Michael Alexander Rio (born July 6, 1981) is an American

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 ...

who last competed in 2014. A professional since 2008, he has competed 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 ...

and was a competitor on the 15th 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 ...

''.

Wrestling career

High school

Rio was introduced to

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

at Cutler Ridge Middle School, but truly began competing at

Miami Southridge High School Miami Southridge Senior High School is a secondary school located in South Miami Heights, Florida (Miami postal address). Its current principal is Humberto J. Miret. The school serves ninth through twelfth grade students in a mostly unincorporat ...

, where he went on to win two Florida state championships under high school wrestling coach Jim Husk (who also coached his father, uncle, older brother and two younger brothers) and assistant coach Kenny Johnson. During that time he led his school to two undefeated state championship wins, individually amassing an overall record of 147-10, going undefeated his junior and senior years. Along with those honors, he also holds the national record of fastest pin at 4 seconds at 103 lbs. He was also named to the ''Wrestling USA Magazine'' National All-American High School Team as an honorable mention in 2000 and Wrestler of the Year (Mr. Wrestling) by Florida Dairy Farmers, Inc. It was also in high school that Rio met and began some wrestling training with Cuban world champion and now fellow fighter

Alexis Vila Alexis Vila Perdomo (born March 12, 1971) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist. An accomplished wrestler, Vila is also a two-time World Champion and 1996 Olympic bronze medallist. At the 1996 Summer Olympics he won the bronze medal in ...

College

In his first year at the collegiate level, Rio advanced to the finals of the national tournament, but lost. A year later, he once again advanced to the finals and won his first national championship at the junior college national wrestling championships for

Harper College William Rainey Harper College is a public community college in Palatine, Illinois. It was established by referendum in 1965 and opened in September 1967. It is named for William Rainey Harper, a pioneer in the junior college movement in the ...

in Illinois at 149 lbs. He then won back-to-back titles at the NAIA national wrestling championships for

Lindenwood University Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri. Founded in 1827 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Missis ...

in Missouri at 149 and 157 lbs, respectively. He was also the only NAIA wrestler that year to defend his back-to-back title. Rio finished his college career by being named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2006 national championship tournament. And it was because of this performance that he had the honor of being featured in the March 27 issue of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' magazine's long-running segment ''Faces in the Crowd''. Additionally, during his time at Lindenwood University he was also the college roommate of now fellow UFC fighter and ''

The Ultimate Fighter 12 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck'' is the twelfth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on April 1, 2010, in Charlot ...

'' winner

Jonathan Brookins Jonathan Quinn Brookins (born August 13, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist who competed as a featherweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Brookins has mostly fought in Florida, as well as ...

Mixed martial arts career

Background

While working as a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or m ...

at a nightclub, Rio was approached by many former wrestlers asking why he did not fight MMA. After first shunning the idea, he finally gave the sport a try. He began his MMA training at Freestyle Fighting Academy (FFA) in

Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

, Florida, under the tutelage of brothers Marcos and

David Avellan David Avellan is an American grappler and professional mixed martial artist who has fought for World Extreme Cagefighting and Bodog Fight promotions. Past opponents include French journeyman Antony Rea and UFC contender Aaron Simpson. ...

. Initially thinking this would only be a hobby, it wasn't until the ML Management Group CEO offered her management services that his career really began to take off. Rio is nicknamed "The Wolverine" after the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

character for having a similar look. More specifically, the film version played by

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor. Beginning in theatre and television, he landed his breakthrough role as James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine in the 20th Century Fox ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2017), a role ...

Early career and training

Rio's first pro fight came in 2008 when he defeated Marc Seno at Reality Combat Championship 2 with a technical knock out by punches. Mike continued on his winning streak besting his next five opponents via submissions and knockouts between 2008 and 2011, with one fight ending in a unanimous decision against Mike Bruno. It was also during that time that Rio briefly fought for the former

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

player

Glen Rice Glen Anthony Rice Sr. (born May 28, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a small forward, Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star and made 1,559 three-point field goal ...

's G-Force Fights promotion. Rio formally trained in Miami at gyms Zen Ju-Jitsu with Coach Enrico Cocco, the Health Joint with Ulises Garcia and Young Tigers with Manuel "Manolo" Lopez and ''Ultimate Fighter'' alum

Alex Caceres Alex Caceres (born June 20, 1988) is an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight (MMA), featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Cacer ...

. Rio has also trained at the Jaco Hybrid Training Center in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles ...

, best known for their team, the

Blackzilians The Blackzilians was a professional team of fighters in mixed martial arts, boxing, kickboxing, amateur wrestling and catch wrestling located in South Florida. The team had included former UFC champions Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Eddie Alvarez ...

and has traveled to Texas to train with ''

The Ultimate Fighter 16 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson'' is the sixteenth main installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. This season reverted to the taped format, after Th ...

'' winner

Colton Smith Colton Thomas Smith (born August 14, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Smith is best known for competing on, and winning The Ultimate Fighter: Team ...

and his boxing coach. Rio has most recently taken up coaching/training at the

American Top Team American Top Team (ATT) is one of the primary teams in mixed martial arts. The gym was founded by Dan Lambert, who brought in former members of Brazilian Top Team Marcus "Conan" Silveira, Marcelo Silveira and Ricardo Liborio, but there is no for ...

Miramar, Florida Miramar is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 134,721. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which is home to approximately six million people. History Miramar wa ...

, and

Coconut Creek, Florida Coconut Creek is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Situated north of Miami, it had a population of 57,833 in 2020. It is part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city seceded from ...

Championship Fighting Alliance

Rio made his

Championship Fighting Alliance Championship Fighting Alliance (CFA) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) based promotion company located in Miami Lakes, Florida. It was founded by former MMA fighter and promoter Jorge De La Noval in 2011. Events CFA has currently produced 10 live ...

(CFA) debut against opponent and former ''

Ultimate Fighter ''Ultimate Fighter'' - known in Japan as , is a 1992 fighting video game developed and published by Culture Brain for the Super NES. An updated version of it titled

'' champion

Efrain Escudero Efraín Escudero (born January 15, 1986) is a Mexican mixed martial artist. He trains under Drew Fickett and competes in the 155 lb (70.3 kg) weight class. Efrain was the winner of season eight of Spike TV's reality show ''The Ultimate ...

, but suffered his first loss via decision against the fighter. Rio rebounded by winning his next two contests, prior to being chosen to participate on '' The Ultimate Fighter: Live''.

''The Ultimate Fighter''

Having changed formats and being moved to a different network, ''The Ultimate Fighter'' 15th season debuted live on cable channel FX March 9, 2012 with rivals

Dominick Cruz Dominick Cruz (born March 9, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cruz ha ...

and

Urijah Faber Urijah Faber (born May 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and actor who is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He competed as a bantamweight and formerly competed as a featherweight. He is also the founder of Team Alpha Male, ...

coaching the 32 potential candidates vying for a spot in ''The Ultimate Fighter'' house. In the preliminary bout to reach the house, Rio faced Northern Irish fighter, Ali Maclean, and won by submission with a

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikogi ...

. He was then chosen by current UFC bantamweight champion Cruz along with seven other fighters to represent his "Team Cruz" on the show. After a visit from

Ronda Rousey Ronda Jean Rousey (; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current SmackDown Women’s ...

, weeks of heavy training, enduring a minor knee injury, and a scuffle with teammate

Justin Lawrence Justin Ray Lawrence (born May 15, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional MMA competitor since 2010, Lawrence has also formerly competed for the UFC ...

, Rio's name was finally called to face Faber's British fighter

Andy Ogle Andrew Richard Ogle (born 16 February 1989) is a retired English mixed martial artist, who formerly competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2009, Ogle has made a name f ...

. The fight was even going into the second round, but Rio fell to Ogle via rear-naked choke. In the last episode before the season finale, it was revealed by UFC President

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

that all the contestants in the house would fight in the finale except Ogle and Rio due to injuries. The injury to Rio being two broken ribs he suffered during his fight with Ogle. The injury wasn't immediately noticed after the fight, instead it was discovered in training the following week. That didn't deter White, however as he was so impressed by the caliber of talent on the show that he decided to sign them all to contracts, Rio included.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Rio made his official UFC debut when he faced fellow '' TUF: Live'' alumnus John Cofer on December 15, 2012, at '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale''. He won via submission (

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, pr ...

) in the third round. Months later, Rio faced and was defeated by

Francisco Trinaldo Francisco Trinaldo Soares da Rocha (; born August 24, 1978) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2006, he has also competed for Jungle Fight in h ...

via

arm triangle choke Arm triangle choke, side choke, or head and arm choke are generic terms describing blood chokeholds in which the opponent is strangled in between their own shoulder and the practitioner's arm. This is as opposed to the regular triangle choke, whi ...

on May 18, 2013, at

UFC on FX 8 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 ...

. Rio then faced ''

The Ultimate Fighter 13 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos'' is the thirteenth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on November 4, 2010, ...

'' winner

Tony Ferguson Anthony Armand Ferguson Padilla (born February 12, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Interim UFC Lightweight C ...

on October 19, 2013 at

UFC 166 ''UFC 166: Velasquez vs. dos Santos III'' was a mixed martial arts event held on October 19, 2013, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Background The main event was a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the current champion Cain Velas ...

. He lost via D'arce choke submission in the first round. Finally, Rio faced

Daron Cruickshank Daron Jae Cruickshank (born June 11, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing as a lightweight for the Xtreme Fighting Championships. A professional competitor since 2008, Cruickshank has also formerly competed for the UFC, ...

on January 25, 2014, at

UFC on Fox 10 ''UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 10'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 25, 2014, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Background The event was headlined by a lightweight bout between former w ...

. He lost the fight when he was stunned due to a wheel kick and finally TKOed by punches at 4:56 of round two. As a result, Rio was released from the promotion.

Fight Time Promotions

In late March 2014, Rio signed with Olympic gold medalist boxer

Howard Davis Jr. Howard Edward Davis Jr. (February 14, 1956 – December 30, 2015) was an American professional boxer. Growing up on Long Island as the eldest of 10 children, Davis first learned boxing from his father. After being inspired by a movie about Muham ...

's Fight Time Promotions. In his first ever main event, he went up against former

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

fighter Avery McPhatter on May 30 at the War Memorial Auditorium in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

. He won in the first round via

D'Arce choke Arm triangle choke, side choke, or head and arm choke are generic terms describing blood chokeholds in which the opponent is strangled in between their own shoulder and the practitioner's arm. This is as opposed to the regular triangle choke, whic ...

. He also won submission of the night. In his second main event, Rio faced former Bellator fighter Frank Carrillo for the Fight Time Lightweight Championship on August 29, 2014. He lost the fight via second round knockout. Carrillo, however, was ineligible to win the title belt for lack of making weight. Rio still took the fight.

Acting career

The ''Ultimate Fighter'' wasn't Rio's first taste of television. In 2011, during the fifth season of Miami-based show ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...

'' (eighth episode entitled "Hard Out"), Rio appeared in several scenes in an uncredited mercenary role, even sharing one scene with show star

Jeffrey Donovan Jeffrey Donovan (born May 11, 1968) is an American actor. He played Michael Westen in the television series ''Burn Notice'', and appeared in films such as '' Hitch'', '' Believe in Me'', ''Changeling'', and ''Come Early Morning''. He played Robe ...

. Rio also appeared in a music video in 2012 entitled "The Crown" by Miami hip-hop, funk and soul fusion band Dangerflow. In the video he plays a man fired from his day job and forced to fight in night street fights to earn money for his fictional daughter. "The Crown" was also the official song of the

championship parade that same year.

Personal life

Rio's mother and father are of Cuban descent. His mother being born in Miami, his father emigrating to Miami at the age of five. Rio, also born and raised in Miami, participated in many sports with his older brother, including soccer, basketball, baseball, cross country running and wrestling. After his parents divorced and remarried, his family grew and he soon had many siblings, almost all of which also wrestled. After college, Rio returned home and began volunteering coaching at Christopher Columbus High School, where two of his four younger brothers attended and wrestled. Also during that time he began a career in security as a bouncer in Miami's

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

and downtown

Brickell Brickell ( ) is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida located directly east of Interstate 95, south of the historic CBD, and north of Coconut Grove. Brickell is known as the financial district in Miami, as well as South Florida. Brickell was founded ...

areas and most currently in Miami's

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

area. In April 2015, director/producer Danny Segura put together a short documentary film entitled ''Scraping for a Dollar'' in which Rio is followed on his daily routine and his attempt to reenter the UFC. Rio also is a strong advocate of

Autism awareness Autism-friendly means being aware of social engagement and environmental factors affecting people on the Autism spectrum disorder, autism spectrum, with modifications to communication methods and physical space to better suit individual's unique an ...

, having a younger brother with the condition. He often volunteers at schools and conventions and has even created a wristband with his name in which he donates all the proceeds to

Autism Speaks Autism Speaks Inc. is a controversial autism advocacy organization and the largest autism research organization in the United States. It sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, an ...

. It is because of those efforts that he has become one of the South Florida athletic spokesmen for the organization. Rio and his family are no strangers to fighting having a grandfather and great uncle, Ricardo Montero Duque (who was a major in the Cuban Army and later the US Army), who fought during the

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fina ...

against

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

's forces and for Cuba's independence in the 1950s and 1960s. Rio is also the cousin of

Gaby Sánchez Gabriel Sánchez (born September 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida/Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the ...

of the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

of Japan's

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). On May 17, 2016, Rio and his fiancée welcomed a child, a boy, his first.

Championships and accomplishments

Wrestling

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

**Two-time Florida State Champion,

**National record for fastest pin at 103 lbs. (Four seconds) **''Wrestling USA Magazine'' 2000 National All-American Team, Honorable Mention **Florida Dairy Farmers, Inc Wrestler of the Year (Mr. Wrestler) *

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

**Junior Collegiate National Champion,

**Two-time NAIA National Collegiate Champion,

**Most Outstanding Wrestler, 2006 national tournament **Four-time All-American

Mixed martial arts

*''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired by Village Voic ...

'' - Best of Miami 2013 - Best MMA Fighter *2013 Florida MMA Awards - Florida's Favorite UFC Fighter

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–5 , Frank Carrillo , KO (punches) , Fight Time 20 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:18 ,

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–4 , Avery McPhatter , Submission (D'Arce choke) , Fight Time 19: Battle of the Brave , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:38 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 ,

, Submission (D'Arce choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:52 ,

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Submission (arm-triangle choke) , UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Rockhold , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:08 ,

Jaraguá do Sul Jaraguá do Sul () is a city in the north of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. History The city was founded on July 25, 1876, by engineer and Brazilian Army colonel Emílio Carlos Jourdan and his family. The city was originally named jus ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , John Cofer , Submission (armbar) ,

The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson'' is the sixteenth main installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. This season reverted to the taped format, after Th ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:11 ,

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 Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , John Ortolani , TKO (punches) , CFA 4: Izquierdo vs. Cenoble , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:53 ,

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Zach Juusola , TKO (punches) , CFA 3: Howard vs. Olson , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , CFA 2: McCorkle vs. Befort , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Sylvain Bynum , TKO (punches) , MFA: New Generation 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:51 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Jimmy Chaikong , Submission (rear-naked choke) , G-Force Fights: Bad Blood 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:38 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Mike Bruno , Decision (unanimous) , MFA: New Generation 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Carlos Galindo , Submission (choke) , Fite Nite: Terror En La Villa , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:59 , San José, Costa Rica , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Nathaniel Robinson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , WWCF: Blood War , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:45 ,

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Marc Seno , TKO (punches) , Reality Combat Championship 2: The Second Encounter , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:09 ,

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, United States ,

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, Loss , align=center, 1–1 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , The Ultimate Fighter: Live , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:19 ,

Las Vegas 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 Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States , Preliminary round. , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Ali Maclean , Submission (rear-naked choke) , The Ultimate Fighter: Live , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:32 ,

, United States , 1 round TUF entry fight.

References

External links

Mike Rio website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rio, Mike 1981 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Florida American mixed martial artists of Cuban descent Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Autism activists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers

Wrestling career

High school

College

Mixed martial arts career

Background

Early career and training

Championship Fighting Alliance

''The Ultimate Fighter''

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Fight Time Promotions

Acting career

Personal life

Championships and accomplishments

Wrestling

Mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts record

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

See also

References

External links