Rafaello Oliveira Ferreira (; born January 26, 1982) 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, incorp ...

who formerly 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 of the

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 ...

Mixed martial arts career

Oliveria took up

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 ...

at the age of 16,Dave Link,
Knoxville's Rafaello Oliveira Needs to Win to Maintain UFC Status
" ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', 5 July 2012. Retrieved: 5 July 2012. and started his professional MMA career in 2004, competing in his native Brazil. He moved to the United States in 2007, and settled in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

, in 2008, where he was an instructor at the Knoxville Martial Arts Academy. In 2012 he moved to Charleston, SC where he taught at Charleston Krav Maga and now teaches out of Pro Performance Athletics in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In August 2009, it was announced Oliveira would be debuting for the

UFC 103 ''UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on September 19, 2009 in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center. The event was broadcast on pay-per-view. Background This ...

. He was originally scheduled to fight

Dan Lauzon Daniel James Lauzon (born March 30, 1988) is a former American mixed martial artist who competed in the World Series of Fighting's Lightweight division, and has also formerly competed in the UFC and Affliction. He is the younger brother of fello ...

, but Lauzon pulled out of the bout due to an injury and was replaced by

Nik Lentz Nik Lentz (born August 13, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He most notably fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in the lightweight division. Background Lentz was born in El Paso, Texas but grew up in Twin ...

. Despite pushing the pace in the first round and moving forward aggressively, Oliveira was controlled by Lentz in the 2nd and 3rd rounds which led to a unanimous decision loss. Oliveira was expected to face

Sean Sherk Sean Keith Sherk (born August 5, 1973) is a retired American mixed martial artist and former UFC Lightweight Champion. Sherk competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was one of the first combatants to have been a championship competitor ...

on January 2, 2010, at

UFC 108 ''UFC 108: Evans vs. Silva'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 2, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Background The card for UFC 108 was plagued with numerous injuries ...

. However, after an injury to

Tyson Griffin Tyson Lee Griffin (born April 20, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division. He competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, the RFA, and the World Series of Fighting. Background Griffin was a standout w ...

, Sherk stepped up to face Jim Miller, leaving Oliveira to face

John Gunderson John Edward Gunderson (born May 1, 1980) is a retired American mixed martial artist. He used to fight with the UFC and SCC also numerous other organizations being a champion or fighting for the championship in many of them. Once he was a top 1 ...

. Oliveira went on to defeat Gunderson via unanimous decision, earning his first UFC win. Oliveria most recently faced

Andre Winner Andre Badi Winner (born 9 November 1981) is a Grenadian-born English mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's '' The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom'', reaching the final. Winner is also a member of Team Roug ...

on March 31, 2010, at

UFC Fight Night 21 ''UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 21'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 31, 2010 at Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, This was the third time ...

, replacing an injured

Cole Miller Cole Miller (born April 26, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the featherweight division in the UFC. His nickname "Magrinho" means "skinny" in Portuguese. Mixed martial arts career Before giving ...

. Oliveira was defeated by Winner via unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the UFC. In May 2011, Oliveira was re-signed by the UFC and 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 May 28, 2011, at

UFC 130 ''UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 28, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background This event was to be the third meeting between Frankie Edgar ...

, replacing an injured Bart Palaszewski. Oliveira was submitted for the second time in his professional career, tapping out to a rear-naked choke in the second round. Oliveira faced

Yves Edwards Yves Ed'duvill Edwards (born September 30, 1976) is a Bahamian retired mixed martial artist, who is best known for competing in the UFC's Lightweight division, fighting 21 times in the promotion. A professional competitor since 1997, he also com ...

on October 1, 2011, at

UFC on Versus 6 ''UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson'' (also known as ''UFC on Versus 6'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 1, 2011 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Background This event featured a UFC Banta ...

. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round. Oliveira was expected to face

Reza Madadi Reza Madadi (, (born June 20, 1978) is a retired Iranian-born Swedish mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division. A professional mixed martial artist from 2006 to 2019, Madadi is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fightin ...

on January 20, 2012, at

UFC on FX 1 The year 2012 was the 20th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2012 started with UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes and ended with UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 ...

