| Name | Pedro Rizzo |
|---|---|
| Nickname | The Rock |
| Record | 16-7-0 (Wins-Losses-Draws) |
| Wins | 9 (T)KOs (56.25%) 4 Submissions (25.00%) 3 Decisions (18.75%) |
| Losses | 4 (T)KOs (57.14%) 3 Decisions (42.86%) |
| Association | Ruas Vale Tudo |
| Height | 6'1 (185cm) |
| Weight | 228 |
| Birthdate | 1974-05-03 |
| City | Rio De Janeiro |
| Country | Brazil |
Former UFC heavyweight title challenger “Snowman” Jeff Monson (28-2) and The Pit’s Glover Teixeira (8-2) will matchup at Bitetti Combat 5 in São Paulo December 12, according to Tatame.
Former PRIDE 205-pound contender “Brazilian Tiger” Ricardo Arona (14-5) and former WEC middleweight champion “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-1) both rang up three-round unanimous decisions at Bitetti Combat in Rio de Janeiro Saturday night.
Arona beat “Beastman” Marvin Eastman (16-10-1), who nearly missed the fight due to Brazilian visa miscommunications. The win was Arona’s first MMA fight since getting KO’d in round one versus “African Assassin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (6-4) at PRIDE 34 in Tokyo in April 2007. Arona had turned to professional surfing during his hiatus from fighting, but is now devoted to MMA.
Filho, himself on course for a sort of comeback after a disappointing conclusion to his WEC stint last year, beat Alex Schoenauer (13-10) controversially. Filho’s hometown crowd booed the judges’ decision.
Read More About Brazilian PRIDE Stars Ricardo Arona, Paulo Filho Win UDs at Bitetti Combat…
“Big” Ben Rothwell (33-6) confirmed Wednesday to CagePotato that he has signed to face “Rock” Pedro Rizzo (16-8) at Affliction’s second show 11 October in Las Vegas, but not before some changes of plan were made.
“[Agent] Monte [Cox] turned down their original offer for this fight, so that’s why he said none of his guys would be fighting on the show. Then they came back with another offer that was better, so we agreed to it,” Rothwell said.
Both heavyweights were part of Afflction’s debut event in July; both fighters lost their fights.
Rothwell was knocked out in round three by Fighters.com’s fourth-ranked heavyweight “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (13-5).
Rizzo was knocked out in round two by third-ranked “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (23-5).
From Russia with gloves, “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko(28-1) stamped his heavyweight dominance on “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia’s (24-5) head in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July.
His dismantling of “Big” Tim in 36 seconds earned him the Fighters.com Heavyweight Championship, jumping from sixth and dumping Sylvia from third to seventh.
The “W” strips naked UFC President Dana White’s proclamation that all other promotions are the minor leagues, at least at north of 205-pounds.
In fact, Emelianenko’s victory makes clear that the Octagon hasn’t been the proving grounds for the world’s top heavyweights for quite some time.
The UFC Champ, second-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1), took a thrashing from Sylvia in February before tapping the two-time UFC titlist in a guillotine.
Nogueira loses his Fighters.com Heavyweight Championship, falling into the top contender spot, but a top contender whose register already records two UD losses to the new champ four years ago.
Nog’ is set to clash with un-ranked former UFC Champ Frank Mir (11-3) after Mir tapped rook’ Brock Lesnar (1-1), which tells you all you need to know about the UFC heavyweight class.
But, Emelianenko’s new promoter, Affliction, is playing the name game too.
After knocking out “Rock” Pedro Rizzo (16-8) Saturday night in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, to avenge a 2001 knockout loss, “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (26-5) told the press that revenge isn’t always sweet.
Read More About Barnett: “I wasn’t very happy, to be honest, that I knocked Pedro out.”…
It only took 36 seconds for “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (28-1) to leave “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (24-5) laid out on the mat in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, Saturday night.
Just thirty-six seconds to answer questions raised by Fighters.com about Emelianenko’s two-year hiatus from top competition.
At the bell, Sylvia exited his corner in an awkward, low crouch.
Obviously…Emelianenko wasted no time blasting Sylvia with a left, right hook combo, followed by an uppercut.
“I’ve never been hit that hard in my life,” said Sylvia after the fight. “He’s not human.”
The “Maine-iac” dismantled to the mat; and, Emelianenko stuck in a rear naked choke that forced Sylvia to tap.
After the fight, the Russian was nonchalant, but not arrogant about his destruction of one of the world’s top heavyweights.
The victory cemented him as the top heavyweight in the world, the top pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the world, and perhaps the greatest mixed martial artist ever.
“Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (28-1) def. “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia (26-6) via submission (rear naked choke), 0:36 of round one.
“Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (13-5) def. “Big” Ben Rothwell (33-6) via KO, 1:13 of round three.
“Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (26-5) def. Pedro Rizzo (16-8) via KO, 1:44 of round two.
“The Machine” Mark Hominick (16-8) def. Savant Young (9-8) via submission (armbar), 4:25 of round two.
“Babalu” Renato Sobral (30-7) def. Mike Whitehead (23-7) via unanimous decision (30-27; 30-27; 30-27)
“The Law” Matt Lindland (21-5) def. Fabio Negao (8-4) via unanimous decision (30-26; 30-27; 30-27).
“Minotoro” Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (14-3) def. “Babyface” Edwin Dewees (35-13) via TKO, 4:06 of round one.
“Quicksand” Mike Pyle (17-5-1) def. JJ Ambrose (8-2) via submission (rear naked choke), 2:51 of round one.
“The Phenom” Vitor Belfort (17-8) def. Terry Martin (17-5) via KO, 3:12 of round two.
“Head Hunter” Paul Buentello (26-10) def. “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge (23-18-1) via unanimous decision (30-27; 30-27; 30-27).
“[Affliction] should be happy to have me,” Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (25-5) joked…I think…at an Affliction presser in Los Angeles Wednesday.
Read More About Barnett: “[Affliction] should be happy to have me.”…
The heavyweight division paces like a heavyweight slog. I’m tempted to switch to a semi-annual evaluation…but not until after this weekend.
There were a couple of shakers this month, but no movers.
In London 7 June, seventh-ranked “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (11-3-1) played a samba on “The Truth” Brandon Vera’s (8-2) noggin for a first round TKO.
Werdum remains the top contender to “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s (31-4-1) UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Of course, Big Nog’ is pitted versus struggling, but dangerous former UFC Champion Frank Mir (11-3) in a made-for-TUF match-up in October.
Werdum will probably draw the winner of 9 August’s eighth-ranked “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-13) versus Brock Lesnar (1-1) fight, maybe on the same October UFC card to build the follow-up versus the winners.
Also in action this rankings period, tenth-ranked “Napao” Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) blew through confidence-booster Justin McCully (8-4-2) in Las Vegas 5 July to break a two-fight losing streak for the man who sentenced “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2) down a spiral the Croatian has yet to ascend from.
Fighters.com’s second-ranked heavyweight,current UFC co-Heavyweight Champion, and UFC Hall of Famer “The Natural” Randy Couture(16-8) spoke exclusively with Fighters.com from his Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas Monday afternoon.
Couture graciously confronted and answered questions about his beef with the Zuffa, LLC and UFC President Dana White and third-ranked “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia’s (24-4) and his own prospective fight with sixth-ranked “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1), shared opinions about fifth-ranked welterweight Matt Hughes (42-7), “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson (3-0), and Brock Lesnar (1-1), and made picks on future fights.
Fighters.com: You’ve said you’ve accepted that you might get a bad court ruling and not fight again. Have you lost some competitiveness from being inactive for so long?
The Natural: I still want to compete. I’m still in training as much as I can be with all this other stuff going on. I still seem to be able to hold my own, even with the lack of serious, hardcore training, with all the top guys that I have in the gym. I’m having fun being in the gym learning new tools, new skills and being there with a lot of the other guys that have been there for me, so I’m not too worried about that. The courts are going to do what the courts are going to do. We’ll deal with it when it comes in.
Fighters.com: Not many fighters have wives who also train. Does that give you both a different perspective and more understanding?