Ricardo Arona

Ricardo Arona
Born (1978-07-17) July 17, 1978
Niteroi, Brazil
Other names The Brazilian Tiger, The Prince of Jiu-Jitsu, The Heartless King of Newaza
Nationality Brazilian
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Division Light Heavyweight (205 lb)
Reach 73 in (185 cm)
Fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Team Brazilian Top Team[1]
Rank Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Years active 2000–2009 (MMA)
Mixed martial arts record
Total 19
Wins 14
By knockout 2
By submission 3
By decision 9
Losses 5
By knockout 3
By decision 2
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Medal record
Representing  Brazil
Grappling
ADCC
2000 Abu Dhabi -99 kg
2001 Abu Dhabi -99 kg
2001 Abu Dhabi Absolute

Ricardo Arona (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaʁdu aˈʁõnɐ]; born July 17, 1978) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career, and was a member of Brazilian Top Team. He is the former RINGS Middleweight Championship, as well as the 2001 RINGS Middleweight Championship Tournament Winner, and 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Runner-Up. In submission wrestling, he holds an undefeated record of 13-0, never losing a single point in a match, and is a three-time ADCC Champion.[2] He has notable wins in both MMA and submission grappling competition over Tito Ortiz, Jeff Monson, Renato Sobral, Vitor Belfort, Mark Kerr, Kazushi Sakuraba, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Alistair Overeem, Murilo Rua, Jeremy Horn, Guy Mezger, and Dean Lister.

Background

Arona was born in Niteroi, Brazil and trained in judo and karate before transitioning into Brazilian jiu-jitsu after seeing a vale tudo fight at the age of 13. Arona came to Carlson Gracie at the age of 18 when he was a purple belt and would go on to win numerous titles in submission wrestling.[2] He also trained in capoeira.[3]

Ricardo Arona's popularity came from competing in the Olimpo's Combat Club submission wrestling competitions, where he won an open weight tournament as well as the 92 kg (202 pound) tournament. Arona is the only competitor in Abu Dhabi to have won a championship and to be undefeated so far plus also not losing a single point in any match. ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

Mixed martial arts career

Fighting Network RINGS

Soon after ADCC, Arona joined Fighting Network RINGS, a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion. His debut match would against aging sambo champion Andrei Kopylov, who Arona defeated by unanimous decision after controlling him positionally for most of the match. He then beat Jeremy Horn, and went to participate in the King of Kings tournament, but was eliminated at the first round by Fedor Emelianenko in Arona's first loss. Although the Brazilian controlled Emelianenko with takedowns and superior ground game, as RINGS's ruleset gave more scoring to aggression than positional control, Fedor was awarded the decision for cramming most of the submission attempts of the match.

Arona's next opponent was professional wrestler Hiromitsu Kanehara. Ricardo overwhelmed him with punches and takedowns, while Kanehara repeatedly reversed to top position and kept attacking, but Arona seized him at the second round with a kneebar and made him give in. Afterwards, Arona took part in a tournament for the RINGS Middleweight Championship, facing Jeremy Horn again in the first round and beating him again with an unanimous decision. The final match was against Gustavo Machado, who Arona defeated with kicks and punches in 1:29 to win the tournament and the title.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

After being noticed in RINGS, Arona was offered a contract to join PRIDE Fighting Championships. He started his career there strong, defeating Pancrase veteran Guy Mezger, but his victory would be a controversial one. Mezger managed to stop Arona's takedowns and land strikes, including a glancing head kick and punches through the guard, which forced Arona to defend; it took two rounds for the Brazilian to come back, taking down Mezger and executing ground and pound until the end of the third round. Arona won an unanimous decision, which was disputed by some sources, including the announcers of the match.[4]

Ricardo's next fight would be against another high ranked opponent, Dan Henderson. This time Arona was able to take down the wrestling champion, but Henderson executed his own takedown and landed knees and punches to the face until Arona could escape. The Brazilian switched his strategy and knocked down Henderson with a right hand, though the American still reversed and ended the first round attacking Arona's guard. At the second round, despite receiving a cut over his eye, Arona managed to overpower Henderson and punish him from the top. He looked to have secured a rear naked choke in the final time, only for Henderson to escape, but Arona controlled him to end the match and get the split decision.

At PRIDE 23, Arona would go against Murilo Rua, a member of the Chute Boxe team, which was in a rivalry with Brazilian Top Team at the time. The two contenders fought a series of battles on the clinch, in which Arona imposed his superior wrestling and almost finished the fight with a rear naked choke and an Achilles lock at the end of the first round. The match went back and forth, with Murilo escaping from sparse submissions and landing strikes, but Arona overpowered him with takedowns and kicks at the end and won the unanimous decision.

The victory over Rua was followed by Arona's first defeat in PRIDE, losing his fourth fight to Quinton Jackson in a spectacular knockout. Arona, outsized for the first time in the promotion, saw Jackson powering out of his holds, so he elected to stay in his guard to minimize damage. He seemed to knock out Jackson with an upkick, but as it wasn't so he followed with a triangle choke, only for Jackson to suddenly lift him up and counter with a powerbomb. The slam knocked Arona out and led the referee to stop the match, declaring Jackson the winner. After the bout, Arona protested and claimed that an illegal headbutt he received by Jackson at the end of the slam was what knocked him out; footage of the fight seems to support this,[5] but it was never officially acknowledged or investigated.

Four months later, Arona returned to PRIDE and won a fight against sambo champion Sergey Ignatov. On April 23, 2005, Arona entered PRIDE's Middleweight (205 lbs) Grand Prix. He won his first fight in the tournament against Dean Lister by unanimous decision, controlling the ADCC contender in a slow grappling contest.

In the second round of the Grand Prix, Arona won, in controversial fashion, his fight against the Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba via doctor stoppage. Although Sakuraba put Arona on his back and seemed to put to work his signature jumping stomps, Arona soon overwhelmed him, landing a series of brutal knees to the head, as well as hard soccer kicks to the face. The Brazilian's toenail accidentally slashed open the skin over Sakuraba's left eye, which the Brazilian capitalized on squeezing the cut and digging his finger into it in order to force the stoppage.[6] The Japanese tried to keep on, but Arona hit another flurry of knees to the head, and ended the fight landing soccer kick after soccer kick. He won by unanimous decision.

His semifinal match, against rival Wanderlei Silva, was held on August 28, 2005. Arona surprised everyone when he defeated Silva, who was the PRIDE Middleweight Champion at the time, by decision, handing Silva his first middle weight defeat in PRIDE. Despite Silva's feared striking, Arona put him down with an early leg kick and worked on an extensive ground and pound, taking him down every time the fight got standing in order to continue with the punishment, which lasted until the last minute. After defeating Silva, Arona advanced to finals where he faced rising MMA fighter Maurício "Shogun" Rua, brother of Murilo Rua and Chute Boxe integrant. In a dominant performance, Rua reversed a takedown from Arona and got the advantage, scoring knee strikes which stunned Ricardo, and finally got his own takedown and knocked Arona out with hammerfists to the face.

On December 31, 2005 Ricardo Arona fought Wanderlei Silva for a second time, this time for the Middleweight Championship. Arona threatened to execute the same gameplan, but Silva countered it with a strong takedown defense and opportunistic striking, including standing away from Arona's guard and kicking his legs. Arona got a decisive takedown at the second round and performed ground and pound, only for Silva to reverse and get free, which forced Ricardo to pull guard. At the final round, Arona managed to take Wanderlei to the ground and attack from top position, with Silva reversing him again and kicking at his legs. Arona lost the match in a discussed split decision.

On September 10, 2006 Arona faced Alistair Overeem. After withstanding the initial attack from Overeem, Arona landed an inside leg kick, injuring his opponent's leg and making him drop to the ground. Arona quickly overwhelmed Overeem on the ground by blanketing him and showed complete domination throughout the bout. He continued his assault until Overeem tapped out from a barrage of strikes.

Arona claims he suffered from a dengue hemorrhagic fever,[7] going into his fight against Sokoudjou on April 8, 2007 at PRIDE 34 and because of it, he was knocked out by Sokoudjou in just under 2 minutes.

Post-PRIDE

After his loss to Sokoudjou, Arona's comeback fight against UFC veteran Marvin Eastman was canceled due to an injury that Eastman suffered during training. The fight with Eastman was rescheduled and took place at Bitetti Combat MMA 4 on September 12, 2009. Arona won the fight via unanimous decision.

In June 2014, Arona was offered a contract by Bellator MMA. However, he refused it and cited wanting to be one hundred percent physically healthy before recommitting to MMA as his reason.[8]

Personal life

During his free time Arona skates, rock climbs and surfs to keep himself in shape.

Championships and Accomplishments

Grappling credentials

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 14–5 Marvin Eastman Decision (unanimous) Bitetti Combat MMA 4 September 12, 2009 3 5:00 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Loss 13–5 Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou KO (punch) PRIDE 34 April 8, 2007 1 1:59 Saitama, Japan
Win 13–4 Alistair Overeem Submission (punches) Pride FC - Final Conflict Absolute September 10, 2006 1 4:28 Saitama, Japan
Loss 12–4 Wanderlei Silva Decision (split) PRIDE Shockwave 2005 December 31, 2005 3 5:00 Saitama, Japan For the Pride Middleweight Championship.
Loss 12–3 Maurício Rua KO (punches) PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 August 28, 2005 1 2:54 Saitama, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Final.
Win 12–2 Wanderlei Silva Decision (unanimous) PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 August 28, 2005 2 5:00 Saitama, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinal.
Win 11–2 Kazushi Sakuraba TKO (corner stoppage) PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005 June 26, 2005 2 5:00 Saitama, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal.
Win 10–2 Dean Lister Decision (unanimous) PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 April 23, 2005 3 5:00 Osaka, Japan 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Opening Round.
Win 9–2 Sergey Ignatov Submission (rear-naked choke) PRIDE 28 October 31, 2004 1 9:05 Saitama, Japan
Loss 8–2 Quinton Jackson KO (slam and punches) PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 June 20, 2004 1 7:32 Saitama, Japan
Win 8–1 Murilo Rua Decision (unanimous) PRIDE 23 November 24, 2002 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 7–1 Dan Henderson Decision (split) PRIDE 20 April 28, 2002 3 5:00 Yokohama, Japan
Win 6–1 Guy Mezger Decision (split) PRIDE 16 September 24, 2001 3 5:00 Osaka, Japan
Win 5–1 Gustavo Machado TKO (leg kick and punches) RINGS: 10th Anniversary August 11, 2001 1 1:29 Tokyo, Japan Wins 2001 RINGS Middleweight Championship Tournament. Became inaugural RINGS Middleweight Champion.
Win 4–1 Jeremy Horn Decision (majority) RINGS: 10th Anniversary August 11, 2001 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan RINGS Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinals.
Win 3–1 Hiromitsu Kanehara Submission (kneebar) RINGS: World Title Series 2 June 15, 2001 2 0:53 Yokohama, Japan
Loss 2–1 Fedor Emelianenko Decision (unanimous) RINGS: King of Kings 2000 Block B December 22, 2000 3 5:00 Osaka, Japan
Win 2–0 Jeremy Horn Decision (split) RINGS: Millennium Combine 3 August 23, 2000 2 5:00 Osaka, Japan
Win 1–0 Andrei Kopylov Decision (unanimous) RINGS: Millennium Combine 1 April 20, 2000 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan

Submission grappling record

KO PUNCHES
Result Opponent Method Event Date Record Notes
WinUnited States Mark Kerr Points ADCC 2003 Superfight 2003 13-0
WinBrazil Jean Jacques Machado Points ADCC 2001 Absolute Division 2001 12-0 Final; Wins ADCC Absolute Championship
WinBrazil Vitor Belfort Points ADCC 2001 Absolute Division 2001 11-0 Semi-Finals
WinBrazil Saulo Ribeiro Points ADCC 2001 Absolute Division 2001 10-0 Quarter-Finals
WinUnited States Roger Neff Submission ADCC 2001 Absolute Division 2001 9-0 Opening Round
WinBrazil Ricardo Almeida Points ADCC 2001 Under 99KG 2001 8-0 Final; Wins ADCC Under 99KG Championship
WinNorway Jon Olav Einemo Points ADCC 2001 Under 99KG 2001 7-0 Semi-Finals
WinBrazil Renato Sobral Points ADCC 2001 Under 99KG 2001 6-0 Quarter-Finals
WinUkraine Ruslan Mashurenko Points ADCC 2001 Under 99KG 2001 5-0 Opening Round
WinUnited States Jeff Monson Points ADCC 2000 Under 99KG 2000 4-0 Final; Wins ADCC Under 99KG Championship
WinUnited States Tito Ortiz Points ADCC 2000 Under 99KG 2000 3-0 Semi-Finals
WinRussia Kareem Barkalev Points ADCC 2000 Under 99KG 2000 2-0 Quarter-Finals
WinJapan Hiromitsu Kanehara Submission ADCC 2000 Under 99KG 2000 1-0 Opening Round

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Fight Finder: Ricardo Arona". Sherdog. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  2. 1 2 http://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/ricardo-aronas-fighter-profile
  3. ↑ Ricardo Arona jogando capoeira na Muzenza
  4. ↑ Scott Newman (2004-06-17). "MMA Review: #19 Pride 16: Beasts from the East". The Oratory. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  5. ↑ Rampage jackson slam HEADBUTT KO on Arona
  6. ↑ http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/6/Sherdogs-Top-10-Dirtiest-Deeds-90817
  7. ↑ Arona talks about defeat to fans
  8. ↑ Fernando Arbex (2014-06-11). "Ricardo Arona refused Bellator's offer, needs to be physically fit to fight again". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  9. ↑ http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Sherdogcom-Names-147Shogun148-Gomi-2005-Fighters-of-the-Year-3783

External links

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