. He holds notable victories over Jon Fitch, John Hathaway and Ricardo Almeida-Early life:Mike Pyle grew up in Dresden, Tennessee. At age...

on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128

UFC 128

UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.-Background:...

. 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. He added that he would continue to support the UFC and teammates such as Frankie Edgar and Kris McCray

Kris McCray

Kris Eric Johannes McCray is an American mixed martial artist. He was the runner-up of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz.-Early life:...

. A week after his retirement, Almeida became a professional MMA judge in New Jersey.

Personal life

Ricardo and his wife have three children. And currently resides in Bordentown NJ taking care of him and his family. He has a Jui-Jitsu center in hamilton where he trains his protege Max Bohannon who graduated from Bordentown in 2009.

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

Mixed martial arts record

|-
| Loss
|align=center| 13–5
|

Mike Pyle

Mike Pyle (fighter)

| Decision (unanimous)
| UFC 128

UFC 128

UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.-Background:...

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 13–4
|

TJ Grant

Timothy Jerome Grant is a Canadian mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia...

| Decision (unanimous)
| UFC 124

UFC 124

UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 11, 2010 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec...

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 12–4
|

Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes (fighter)

| Submission (modified anaconda choke)
| UFC 117

UFC 117

UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, United States.-Background:...

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 12–3
|

Matt Brown

Matt Brown (fighter)

| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| UFC 111

UFC 111

UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 27, 2010 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, United States.-Background:...

Newark, New Jersey

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 11–3
|

Kendall Grove

Kendall Kekoa Grove is an American mixed martial artist. He was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3 on Spike TV.- Early life :...

| Decision (unanimous)
| UFC 101

UFC 101

UFC 101: Declaration was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 10–3
|

Matt Horwich

| Decision (unanimous)
| UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann

UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann

UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann, also referred to as UFC Fight Night 18, was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 1, 2009. The event was broadcast on Spike TV, as a prelude to the premiere of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United...

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 9–3
|

Patrick Côté

Patrick Côté (fighter)

| Decision (split)
| UFC 86

UFC 86

UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 5, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada....

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 9–2
|

Rob Yundt
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| UFC 81

UFC 81

UFC 81: Breaking Point was a mixed martial arts event held on February 2, 2008 by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip....

Las Vegas, Nevada

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 8–2
|

Ryo Chonan

is a Japanese mixed martial artist, currently fighting in DEEP where he was the 3rd DEEP middleweight champion. He has previously competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is noted for being one of two fighters to finish Anderson Silva in an MMA fight at...

| Decision (unanimous)
| Pride Bushido 3

PRIDE Bushido 3

Pride Bushido 3 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan on May 23, 2004. The fight card was highlighted by three fights between Team Gracie and Team Japan....

Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 7–2
|

Nate Marquardt
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| Pancrase: Hybrid 10
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 4:53
|Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 6–2
|

Kazuo Misaki

| Decision (majority)
| Pancrase: 10th Anniversary Show
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 5–2
|

Yuki Sasaki

Yuki Sasaki is a Japanese mixed martial artist fighting out of Japan.-Mixed martial arts:Sasaki has primarily competed in the Shooto and Pancrase organizations, and holds notable wins over Paul Taylor and Yuki Kondo...

| Decision (unanimous)
| Pancrase: Hybrid 4
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Tokyo, Japan
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 4–2
|

Ikuhisa Minowa

is a Japanese mixed martial artist and pro wrestler currently competing in Dream as . He was a long time veteran of Pride Fighting Championships and Pancrase and has also competed in other mixed martial arts promotions such as K-1 HERO'S, Cage Rage, UFC, and DEEP. At 5'9" he is notable for taking...

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Japan

Japan

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 3–2
|

Yokohama

, Japan

Japan

|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 2–2
|

Andrei Semenov

Andrei Vladimirovich Semenov is a Russian mixed martial artist and Sambo practitioner. He has also made forays into acting.Semenov has fought within the UFC middleweight division, in M-1 events and Pride Bushido, with an overall MMA record of 30 wins, 9 losses and 2 draws...

| TKO (punches)
| UFC 35

UFC 35

UFC 35: Throwdown was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on January 11, 2002...

Uncasville, Connecticut

Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut. The area traditionally known as Uncasville is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 2–1
|

Eugene Jackson

Eugene Jackson (fighter)

Eugene "The Wolf" Jackson is a retired American mixed martial artist. He fought at Middleweight, and is a former Strikeforce U.S. middleweight champion...

| Submission (triangle choke)
| UFC 33

UFC 33

UFC 33: Victory in Vegas was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 28, 2001. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home...

Las Vegas, Nevada

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 1–1
|

Matt Lindland

Matthew James Lindland is an American mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for the Oregon House of Representatives, District 52 seat on May 20, 2008....

| DQ (repeated fouls)
| UFC 31

UFC 31

UFC 31: Locked and Loaded was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 4, 2001...

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 1–0
|

Akira Shoji
| Decision (unanimous)
| Pride 12

PRIDE 12

Pride 12: Cold Fury was a mixed martial arts event held by the Pride Fighting Championships. It took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 9, 2000.-Results:...

Saitama, Saitama

' is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance...

, Japan

Japan

External links

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