Quick Facts
Biography
Ricardo Almeida ([ʁiˈkaʁdu awˈmejdɐ]; born November 29, 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist and currently a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler residing in Bordentown, New Jersey. He is the former King of Pancrase Middleweight Champion.
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. He also trains former UFC Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and "The Ultimate Fighter" winner Corey Anderson
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.
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.
Almeida faced Matt Brown on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111 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 on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117 and lost via technical submission due to a Dave Schultz front headlock.
Almeidafaced TJ Grant on December 11, 2010 at UFC 124. Almeida defeated Grant by unanimous decision.
Almeida faced Mike Pyle on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128. 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, Kris McCray, Eddie Alvarez, and Corey Anderson.
MMA Judge
A week after his retirement, Almeida became a professional MMA judge in New Jersey. 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.
Personal life
Ricardo resides in Bordentown, New Jersey with his family. He is the head instructor and owner at Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School located in Robbinsville Township, New Jersey and in Newtown, PA.
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
IBJJFNo-Gi Worlds Championship
2013 Black Belt Masters: 1st Place
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 18 matches | 13 wins | 5 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 1 |
| By submission | 5 | 1 |
| By decision | 8 | 2 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 1 |
| 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 | |
| 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) | 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 | Won the Pancrase Middleweight Championship. Later stripped the title |
| 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 |