Saul Almeida (born June 4, 1992) is a Brazilian-American professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and

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 ...

. A professional mixed martial artist since 2008, Almeida has fought in Bellator,

World Series of Fighting The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by Venture capital, venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fight ...

Absolute Championship Berkut Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), formerly known as Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), is a Russian mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization and one of the leading promotions in Europe. To date, most events have been ...

, and CES MMA.

Background

Almeida was born in Brazil where he lived until moving to Boston, Massachusetts at the age of eight. Almeida began training in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

and earned the rank of black belt, at the age of ten, Almeida 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 ...

. In high school, Almeida competed in

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 ...

and also trained in

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 ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Almeida made his professional debut in October 2008, defeating Iann de Oliveira via unanimous decision. He would then win his next 6 bouts, earning them mostly by decision before losing to Pete Jeffrey via guillotine choke submission at CES MMA: First Blood on September 17, 2010. Almeida then won his next two bouts, defeating Bobby Reardanz and Cody Stevens both by unanimous decision before making his Bellator debut.

Bellator MMA

Almeida made his Bellator debut on August 20, 2011 at

Bellator 48 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple Mixed martial arts weight classes, weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: We ...

. He faced

Tateki Matsuda Tateki Matsuda (born February 7, 1986) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist, who most recently competed in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2008, Matsuda has also formerly c ...

and won via unanimous decision. Almeida next faced

Matt Bessette Matthew James Bessette (born December 28, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist currently competing in CES MMA where he is the reigning Featherweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2007, he has also competed for Bellato ...

Bellator 63 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 March 30, 2012. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Almeida was expected to face UFC veteran

Kurt Pellegrino Kurt Joseph Pellegrino (born May 7, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the lightweight division for Bellator Fighting Championships and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life Pellegrino wrestled for Point Pleasa ...

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 ...

on November 15, 2013. However, Pellegrino pulled out of the fight due to injury. Almeida was removed from the card as a result. Almeida instead fought outside of Bellator for his next three fights. Almeida faced

Goiti Yamauchi is a Japanese-born Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Welterweight division for Bellator MMA. As of December 13, 2022, he is #5 in the Bellator Welterweight Rankings. Background Yamauchi was born in Anjō, Aichi to ...

Bellator 109 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 ...

on November 22, 2013. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Almeida faced Andrew Fisher in a Bellator season ten featherweight tournament alternate bout on February 28, 2014 at

Bellator 110 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, ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Independent promotions

After leaving Bellator, with a 2-2 record in the organisation, Almeida has gone 3-0, with two finishes, on the local circuit.

World Series of Fighting

Almeida made his WSOF debut against Chris Foster on April 10, 2015 at

WSOF 20 World Series of Fighting 20: Branch vs. McElligott was a mixed martial arts event held in Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States. This event aired on NBCSN in the U.S and on TSN2 in Canada. Background The main event was originally scheduled ...

. He won the fight via split decision. Almeida returned to the promotion on October 17, 2015 at WSOF 24. He faced Alexandre de Almeida and lost the fight via submission in the first round. For his third fight, Almeida faced Bruce Boyington at WSOF 31 on June 17, 2016, and lost via split decision.

Professional boxing

Almeida made his professional boxing debut in 2012. He holds an overall record 1-14-4.

Mixed martial arts record

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Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

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Manny Bermudez Manny Bermudez (born July 19, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. A professional mixed martial artist since 2015, Bermudez has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

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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, this ...

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Rob Font Rob Font (born June 25, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Font formerly competed for CES M ...

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Calvin Kattar Calvin Kattar (born March 26, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2007, Kattar formerly competed ...

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Kevin Roddy Kevin Roddy is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Roddy has also formerly competed for Strikeforce and M-1 Global. Background Born and ra ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Saul Living people 1989 births American male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male karateka American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu