Ed Soares is an American of Brazilian descent born in Redondo Beach,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to Brazilian parents. He is known for being the manager of a number of Brazilian Mixed martial arts fighters, including

Anderson Silva Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 and ...

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (, born 2 June 1976), better known as Minotauro or Big Nog, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Inter ...

Patricio Freire Patricio in Spanish, or Patrício in Portuguese, is a male given name equivalent to Patrick (given name), Patrick in English. The Spanish name is pronounced with the stress on the same first i as Portuguese, but an accent is not needed because t ...

, and

Lyoto Machida (born 30 May 1978), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and karateka, who currently competes in the Light heavyweight division. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light ...

Career

He is the former owner of the clothing company Sinister Brand, and is a business manager for approximately 20

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 ...

fighters, including former

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 ...

Light Heavyweight Champion

, former UFC Middleweight Champion

, former UFC Featherweight Champion

José Aldo José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júniorhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/CI3oOc0VAAAr_iv.jpg (, born 9 September 1986), commonly anglicized as Jose Aldo, is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He last competed in the Ultimate Fight ...

, former WEC Middleweight Champion

Paulo Filho Paulo Fernando de Souza Leite Filho, better known as simply Paulo Filho (; born May 24, 1978), is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor from 2000 until 2014, Fil ...

, former UFC Heavyweight title-contender

Pedro Rizzo Pedro Augusto Rizzo (; born 3 May 1974) is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed for the UFC, PRIDE, M-1 Global, and Affliction. Although he never captured the UFC Heavyweight Championship, Rizzo competed for i ...

, Former UFC Legend KIMO Leopoldo From

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

, he sought to renew his career in football. Going under the name "Kim Leopold" he quickly became an

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

All-American and gained interest from many Division I colleges. However, he tore both of his ACLs, and his success only lasted until the middle of his sophomore year. Depressed and with seemingly no future, he met

Joe Son Joseph Hyungmin Son ( ko, 손형민; born November 22, 1970) is a South Korean-born American convicted felon and a former mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and actor. Prior to his 2008 arrest, he was best known for his appe ...

and turned to

mixed martial arts 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, inc ...

after studying films of fights including

UFC 1 ''The Ultimate Fighting Championship'' (later renamed ''UFC 1: The Beginning'') was the first mixed martial arts event by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), held at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado, United States, on November ...

, among other fights featuring

Royce Gracie Royce Gracie (; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures i ...

, who Leopoldo would later make his debut against. ;former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion

, his twin brother UFC Light-Heavyweight

Antônio Rogério Nogueira Antônio Rogério Nogueira (; born 2 June 1976), also known as Minotouro or Lil Nog, is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the UFC. He is the twin brother of Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, the "Minotauro" ...

, former StrikeForce Light-Heavyweight Champion Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante,. He also often serves as a translator for his fighters in post-fight interviews. Heavyweight fighter

Junior dos Santos Junior dos Santos (; born 30 January 1984) is a Brazilian Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler who competes in the Heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight division of Eagle FC. As a mixed martial ar ...

was a longtime client of Ed Soares, but announced on his website and Facebook page that he was no longer under his management in June 2011, shortly before he won the UFC Heavyweight Title. Additionally, Soares is co-founder of the Black House MMA fighting team, where many of his fighters train. As he is the manager for several of the highest profile fighters in mixed martial arts, he is currently considered one of the most influential managers in the sport.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American people of Brazilian descent People from Redondo Beach, California Brazilian American {{mixedmartialart-bio-stub