Murilo Bustamante (; born 30 July 1966, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

) is a retired 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 ...

and former UFC Middleweight Champion. He is one of the founders of the ''

Brazilian Top Team The Brazilian Top Team (BTT) is an academy specialized in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts. It established in April 2000 by Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Libório, Mário Sperry and Luis Roberto Duarte, former members of the Carlson Grac ...

'' and is the current leader. In addition to competing 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 ...

, he has also fought in

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

, making it to the

Pride Shockwave 2005 The year 2005 is the 9th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2005 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 29 - Fists of Fire''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The ...

Final, and also fought in

Yarennoka! ''Yarennoka!'' () was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event that took place on December 31, 2007 at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The event was promoted by the Yarennoka! Executive Committee, composed of former Pride Fighting Championships ...

Background

Bustamante was born in coastal Rio de Janeiro and originally had dreams of professional surfing, but began training in

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 ...

soon after having his first fight when he was 10 years old. He began officially competing when he was 15, before adding

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

, and then began

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

when he was 18. He is a black belt under the renowned

Carlson Gracie Carlson Gracie (August 13, 1932 – February 1, 2006) was a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A member of the Gracie family, he was the eldest son of Carlos Gracie, and nephew to Hélio Gracie, founders of Gracie jiu-jitsu. Carlson Gr ...

. He has won numerous world titles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which includes the World Championships of Jiu-Jitsu.

Instructor lineage

Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr. →

→ Murilo Bustamante

Sports accomplishments

Murilo's grappling accomplishments include Championships at the World Class level, as well as appearances at the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships. In

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 ...

, he has won The Mundials World Championships in 1999 and has won the Brazilian National Championship 4 times. In ADCC, he competed at the 88–98 kg in both 1999 and 2000, and the Absolute tournament in 1999. He managed a record of 3–2 with his losses coming by way of points over submission.

UFC career

Bustamante signed a four-fight deal with the UFC and faced

Yoji Anjo (born March 28, 1967) is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Professional wrestling career Universal Wrestling Federation and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1985–1988) A former practitioner of judo, sumo and muay th ...

in his promotional debut at

UFC 25 ''UFC 25: Ultimate Japan 3'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 14, 2000 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. History The event was the third UFC event to be held in Japan. UFC 25 w ...

on 14 April 2000. He won the debut via second-round submission. He then moved up to light heavyweight to face future champion Chuck Liddell at

UFC 33 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 ...

on 28 September 2001. He lost the fight via unanimous decision which was hotly contested. After the controversial loss, Bustamante decided to move back to middleweight division, receiving an immediate title shot against reigning champion

Dave Menne David Jeremy Menne (born July 29, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion and has also competed for Cage Rage, Bellator, Shooto, ADCC and RINGS. Background Menne was born in Minneapolis, Mi ...

UFC 35 ''UFC 35: Throwdown'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on January 11, 2002. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later releas ...

on 11 January 2002. He claimed the championship via second-round technical knockout. As the final fight of his contract and the first title defense, Bustamante faced

Matt Lindland Matthew James Lindland (born May 17, 1970), also known as The Law, is an American retired mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler, speaker, actor, coach, entrepreneur and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for t ...

UFC 37 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 ...

on 10 May 2002. Lindland allegedly tapped to an armbar in the first round and referee McCarthy waved the bout off. Lindland immediately claimed that he did not tap out and McCarthy resumed the once-finished bout. Eventually, Bustamante submitted Lindland in the third round and successfully defended his title. Bustamante was offered a new contract by the UFC, with a permission to entertain other offers as a free agent. However, when finding out UFC had the best offer on the market and returned to negotiations with them, the organization had lowered their offer to a level preceding the Lindland fight.

Post-UFC career

Bustamante ended up signing with

in 2003. He was a finalist of the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

Tournament 2005 on 31 December. After two impressive victories via an

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that Anatomical terms of motion#General motion, hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow, elbow joint or glenohumeral joint, shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the ...

and a TKO, defeating

Ikuhisa Minowa is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler currently competing in IGF as . A professional MMA competitor since 1996, he was a longtime veteran of PRIDE and Pancrase and has also competed in other mixed martial arts promotions ...

and

Masanori Suda Masanori Suda (born July 7, 1973) is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He competed in the Welterweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions. Suda is known primarily for his time in Shooto, where he is a former Light Heavyweight Champion. He ...

respectively, Bustamante entered the finals against

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

. In the finals, Bustamante dropped an extremely close split decision to the two-time

champion. Murilo dedicates his time to teach

, submission grappling and

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 ...

to his students for all levels at

training camps, as well as

seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

s all over the world. Murilo was scheduled to fight at Superior Challenge 6 and would have faced Tor Troeng. Bustamante was scheduled to face

Yuya Shirai Yuya Shirai (born April 2, 1980) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Shirai has fought for ONE FC, DEEP, BAMMA, Glory World Series, M-1 Global, P ...

at Clube da Luta on 20 July 2011 but had to pull out of the fight due to an unspecified injury.

