Constantinos Philippou ( gr, Κωνσταντίνος Φιλίππου, born November 29, 1979) is a retired

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. He formerly fought for the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

's Middleweight division.

Early life

Philippou was born in

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

on 29 November 1979.

Career

Boxing

Philippou began

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

in 1994 and had his first fight six months later. In 2005, his best friend and coach Polis encouraged him to move to the United States to become a professional. Costas fought in the

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

two months after coming to the United States, but lost in the finals at Madison Square Garden by a split decision to

Nagy Aguilera Nagy Aguilera De La Rosa (born May 28, 1986) is a Dominican professional boxer. He is perhaps best known for his upset first-round knockout win over former WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev. Professional career 2009 Nagy Aguilera knocked ...

. Philippou then turned pro and had three fights three wins, the third being featured on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. Costas transitioned to

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

after disputes with his manager and coach.

MMA

Philippou made his professional MMA debut in May 2008 for the Ring of Combat promotion, losing to fellow future UFC fighter Ricardo Romero by split decision. However, he subsequently amassed a record of 7 wins, 1 loss and 1 no contest within that promotion. Philippou had previously trained with the Serra-Longo Fight Team, but as of May 30, 2013 he decided to switch camps to Bellmore Kickboxing Academy. According to

Matt Serra Matthew John Serra (born June 2, 1974) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the co-star of Dana White: Lookin' for a Fight and co- ...

, Philippou left the team on good terms.

''The Ultimate Fighter 11''

Philippou first made his appearance in the UFC on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz. However, he never made it as part of the cast to move into the house after losing to Joseph Henle via submission in the opening elimination bout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Philippou got a second chance in the UFC after stepping in as a late replacement for Dan Miller, who was moved up the card to face

Nate Marquardt Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight and welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 1999, he is a former Strikeforce W ...

, facing

Nick Catone Nicholas Catone (born September 1, 1981) is a retired American mixed martial artist. Catone competed most recently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in their Middleweight division. Mixed martial arts career Wrestling Catone began wrestling ...

UFC 128 ''UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Background This event was expected to take place in Abu Dha ...

in a catchweight bout of 195 pounds. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Philippou was expected to face

BJJ Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

black belt

Rafael Natal Rafael Natal Diniz Franca () is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional from 2005 until 2017, he is best known for his 17-fight stint competing for the UFC. Mixed martial arts career Background Natal started Brazilian Jiu-Jits ...

on August 6, 2011 at

UFC 133 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

, replacing an injured

Riki Fukuda , is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2004, he has formerly competed for the UFC, EliteXC, DEEP, DREAM, K-1 (MMA), Shooto, and Pancrase. Mixed martial arts caree ...

. However, an injury forced Alessio Sakara out of his main card bout against Jorge Rivera, and Philippou was pulled from his bout with Natal and named as Sakara's replacement against Rivera. Philippou won the fight via split decision, earning his first UFC victory. Philippou faced off against

Jared Hamman Jared Hamman (born March 7, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist that competes in the World Series of Fighting's Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has also formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce and Sho ...

on December 10, 2011 at

UFC 140 ''UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 10, 2011 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the penultimate event for the UFC in 2011. The event fea ...

. He won the match via KO at 3:11 in the first round. Philippou fought TUF 11 winner

Court McGee Courtney Scott "Court" McGee (born December 12, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, McGee mostly fought in local prom ...

on March 3, 2012 at

UFC on FX 2 ''UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann'' (also known as ''UFC on FX 2'') was a mixed martial arts event held live by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday March 3, 2012 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Background ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision after a back and forth bout. Philippou next defeated

via unanimous decision on July 7, 2012 at

UFC 148 ''UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 7, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the seventeenth UFC event of the year. The card consisted of e ...

. Philippou was expected to face

Nick Ring Nick Ring (born February 10, 1979) is a Professional boxer and mixed martial artist who is best known for competing in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2002, Ring fought in vari ...

on November 17, 2012 at

UFC 154 ''UFC 154: St-Pierre vs. Condit'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 17, 2012, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Background Parent company Zuffa, LLC produced a UFC Pri ...

however, the fight was cancelled on the day of the event as Ring fell ill. Philippou replaced his injured training partner

Chris Weidman Christopher James WeidmanMIXED MARTIAL ARTS S ...

against Tim Boetsch at

UFC 155 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

on December 29, 2012. Philippou was victorious with a third round TKO stoppage. Philippou was expected to face

Ronaldo Souza Ronaldo Souza dos Santos (born December 7, 1979), nicknamed " Jacare" (), is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist and submission grappler who competed for UFC from 2013 to 2021. A highly regarded grappler on the worl ...

on May 18, 2013 at UFC on FX 8. However, Philippou pulled out of the bout in early May, citing a cut above his eye, and was replaced by

Chris Camozzi Christopher Allen Camozzi (born November 20, 1986) is an American professional Glory kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Camozzi has formerly competed in th ...

. Philippou next faced

Francis Carmont Francis Carmont (born October 10, 1981) is a French professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2004, Carmont has competed for Bellator MMA, the UFC, and KSW. Mixed mart ...

UFC 165 ''UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson'' was a mixed martial arts event held on September 21, 2013, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main event was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame's Fight Wing in 2021. Background The main ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27). Philippou faced

Luke Rockhold Luke Skyler Rockhold (born October 17, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competed in the Light Heavyweight and Middleweight division. ...

on January 15, 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 35 ''UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Philippou'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 35'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 15, 2014, at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. The event was broadcast live on Fox Sports 1, and was ...

. He lost the fight via KO in the first round. Philippou faced

Lorenz Larkin Lorenz Larkin (born September 3, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2009, Larkin formerly competed for Strikeforce and the Ulti ...

in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 40. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. Philippou was expected to face Uriah Hall on January 18, 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 59 ''UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 59'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 18, 2015, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Background The event was headlined by a featherweight bout between ...

, however, Philippou would be forced out the bout due to injury. Philippou faced

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator me ...

on May 16, 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 66 ''UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 66'') was a mixed martial arts event held on May 16, 2015, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines. Background The event was the first that the organization has hosted ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. On July 7, 2015, Philippou retired from MMA. Earlier in the day, he made his Twitter account private, with an avatar that read, "THIS ACCOUNT IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE. PLEASE UNFOLLOW." The UFC then confirmed via Twitter that he had told them of his retirement.

Personal life

Philippou resides in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Championships and accomplishments

*Ring of Combat **ROC Middleweight Championship (1 time)

Mixed martial arts record

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, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 440,656 people. Due to its location j ...

, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 (1) ,

, KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Brown vs. Silva , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:27 ,

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 (1) ,

, TKO (body kick) , UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Philippou , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:31 ,

Duluth, Georgia Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, Duluth had a population of 31,873, and the United States Census Bureau estimated the ...

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Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

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Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Uriah Hall , Decision (majority) , Ring of Combat 34 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:00 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 (1) , Aung La N Sang , TKO (punches) , Ring of Combat 33 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:11 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , NC , align=center, 5–1 (1) , Marcus Finch , NC (groin kick) , Ring of Combat 32 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:47 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Victor O'Donnell , Decision (unanimous) , Ring of Combat 26 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Aaron Meisner , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Ring of Combat 23 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:27 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , John Doyle , TKO (punches) , Ring of Combat 22 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:05 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Brendan Barrett , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Ring of Combat 21 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:29 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Tony Andreocci , KO (punch) , Ring of Combat 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:22 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Ricardo Romero , Decision (split) , Ring of Combat 19 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States ,

References

External links

*
Official UFC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Philippou, Constantinos 1979 births Living people American people of Greek Cypriot descent Cypriot male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Limassol Cypriot practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Cypriot expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters

Early life

Career

Boxing

MMA

''The Ultimate Fighter 11''

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Personal life

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links