Julio Cesar Neves Jr. (born 25 April 1994) is a Brazilian

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 ...

who has most notably competed in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

division of Bellator MMA.

Background

Julio Cesar was born in Brazil. He achieved a coveted 30-0 record after defeating

Poppies Martinez Poppies Martinez (born August 19, 1983) is a Native American professional mixed martial artist of the Tachi Yokuts tribe currently competing in the Lightweight division of Bellator. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also formerly co ...

Bellator 125 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweigh ...

, an unheard of accomplishment in

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 ...

competition, given his age and the time span in which he competed.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Neves had been competing in the Brazilian circuit since late-2011, amassing 28 bouts and early finishes in a very condensed period of time before signing with Bellator MMA. He was doing so at a very young age, being only 19-years-old when he was signed to Bellator. He was expected to face Yuri Maia at Golden Fighters 7 on 9 November 2013, but it was cancelled because of the subsequent signing to Bellator.

Bellator MMA

Neves made his Bellator debut on 18 April 2014 (just days before his 20th birthday) at

Bellator 117 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

against Josh Arocho. The 19-year-old was successful in his debut, defeating Arocho in the second round via TKO. In his second bout with the promotion, Neves faced

on 19 September 2014 at

. He won via TKO in the first round. In his third bout with the promotion, Neves faced fellow up-and-comer Jordan Parsons at Bellator 137 on 15 May 2015. He lost the back and forth fight via submission in the third round. This marked the first professional defeat of his career. In June 2015, it was revealed that Neves, along with his brother Rafael Silva, were among 8 fighters released from the promotion.

Criticism

Neves' record has been subject of controversy in his home country of Brazil. According to many local MMA resources and forums, Neves built his undefeated record facing mostly " cans" and opponents with irregular MMA records while avoiding tougher challengers. Some of his opponents' records, in order, are: 0-3, 0-2, 3-2, 0-2, 9-8, 4-3, 0-1, 2-3, 1-3, 1-1, 0-3, 1-7, 1-1, 0-2, 12-10 and 0-2.

Mixed martial arts record

, Win , align=center, 35–1 , Kevin Park , Decision (unanimous) , Battlefield FC 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Macau, China , , - , Win , align=center, 34–1 , Roger Sampaio , Submission (guillotine choke) , Aspera FC 57 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:14 , Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 33–1 , Fernando Colman , Decision (unanimous) , Brave CF 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Parana,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Catchweight 150 pounds , - , Win , align=center, 32–1 , Carlisson Diego Santos , Submission (anaconda choke) , Smash Fight 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:08 , Curitiba, Parana,

, , - , Win , align=center, 31–1 , Ranieri Zenidim , Decision (unanimous) , Aspera FC 40 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Santa Catarina,

, , - , Loss , align=center, 30–1 , Jordan Parsons , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Bellator 137 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:09 ,

Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and was Municipal corporation, i ...

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, TKO (spinning back-kick to the body and punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:16 ,

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 29–0 , Josh Arocho , TKO (elbows) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:37 , Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 28–0 , Nelson Junior , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Sparta MMA 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:57 ,

Itajaí Itajaí () is a municipality in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It is located on the northern central coast of Santa Catarina and is part of the Vale do Itajaí Mesoregion, on the right bank of the Itajaí-Açu river mouth. It lies at th ...

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 27–0 , Maikon de Carvalho , Decision (unanimous) , Sparta MMA 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 26–0 , Dener dos Santos , KO (cartwheel kick) , Watch Out Combat Show 28 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:42 ,

Gramado Gramado is a small tourist city, southeast of Caxias do Sul and east of Nova Petrópolis in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the Serra Gaúcha region. The city was originally settled by Azorean descendants and later receiv ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 25–0 , Hamilton Ferreira , TKO (punches) , Watch Out Combat Show 26 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 24–0 , Renato Gabardi , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Island Fighting Championships 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:47 ,

Palhoça Palhoça is a municipality in Santa Catarina, Brazil. History Palhoça was founded in 1793, when the city was part of the way between Lages and Florianópolis in order to protect the capital state from possible invasions. Its name comes from ...

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 23–0 , Alex de Souza , TKO (punches) , Sparta MMA 5 - Encontro de Campeoes , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:36 , Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 22–0 , Kaique Silva , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Nocaute Fight Champion , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:18 ,

Curitibanos Curitibanos is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Santa Catarina. It is located at 27º16'58" south latitude and 50º35'04" west longitude, at an elevation of 987 metres. It has an area of 953.67 km² and its population, according to 2018 ...

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 21–0 , Danilo Santos , TKO (head kick) , BingoFight , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:11 ,

Blumenau Blumenau is a city in Vale do Itajaí, state of Santa Catarina (Brazil), Santa Catarina, in the South Region, Brazil, South Region of Brazil. It is away from the state capital of Florianópolis. The city was founded by the German chemist an ...

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 20–0 , Mauricio Machado , KO (flying knee) , Sparta MMA 4 - Julio Cesar vs Bad Boy , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:37 ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 19–0 , Tiago Esquilo , TKO (punches) , CTA Combat - MMA & Muay Thai , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:08 ,

Palmeira das Missões Palmeira das Missões is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. As of 2020, the estimated population was 33,131. See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Rio ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 18–0 , Kelvin Kuster , TKO (punches) , Sparta MMA 3 - Class , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:10 , Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 17–0 , Ramones Silva , TKO (punches) , Tavares Combat 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:47 , Jaguaruna, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 16–0 , Rafael Bixão , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Tavares Combat 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:26 , Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 15–0 , Vitor Miranda , KO (head kick) , Tavares Combat 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:34 ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 14–0 , Maicon Silva , KO (flying knee) , Sparta MMA - Sparta Qualify 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:14 ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 13–0 , Joao Capoeira , KO (punch) , Corupa Fight Champion , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:37 ,

Corupá Corupá is a municipality of the state of Santa Catarina, located in the South Region of Brazil. It has approximately 16,000 inhabitants distributed over 407 km². It is located in the Valley Itapocu near Joinville. Its economy is based on ...

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 , Guilherme Nascimento , Submission (armbar) , Tavares Combat , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Guilherme Severo , Decision (unanimous) , Golden Fighters 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Novo Hamburgo Novo Hamburgo (Portuguese for ''New Hamburg''; german: Neu-Hamburg) is a municipality in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, located in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, the state capital. As of 2020, its population was 247, ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Antonio Bezerra , KO (flying knee) , Soul Fight Night , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:11 , Pirabeiraba, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Luiz André , TKO (punches) , Soul Fight Night , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:16 , Pirabeiraba, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Gustavo Mendonca , KO (flying knee) , Connect Fight Night 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:16 , Biguaçu, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Fernando Giacometti , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Energy Force , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 ,

Navegantes Navegantes (, ''Seafarers'') is a coastal and tourist city located in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil. The population is 83,626 (2020 est.) in an area of 112.0 km². Ministro Victor Konder International Airport serves the popular be ...

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Lucas Moraes , TKO (elbows) , Connect Fight Night , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:04 , Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Jonathan Giocomossi , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Blufight MMA - Blufight 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:10 ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Apostolis Andrade Halianis , Decision (unanimous) , Nitrix Champion Fight 10 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Camboriu, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Renato Monaco , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Blufight MMA - Blufight 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:57 ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Fabio Japones , KO (flying knee) , FPMMA - Combat , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:17 , São Caetano do Sul,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Maicon Gregor , KO (flying knee) , Octagon MMA , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:12 ,

, Santa Catarina, Brazil , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cesar, Julio 1994 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Luta Livre Brazilian Muay Thai practitioners