Ricardo Arona
| Ricardo Arona | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 17, 1978 Niterói, Brazil |
| Other names | The Brazilian Tiger |
| Nationality |  Brazilian |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) |
| Division | Light Heavyweight |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Fighting out of | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Team | Brazilian Top Team[1] |
| Rank | black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 21 |
| Wins | 7 |
| By knockout | 0 |
| By submission | 3 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Losses | 14 |
| By knockout | 5 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 4 |
| Draws | 0 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Ricardo Arona (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaʁdu aˈʁõnɐ]; born July 17, 1978 in Niterói) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and PRIDE FC Middleweight Grand Prix finalist. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career.[who?] and is a member of Brazilian Top Team.
Mixed martial arts career
Abu Dhabi and RINGS
Ricardo Arona's popularity came from competing in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission wrestling competitions, where he won an open weight tournament as well as the 92 kg (202 pound) tournament. Arona is the only competitor in Abu Dhabi to have won a championship and to be undefeated so far. ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.
Soon after Abu Dhabi Combat Club, Arona joined RINGS, a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion. Arona's only loss in RINGS came at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko, in a controversial decision. Many felt that Arona won the fight. However, as RINGS scoring was not based on positional control but rather on damage dealt and attempts to finish the fight, categories in which many feel Fedor surpassed Arona in, the decision was given to Emelianenko. Fedor later went on to become Pride Fighting Championships' Heavyweight Champion. After losing to Fedor, Arona won his last three fights in RINGS.
PRIDE Fighting Championships
After being noticed in RINGS, Arona was offered a contract to join PRIDE Fighting Championships. Arona started his career in PRIDE strong winning his first three fights against Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson and Murilo Rua. He then lost his fourth fight to Quinton Jackson in a spectacular knockout from a slam. Arona claimed that an illegal headbutt he received by Jackson at the end of the slam was what knocked him out. Four months later, Arona returned to PRIDE and won his next 3 fights. On April 23, 2005, Arona entered PRIDE's Middleweight (205 lbs) Grand Prix. Arona won his first fight in the tournament against Dean Lister by unanimous decision. In the 2nd round of the Grand Prix, he won his fight against the famous Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO (Doctor Stoppage).
His semifinal match, against rival Wanderlei Silva, was held on August 28, 2005. Arona surprised everyone when he defeated Silva, who was the PRIDE Middleweight Champion at the time, by decision handing Silva his first middle weight defeat in Pride. After defeating Silva, Arona advanced to finals where he faced rising MMA fighter Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. In a dominant performance, Rua defeated Arona by knockout by hammerfists to the face in the first round.
On December 31, 2005 Ricardo Arona fought Wanderlei Silva for a second time, this time for the Middleweight Championship. Ricardo Arona lost the match in a split decision.
On September 10, 2006 Arona faced Alistair Overeem. After withstanding the initial attack from Overeem, Arona landed an inside leg kick, injuring his opponent's leg and making him drop to the ground. Arona quickly overwhelmed Overeem on the ground by blanketing him and showed complete domination throughout the bout. He continued his assault until Overeem tapped out from a barrage of strikes.
Arona claims he suffered from a dengue hemorrhagic fever[2], before a KO loss to Sokoudjou at PRIDE 34 on April 8, 2007. Arona's Comeback fight against UFC veteran Marvin Eastman was canceled due to an injury that Eastman suffered during training. The fight with Eastman was rescheduled and took place at Bitetti Combat MMA 4 on September 12, 2009. Arona won the fight via unanimous decision.
Ricardo Arona is currently in talks with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.[3]
Mixed martial arts record
| 21 matches | 7 wins | 14 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 5 |
| By submission | 3 | 0 |
| By decision | 3 | 4 |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| loss | 7-14 | Luis Santos
|
TKO (Punches) | Furshow 6 | 2010-11-20 | 2 | 3:10 | São Paulo, Brasil
|
|
| Win | 7-13 |  Marvin Eastman
|
Decision (Unanimous) | Bitetti Combat MMA 4 | 2009-09-12 | 3 | 5:00 | Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
|
|
| Loss | 6–13 |  Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
|
KO (Punches and Soccer Kick) | PRIDE 34 | 2007-04-08 | 1 | 1:59 |  Saitama, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 6–12 |  Alistair Overeem
|
Submission (Punches) | PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute | 2006-09-10 | 1 | 4:28 | Saitama, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 6-11 | Wanderlei Silva
|
Decision (Split) | PRIDE Shockwave 2005 | 2005-12-31 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan
|
PrideFC Middleweight championship |
| Loss | 6-10 | Mauricio Rua
|
KO (Strikes) | Pride 30 | 2005-10-23 | 1 | 2:54 | Saitama, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 6-9 | Wanderlei Silva
|
KO (knee) | PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 | 2005-08-28 | 2 | 1:00 | Saitama, Japan
|
Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Semifinal |
| Loss | 6–8 | Kazushi Sakuraba
|
TKO (Corner Stoppage) | PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005 | 2005-06-26 | 1 | 2:20 | Saitama, Japan
|
Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Quarterfinal |
| Win | 6-7 | Dean Lister
|
Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 | 2005-04-23 | 3 | 5:00 | Osaka, Japan
|
Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Opening Round |
| Win | 5-7 |  Sergey Ignatov
|
Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | PRIDE 28 | 2004-10-31 | 1 | 9:05 | Saitama, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 4–7 | Quinton Jackson
|
KO (Powerbomb) | PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 | 2004-06-20 | 1 | 7:32 | Saitama, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 4–6 | Murilo Rua
|
Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE 23 | 2002-11-24 | 3 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 4–5 | Dan Henderson
|
KO (Punch) | PRIDE 20 | 2002-04-28 | 2 | 2:30 | Yokohama, Japan
|
|
| Win | 4–4 | Guy Mezger
|
Decision (Split) | PRIDE 16 | 2001-09-24 | 3 | 5:00 | Osaka, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 3-4 |  Jose Gomez
|
TKO (Punches) | Magican 2 | 2001-09-5 | 2 | 0:29 | Tokyo, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 3-3 | Gustavo Machado
|
TKO (Punches) | Rings-10th Anniversary | 2001-08-11 | 1 | 1:29 | Tokyo, Japan
|
|
| Win | 3-2 | Jeremy Horn
|
Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) | Rings-10th Anniversary | 2001-08-11 | 2 | 2:30 | Tokyo, Japan
|
|
| Win | 2–2 | Hiromitsu Kanehara
|
Submission (Kneebar) | Rings-World Title Series 2 | 2001-06-15 | 2 | 0:53 | Yokohama, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 1–2 | Fedor Emelianenko
|
Decision (Unanimous) | Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block B | 2000-12-22 | 3 | 5:00 | Osaka, Japan
|
|
| Loss | 1-1 | Jeremy Horn
|
Decision (Split) | Rings-Millennium Combine 3 | 2000-04-20 | 3 | 5:00 | Osaka, Japan
|
|
| Win | 1-0 | Andrei Kopylov
|
Decision (Unanimous) | Rings-Millennium Combine 1 | 2000-04-20 | 3 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan
|
Grappling credentials
ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships
ADCC 2003 Superfight championship: Defeated Mark Kerr.
ADCC 2001 88 – 98 kg: 1st Place Openweight: 1st Place
ADCC 2000 88 – 98 kg: 1st Place
Record of opponents:
- Won: Mark Kerr (pts), Ruslan Mashurenko (pts), Renato Sobral Da Cunha (pts), John Olav Einemo (pts), Ricardo Almeida (pts), Roger Neff (sub), Saulo Ribeiro (pts), Vitor Belfort (pts), Jean Jacques Machado (pts), Hiromitsu Kaehara (pts), Kareem Barkalev (pts), Tito Ortiz (pts), Jeff Monson (pts)
CBJJ World Championships
2000 Black Belt Pesado : 2nd Place
1999 Brown Belt Pesado : 1st Place Brown Belt Open Weight: 2nd Place
1998 Purple Belt Pesado : 1st Place
CBJJ Brazilian Championships
1999 Brown Belt Pesado: 1st Place