Ricardo Alves Almeida is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist and current Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler residing in Bordentown, New Jersey.
30 Facts About Ricardo Almeida
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Ricardo Almeida is a fourth degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie, and part of the Gracie Barra combat and competition team.
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Ricardo Almeida made his professional MMA debut on December 9,2000 at PRIDE 12 against Akira Shoji.
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Ricardo Almeida made a one-off return to PRIDE on May 23,2004 against Ryo Chonan at Pride:Bushido 3.
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Ricardo Almeida made his UFC debut on May 4,2001 at UFC 31 against Matt Lindland in a light heavyweight match.
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Referee Mario Yamasaki ended the fight in the third round after repeated illegal upkicks from Ricardo Almeida, giving him a loss via disqualification.
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Ricardo Almeida's next fight was against Eugene Jackson on September 28,2001 at UFC 33 in his middleweight debut.
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Ricardo Almeida won the fight via triangle choke in the first round.
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Ricardo Almeida's next fight would be his last with the UFC for 6 years, fighting Andrei Semenov at UFC 35 on January 11,2002.
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Ricardo Almeida won the fight via rear naked choke in the first round.
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Ricardo Almeida's next fight was against Ikuhisa Minowa on February 16,2003 at Pancrase: Hybrid 2.
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Ricardo Almeida's next fight was against Yuki Sasaki on April 12,2003 at Pancrase: Hybrid 4.
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Ricardo Almeida's next fight was against Kazuo Misaki on August 31,2003 at Pancrase: 10th Anniversary Show.
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Ricardo Almeida tackled Marquardt and was able to lock in a guillotine choke and submit Marquardt in the first round, becoming the new Middleweight King Of Pancrase.
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Controversy began after Ricardo Almeida did not release the choke for a few seconds after Marquardt tapped and the referee stepped in.
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Ricardo Almeida's cornermen intervened in the conflict, with Renzo Gracie kicking Marquardt in the face.
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Ricardo Almeida vacated the title in July 2004 and announced his retirement.
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Ricardo 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.
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Ricardo Almeida came out of retirement and returned to the UFC in 2008.
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Ricardo Almeida's next fight was against top fighter Patrick Cote at UFC 86, where he lost a close split decision.
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Ricardo Almeida returned at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs Kampmann, this time on the preliminary card, to face Matt Horwich, winning by unanimous decision.
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Ricardo Almeida won by outgrappling his opponent for the majority of the bout and controlling the fight to earn a unanimous decision victory.
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Ricardo Almeida was scheduled to fight Jon Fitch at UFC 106 but had to withdraw due to a knee injury suffered while training.
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Ricardo Almeida faced Matt Brown on March 27,2010, at UFC 111 in his welterweight debut.
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Ricardo Almeida defeated Brown by rear naked choke at 2:30 in round 2.
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Ricardo 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.
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Ricardo Almeida faced Mike Pyle on March 19,2011, at UFC 128.
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Ricardo 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, and teaching at his academies as other areas of his life that needed attention.
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Ricardo Almeida added that he would continue to support the UFC and teammates such as Frankie Edgar, Kris McCray, Eddie Alvarez, and Corey Anderson.
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Ricardo Almeida is the head instructor and owner at Ricardo Almeida Brazilian jiu-jitsu School located in Robbinsville Township, New Jersey and in Lakewood Ranch, FL.