Grappling credentials

''ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships'' ADCC 2000 88–98 kg: 1st round ADCC 1999 88–98 kg: Semi finals. (Note: Murilo defeated

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 ...

by points, but was unable to continue the tournament.) Absolute: Quarter finals. Record of opponents: * Won:, Dexter Casey (sub),

Ivan Salaverry Ivan E. Salaverry (born January 11, 1971) is a Canadian mixed martial arts fighter and instructor. He is a member of Tito Ortiz's Team Punishment, and is known for his well-rounded skills. Salaverry is a middleweight veteran of the Ultimate Figh ...

(pts), Ricardo Almeida (pts), * Lost: Mike Van Arsdale (pts),

Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American semi-retired mixed martial artist currently competing in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, EliteXC, I ...

(pts) CBJJ World Championships 1999 Black Belt Pesado: 1st Place 1998 Black Belt Pesado: 3rd Place Black Belt Absolute: 3rd Place 1996 Black Belt Pesado: 2nd Place

Championships and accomplishments

* MMAFighting ** 2002 Middleweight Fighter of the YearMMAFighting.com 2006 Year End Awards - MMA Fighting
/ref> * PRIDE Fighting Championships ** 2005 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Runner Up *

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 ...

UFC Middleweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

(1 Time) *** One successful title defense ** First ever Brazilian titleholder in UFC history

Mixed martial arts record

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Manaus, Brazil Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the st ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 14–8–1 ,

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 ...

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Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

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Makoto Takimoto is a retired Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist from Nihon University. He won a gold medal at the Half Middleweight category of the 2000 Summer Olympics. __TOC__ Judo career Takimoto was relatively unknown entering the 2000 Su ...

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Ryuta Sakurai Ryuta Sakurai (born September 8, 1971) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who currently competes in the middleweight division. A veteran who fought for many companies such as Shooto, Pancrase and PRIDE. Nicknamed Mr. DEEP, he is best known for ...

, KO (punch) , Deep: 29 Impact , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:50 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–6–1 ,

Amar Suloev Amar Suloev (January 7, 1976 – June 27, 2016) was a Russian mixed martial artist. Following his mixed martial arts career, Suloev became involved in the world of organized crime and was arrested and accused of being a contract killer. He died o ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Pride - Bushido 11 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–5–1 ,

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Pride Bushido 9 The year 2005 is the 9th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2005 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 29 - Fists of Fire''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The ...

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Kazuhiro Nakamura Kazuhiro Nakamura ( , born July 16, 1979) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed as a Middleweight in DREAM, and is a former DEEP Middleweight Champion. He fought out of the Yoshida Dojo and also competed in the Pride Fighting ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

Pride Final Conflict 2004 The year 2004 is the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The followi ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3–1 ,

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Pride Final Conflict 2003 The year 2003 is the 7th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2003 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 25 - Body Blow''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

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Quinton Jackson Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler, who most recently fought in the Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and unified the Pride Middlew ...

, Decision (split) , Pride Total Elimination 2003 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1–1 ,

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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 ...

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Sanae Kikuta is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 1996, he has competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Pancrase, DREAM, World Victory Road, DEEP, Shooto, and ...

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Jerry Bohlander Jerry Bohlander (born February 12, 1974) is an American former mixed martial artist. He is most notable for his UFC appearances and was a former UFC champion, winning the first lightweight (under 200 lb) tournament at '' UFC 12''. He was a memb ...

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Tom Erikson Tom Erikson (born July 6, 1964) is an American former amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist who competed in the super heavyweight division. Weighing between and throughout his career, "The Big Cat" began wrestling at an early age and was ...

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Chris Haseman Chris Haseman (born 2 June 1969 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian mixed martial artist. Haseman is currently signed with Fighting Network RINGS and is a longtime veteran of the promotion (1995–2012). Regarded as a pioneer of MM ...

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Joe Charles Joe Charles (born July 18, 1958) is an American mixed martial artist. He competed in the Heavyweight division. He is best known for his time in the UFC from 1994 to 2000. Career Charles was an accomplished high school wrestler and judoka, worki ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bustamante, Murilo 1966 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainers Brazilian catch wrestlers Brazilian people of Spanish descent Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing catch wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Luta Livre Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu