Kurt Joseph Pellegrino (born May 7, 1979) 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 competed in the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division for Bellator Fighting Championships and

Ultimate Fighting Championship 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 ...

Early life

Pellegrino wrestled for

Point Pleasant Borough High School Point Pleasant Borough High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school located on Laura Herbert Drive in Point Pleasant in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth grad ...

and placed second in the state in his junior and senior year. Pellegrino was a two-time wrestling state finalist.

Career

Pellegrino trained with

Ricardo Almeida Ricardo Alves Almeida (; born November 29, 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist and current Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler residing in Bordentown, New Jersey. Almeida is a veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRID ...

, a world-famous

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 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 ...

competitor at a Renzo Gracie affiliate school. He later trained with

Kenny Florian Kenneth Alan Florian (born May 26, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial artist and commentator who formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He formerly served as an analyst for UFC on Fox from 2011–2018, and he als ...

's camp in Boston, Massachusetts, and at the Armory in

Jupiter, Florida Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the town had a population of 61,047 as of April 1, 2020. It is 84 miles north of Miami, and the northernmost community in the Miami met ...

with Justin Haskins, Eduardo Guedes, and Raphael Chaves. He subsequently moved to New Jersey, where he opened Kurt Pellegrino's MMA School in

Belmar, New Jersey Belmar is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated on the Jersey Shore. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 5,794,Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

Pellegrino fought

Alberto Crane Alberto Lewis Crane (born July 14, 1976) is an American former mixed martial artist, submission grappler and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor. He has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former King of the Cage and Ring of ...

at UFC Fight Night on January 23, 2008, who he defeated via second round TKO. The fight was notable as the only preliminary bout aired on the televised card. He received Fight of the Night award for this fight. Also, Pellegrino had a tooth knocked out early in the fight, which actually ripped a hole in his mouth, under his lip, and still went on to win, impressing fans and commentators alike. Despite a strong first round, Pellegrino was defeated by ''

TUF 5 ''The Ultimate Fighter 5'' was the fifth season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. As with the show's usual format, sixteen prospective mixed martial arts fighters were secluded in a ...

'' winner

Nate Diaz Nathan Donald Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist who is currently a free agent. Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for over 15 year ...

via triangle choke at

UFC Fight Night 13 ''UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 13'') was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on April 2, 2008, at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado, Unite ...

on April 2, 2008, in

Broomfield, Colorado Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield populati ...

. As Diaz locked up the choke, he had time to flex for the crowd and throw up double middle fingers before Pellegrino submitted. He defeated

Thiago Tavares Thiago de Mello Tavares (born November 8, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and politician who most recently competed in the Lightweight division. An 18-fight veteran of the UFC, he has also fought in the Professional Fighters League and ...

, in a preliminary bout at UFC 88: Breakthrough. Pellegrino bloodied Tavares' face in the first round and went on to win by a unanimous decision (29–28, 29–27, 29–27). There was a small controversy in the fight, as it appeared that Tavares submitted to an armbar in the second round, but the referee did not stop the bout, causing boos from the audience. The fight was awarded ''Fight of the Night'' honors and was voted by UFC as the #2 best fight of 2008. Pellegrino next fought at

UFC Fight Night 17 ''UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 17'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 7, 2009. Background The main event was originally scheduled to be between ...

on February 7, 2009. He defeated

Rob Emerson Robert Michael Emerson (born July 30, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2002, Emerson is also a veteran of Bellator MMA, the UFC, Pancrase, and was a cast member of ''The Ultimate Fighter 5' ...

by submission due to a rear naked choke in the third round. At

UFC 101 ''UFC 101: Declaration'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first UFC event held in Philadelphia. The event featured the second ...

, Pellegrino defeated

Josh Neer Joshua Martin Neer (born March 24, 1983) is an American bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2003, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, the Quad Cities Silverbacks of the IFL, and Shark Fights. ...

by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27). It was his first win on a UFC main card. He was expected to face

Frankie Edgar Frankie Edgar (born October 16, 1981) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Beginning his career in the L ...

on December 5, 2009 at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, but has been forced off the card due to an injury. Pellegrino defeated

Fabrício Camões Fabrício dos Santos Camões (; born December 23, 1978) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Camões's primary style in the cage is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Cam� ...

UFC 111 ''UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on March 27, 2010 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Background The ''UFC Primetime'' series returned t ...

by rear naked choke earning him ''Submission of the Night''. Pellegrino's next fight was against Australian standout,

George Sotiropoulos George Sotiropoulos (born 9 July 1977) is an Australian born retired mixed martial artist of Greek descent who previously fought in the UFC in their Lightweight division. He is well known for appearing as a fighter on the TV show '' The Ultimat ...

in which he lost by unanimous decision at

UFC 116 ''UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 3, 2010, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show was voted as the Best Major Show in the 2010 Wrestling Observe ...

on July 3. Pellegrino tore his ACL and meniscus in the 1st round. Two weeks after the fight he underwent two surgeries to repair his meniscus and to replace his ACL. Pellegrino faced

Gleison Tibau Janigleison Herculano Alves, better known as Gleison Tibau (; born July 10, 1983) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of Professional Fighters League. A professional since 1999, he has competed for ...

on March 19, 2011 at

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 ...

and lost via split decision. On May 31, 2011, Pellegrino decided not to renew his contract with the UFC and to leave MMA for the time being.

Bellator Fighting Championships

Pellegrino made his return to MMA and by signing with Bellator Fighting Championships. He fought

Patricky Freire Patricky Freire (born January 21, 1986), known professionally by his ring name Patricky Pitbull, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Lightweight division, where he is a former Bellator Lightweight World Champi ...

Bellator 59 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Feathe ...

on November 26 and lost via TKO in the first round. During his post-fight interview, Pellegrino once again announced his retirement from MMA. Pellegrino was expected to come out of retirement to face

Marcin Held Marcin Held (born January 18, 1992) is a Polish mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. He formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Absolute Championship Berkut, Professional Fighters League, a ...

Bellator 68 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

on May 11, 2012. However, Pellegrino was forced out of the bout due to injury. He was then expected to face

Saul Almeida Saul Almeida (born June 4, 1992) is a Brazilian-American professional boxer and mixed martial artist. A professional mixed martial artist since 2008, Almeida has fought in Bellator, World Series of Fighting, Absolute Championship Berkut, and ...

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 ch ...

. However, Pellegrino was forced out of the bout due to injury once again, and Almeida was pulled from the card as a result.

Personal life

Pellegrino and his wife Tara have a daughter named Millie James Pellegrino. Pellegrino also has two other kids Priscilla Pellegrino and Kurt Jr. Pellegrino.

Accomplishments

Mixed Martial Arts *

** Fight of the Night (One time) ** Submission of the Night (Two time) *Reality Fighting **Reality Fighting Lightweight Championship (One time) *Amateur Wrestling: **New Jersey State Wrestling Finalist (Two time)

Mixed martial arts record

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UFC 88 ''UFC 88: Breakthrough'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on September 6, 2008, at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The event was headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Chuck Liddell and Ras ...

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Joe Stevenson Joseph Christopher Stevenson (born June 15, 1982) is a retired American mixed martial artist fighting out of Hesperia, California. Coached by (UFC Hall of Famer) Matt Hughes, Stevenson rose to prominence by becoming The Ultimate Fighter 2 Wel ...

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UFC 74 ''UFC 74: Respect'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 25, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was a UFC Heavyweight Championship ...

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Nate Mohr Nate Mohr (born March 3, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist, formerly fought in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Mohr made his professional mixed martial arts debut on August 15, 20 ...

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Drew Fickett Andrew Robert Fickett (born December 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, Fickett has also formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM, Cage Rage, t ...

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References

External links

Kurt Pellegrino
Official Website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pellegrino, Kurt American male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people 1979 births American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from New Jersey American sportspeople of Italian descent Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers