Ricardo Alves Almeida (; born November 29, 1976) is a Brazilian-American former

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 current Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler residing in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924.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 ...

, PRIDE Fighting Championships,

Grapplers Quest Grapplers Quest is an organization mainly concerned with the promotion of Grappling (submission wrestling) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. Founded in 1998 by Brian Cimins, Grapplers Quest hosts competitions of various division, age, and wei ...

, and a former Middleweight King of Pancrase. In

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki pr ...

he had notable wins over

Nate Marquardt Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight and welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 1999, he is a former Strikeforce W ...

and

Kazuo Misaki Kazuo Misaki (born April 25, 1976) is a retired Japanese professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2013, he was the 2006 PRIDE Welterweight (183 lbs) Grand Prix Champion, and also competed in Sengoku, Pancrase ...

. Almeida trains with and teaches former UFC Lightweight Champion

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

at his longtime Gracie system gym in Robbinsville, NJ. He also trains former

UFC Lightweight champion 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 ...

Eddie Alvarez and

The Ultimate Fighter 19 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn'' (also known as ''The Ultimate Fighter 19'') is the nineteenth U.S.-based installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The ...

winner Corey Anderson

Background

Almeida is a fourth degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie, and part of the

Gracie Barra Gracie Barra is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu association with over 800 schools on six continents. The organization was founded by Carlos Gracie, Jr. History Carlos Gracie Jr., who was born in 1956, grew up heavily influenced by his family, especiall ...

combat and competition team.

Mixed martial arts career

PRIDE

Almeida made his professional MMA debut on December 9, 2000 at PRIDE 12 against

Akira Shoji Akira Shoji (小路晃) (born January 31, 1974) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is most known as being a regular in almost all the beginning Pride Fighting Championship Shoji was in Pride 1 to Pride 7, an ...

. Almeida won his debut fight via unanimous decision. Almeida made a one-off return to

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) w ...

on May 23, 2004 against

Ryo Chonan is a retired Japanese professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001–2013, Chonan competed for the UFC, PRIDE, DEEP, DREAM, Pancrase, and World Victory Road. Chonan is the former DEEP Middleweight Champion and the fo ...

at Pride:Bushido 3. Almeida won via unanimous decision.

UFC

Almeida made his UFC debut on May 4, 2001 at

UFC 31 ''UFC 31: Locked and Loaded '' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 4, 2001. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and late ...

against

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 ...

in a light heavyweight match. Referee Mario Yamasaki ended the fight in the third round after repeated illegal upkicks from Almeida, giving him a loss via disqualification. His next fight was against Eugene Jackson on September 28, 2001 at UFC 33 in his middleweight debut. Almeida won the fight via triangle choke in the first round. His next fight would be his last with the UFC for 6 years, fighting Andrei Semenov at

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 January 11, 2002. Almeida lost the fight via TKO in the second round after Semenov landed hard punches in his UFC debut. Almeida left the UFC in 2002 for

Pancrase

In his

debut, Almeida fought Osami Shibuya on November 30, 2002 at Pancrase: Spirit 8. He won the fight via

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 keiko ...

in the first round. His next fight was against

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 ...

on February 16, 2003 at Pancrase: Hybrid 2. He won the fight via unanimous decision. His next fight was against Yuki Sasaki on April 12, 2003 at Pancrase: Hybrid 4. He won the fight via unanimous decision. His next fight was against

on August 31, 2003 at Pancrase: 10th Anniversary Show. He won the fight via majority decision. After winning 4 fights in a row with

, Almeida was booked for a title fight against

to become the next Middleweight King Of Pancrase. They fought on November 30, 2003 at Pancrase: Hybrid 10. Almeida tackled Marquardt and was able to lock in a

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while stan ...

and submit Marquardt in the first round, becoming the new Middleweight King Of Pancrase. Controversy began after Almeida did not release the choke for a few seconds after Marquardt tapped and the referee stepped in. This frustrated Marquardt which caused him to throw a punch at Almeida. Almeida's cornermen intervened in the conflict, with Renzo Gracie kicking Marquardt in the face. Both men reconciled and apologised shortly after the incident. He vacated the title in July 2004 and announced his retirement.

Hiatus

Almeida retired for a four-year period after a six-fight win streak to focus on running his Jiu-Jitsu school in

Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Hamilton Township is a township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is the largest suburb of Trenton, the state's capital, which is located to the township's west. The township is within the New York metropolitan area as defined ...

Return to UFC

Almeida came out of retirement and returned to the UFC in 2008. His return bout in the UFC occurred at UFC 81, where he won by submitting Rob Yundt via

at 1:08 in the first round. Almeida's next fight was against top fighter Patrick Cote at UFC 86, where he lost a close split decision. Almeida returned at UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann, this time on the preliminary card, to face

Matt Horwich Matthew Peter Horwich (born October 2, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Horwich has fought in BAMMA, Strikeforce, Bellator, the UFC, and for ...

, winning by unanimous decision. His next fight took place on August 8 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

against

Kendall Grove Kendall Grove (born November 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also competed for the Bellator MMA, UFC, KSW, ProElite, King ...

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 ...

. Almeida won by outgrappling his opponent for the majority of the bout and controlling the fight to earn a unanimous decision victory. He was scheduled to fight

Jon Fitch Jonathan Parker Fitch (born February 24, 1978) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He has competed in the Welterweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and most recently for ...

at UFC 106 but had to withdraw due to a knee injury suffered while training. Almeida faced Matt Brown on March 27, 2010, at

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 ...

in his welterweight debut. Almeida defeated Brown by

at 2:30 in round 2. Almeida faced former

UFC Welterweight Champion 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 ...

and

UFC Hall of Fame The UFC Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In addition to the Ultimate Fighting ...

r Matt Hughes on August 7, 2010, at

UFC 117 ''UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, United States. Background UFC President Dana White announced via ESPN on Jim Ro ...

and lost via technical submission due to a Dave Schultz front headlock. Almeida faced

T. J. Grant T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for "True" in lo ...

on December 11, 2010, at

UFC 124 ''UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck 2'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 11, 2010 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The event was the fourth that the UFC has hosted at the ...

. Almeida defeated Grant by unanimous decision. Almeida faced Mike Pyle on March 19, 2011, at UFC 128. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Retirement

Almeida retired for the second time on March 30, 2011, saying that he could not focus 100 percent on fighting, citing his family, his son (who was diagnosed with autism), and teaching at his academies as other areas of his life that needed attention. He added that he would continue to support the UFC and teammates such as

, Kris McCray, Eddie Alvarez, and Corey Anderson.

MMA Judge

A week after his retirement, Almeida became a professional MMA judge in

New Jersey 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 ...

. On May 5, 2012, he made his major-event debut as a judge at the

UFC on FOX 3 ''UFC on Fox: Diaz vs. Miller'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 3'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 5, 2012 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Background Dennis Hallman was expected ...

card at the

Izod Center Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor arena facility located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The arena is located on ...

at the

Meadowlands Sports Complex The Meadowlands Sports Complex is a sports complex located in East Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The facility is owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). The complex currently con ...

Personal life

Ricardo resides between Robbinsville, NJ and Sarasota, FL with his family. He is the head instructor and owner at Ricardo Almeida Brazilian jiu-jitsu School located in

Robbinsville Township, New Jersey Robbinsville Township is a township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The township is part of the New York Metropolitan area as defined by the United States Census Bureau, but directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and ...

and in Lakewood Ranch, FL.

Grappling credentials

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship ADCC 2003 88–98 kg: 4th place ADCC 2001 88–98 kg: 2nd place Openweight: 4th place ADCC 2000 Openweight: 3rd place ADCC 1999 88–98 kg: 3rd place ADCC 1998 88–98 kg: 2nd place CBJJ Pan American Championships 1999 Brown Belt pesado: 1st Place CBJJ Brazilian Championships 1997 Brown Belt Pesado: 1st Place 1996 Purple Belt Médio: 1st Place Purple Belt Open Weight: 3rd Place IBJJF Pan American No-Gi Championship 2012 Black belt Meio-Pesado: 1st Place IBJJF No-Gi Worlds Championship 2013 Black Belt Masters: 1st Place

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 13–5 , Mike Pyle , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 128 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.T. J. Grant T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for "True" in lo ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

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

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 , Matt Hughes , Technical Submission (Dave Schultz front headlock) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:15 ,

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , Matt Brown , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:30 ,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Kendall Grove Kendall Grove (born November 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also competed for the Bellator MMA, UFC, KSW, ProElite, King ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

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

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 ,

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

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 , Patrick Côté , Decision (split) , UFC 86 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Rob Yundt , Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC 81 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:08 ,

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

, Decision (unanimous) ,

Pride Bushido 3 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 follow ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 T ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , Pancrase - Hybrid 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:53 ,

Tokyo, Japan 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 ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 ,

, Decision (majority) , Pancrase - 10th Anniversary Show , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Yuki Sasaki , Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase - Hybrid 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 4–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase - Hybrid 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–2 , Osami Shibuya , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Pancrase - Spirit 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:25 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–2 , Andrei Semenov , TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:01 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ea ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Eugene Jackson , Submission (triangle choke) , UFC 33 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:06 ,

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

, DQ (repeated fouls) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:21 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Pride 12 - Cold Fury , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan ,

References

External links

Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Ricardo Living people 1976 births Sportspeople from New York City People from Weehawken, New Jersey People from Bordentown, New Jersey American sportspeople of Brazilian descent American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from New Jersey Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters