Dante Rivera (born August 12, 1984 in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

) is an American retired

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, incorp ...

. He was a cast member of

SpikeTV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was or ...

's ''

The Ultimate Fighter 7 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest'' was the seventh season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter'', and premiered on April 2, 2008 on Spike, after ''UFC Fight Nigh ...

'' making it to the quarterfinals where he was defeated by

Jesse Taylor Jesse Marcus Taylor (born January 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) and 10th Planet Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt fighter currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he was ...

. Dante Rivera is the owner of Danter Rivera Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Freehold NJ. He operates a successful school with kids, teens, and adult classes.

Mixed martial arts career

The Ultimate Fighter

Dante was selected to be a part of the seventh season of

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

. In order to get into the house and actually compete on the show, Rivera had to fight John Wood, a training partner of

Forrest Griffin Forrest Griffin (born July 1, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013 and currently serves as the Vice President of Athlete Development at the ...

. Rivera defeated Wood via kimura submission and was then selected to be a part of Griffin's team. In the first round of the tournament, Rivera was matched up against Brandon Sene, defeating him via decision and moving him onto the next round. Rivera's next fight came against teammate

. Taylor defeated Rivera via unanimous decision and ended Rivera's chances of winning the show. During the show, Rivera was consistently shown arguing with the young and inexperienced

Matt Riddle Matthew Fredrick Riddle (born January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is currently inactive due t ...

. Dante, on more the one occasion, stated that he would retire if Riddle defeated him.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Dante fought

at the TUF 7 Finale. Dante was defeated by Riddle via decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). When asked by

Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American 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 ...

if he will retire as he had stated on The Ultimate Fighter, Dante declined and said he would continue to fight. After the loss, he was released from his contract.

Post UFC

He made his post UFC debut against a castoff from The Ultimate Fighter 7, Paul Bradley. Rivera was defeated after being knocked out before the minute mark. He bounced back with a win over Lamont Lister and a win over WEC vet, Justin Haskins. Rivera fought fellow ''TUF'' alumni,

Dan Cramer Daniel John Cramer (born October 31, 1985) is an American retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 2009 until 2014, Cramer made his professional debut with the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and was a competitor on SpikeTV's '' T ...

, for a small New Jersey promotion. After three rounds, the fight went to the judges and Rivera was awarded the victory via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27). Many spectators were upset with the decision believing that Rivera had dominated the fight and had convincingly won all three rounds. According to his Twitter he frequently works to increase his cardio by innovating the art of dynamic rollerblading.

Bellator MMA

Rivera made his promotional debut against former

Bellator welterweight champion Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded ...

Lyman Good Lyman Merrill Good (born May 26, 1985), also known as "American Cyborg", is an American mixed martial artist. He is perhaps best known for his time spent with Bellator, where he was the inaugural Bellator Welterweight Champion. Good currently co ...

on April 4, 2013 at

Bellator 95 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight cha ...

. Good defeated Rivera via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Rivera was expected to face promotional newcomer

Nah-Shon Burrell Nah-Shon Burrell (born February 5, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, Burrell has competed for Bellator MMA, the Ultimate Fighting Champio ...

on November 15, 2013 at

Bellator 108 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight cha ...

. However, Rivera was removed from the card due to undisclosed reasons and Burrell was rescheduled to face Jesus Martinez. Dante Rivera won his last Bellator fight win a dominant performance against tough fighter Gemiyale Adkins.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 16–7 , Gemiyale Adkins , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 118 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Herbert Goodman Herbert Goodman (born August 31, 1977) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist and former NFL running back for the Green Bay Packers. A professional competitor from 2007 until 2011, Goodman competed for Bellator, M-1 Global and ...

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East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

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Mike Massenzio Mike Vito Massenzio (born November 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who has competed as a Middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He wrestled in New Jersey and was a two-time high school state champion in 2000 (160 lb ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Dante American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1974 births Living people