. However, Oliveira was forced out of a bout with an injury and replaced by returning veteran

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� ...

. Oliveira faced Yoislandy Izquierdo on July 7, 2012, at

UFC 148 ''UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 7, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the seventeenth UFC event of the year. The card consisted of el ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Oliveira was expected to face

Michael Chiesa Michael Keith Chiesa (; born December 7, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist, and sports analyst who currently competes in the welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor sin ...

on December 8, 2012, at

UFC on Fox 5 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 ...

. However, Oliveira was forced out of the bout with a broken hand and replaced by

Marcus LeVesseur Ausburg Auggies Marcus LeVesseur (born July 17, 1982) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, he competed for the UFC and Adrenaline MMA. As a collegiat ...

. Oliveira faced

Edson Barboza Edson Barboza Jr. (born January 21, 1986) is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has formerly competed at li ...

UFC 162 ''UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman'' was a mixed martial arts event on July 6, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was a UFC Middleweight Championship bout between long time title holder Anderson Silva a ...

, and lost the bout due to leg kicks in the second round. Oliveira faced

Erik Koch Erik Jon Koch (born October 4, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he formerly competed for the WEC. Background Koch wa ...

on February 22, 2014, at

UFC 170 ''UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann'' was a mixed martial arts held on February 22, 2014, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was released on DVD on May 27, 2014. The DVD was distributed by ''Anchor Bay Entertainment''. Ba ...

. He lost the fight by TKO in the first round after he was knocked down by a counter straight right hook, and was subsequently released from UFC shortly after.

Personal life

Oliveira is married to Wanessa Carolina and has three children.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 17–8 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:24 ,

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 , , - , Loss , align=center, 17–7 ,

, TKO (leg kicks) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:44 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 17–6 , Yoislandy Izquierdo , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, TKO (head kick and punches) , UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:44 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–5 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:28 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 16–4 , Ryan Bixler , TKO (punches) , Recife Fighting Championship 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:21 ,

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, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 15–4 ,

Bendy Casimir Bendy Casimir (born June 10, 1980) is a French professional Lightweight mixed martial artist. He has competed for the WEC and M-1 Global. WEC career He made his WEC debut against Ricardo Lamas on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47, losing via first-round ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Recife Fighting Championship 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 14–4 , Kevin Roddy , Submission (rear-naked choke) , DFL 1: The Big Bang , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:46 ,

New Jersey, United States New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware R ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Rafael Dias , Decision (unanimous) , Scorpius Fighting Championships 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 , John Mahlow , Decision (unanimous) , XFC 8: Regional Conflict , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Beau King , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Colosseo Championship Fighting , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:34 ,

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Robert Thompson , Submission (triangle choke) , XFC 7: School of Hard Knox , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:50 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 ,

Lyle Beerbohm Lyle Beerbohm (born February 5, 1979) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2007 until 2013, he fought for Strikeforce, the World Series of Fighting, EliteXC, and King of the Cage. Mixed martia ...

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , ShoXC 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , David Santiago , N/A , ROTR: Beatdown 6 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Edilson Florencio , Submission (triangle choke) , MZI - Combat 2 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

Caicó Caicó, also known as the City of Prince, is a municipality in the Seridó Ocidental microrregion and Central Potiguar mesorregion, in Rio Grande do Norte state, Northeast Brazil. With a population of 80,726 inhabitants (2021), it is the seventh ...

, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Vitor Pimenta , TKO (punches) , Action Fight Championship , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the 19 ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Weguimar de Lucena Xavier , TKO (slam) , Rino's FC 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Fabio Santana Toldo , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Rino's FC 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Miro Arona , Decision (unanimous) , Pernambuco Extreme Fight , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Jorge Rodrigues Silva , Submission (keylock) , Pernambuco Extreme Fight , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Unknown Fighter , N/A , Pernambuco Extreme Fight , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

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, Brazil ,

References

External links

Official UFC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliveira, Rafaello 1982 births Brazilian male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Living people Sportspeople from Recife Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters