Ricardo Arona
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| Ricardo Arona | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | Brazilian Tiger |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 200 lbs. (91kg) |
| Born | July 17, 1978 |
| Fighting out of | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Town of birth | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Fighting style | Muay Thai, Wrestling |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 13 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| By submission | 3 |
| Losses | 4 |
| Draws | |
Ricardo Arona (July 17, 1978) is a Brazilian mixed martial arts fighter and a member of Brazilian Top Team. He has competed in Pride Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career. Arona is known for his strength, and is considered one of the best light heavyweights in MMA. He has been criticized, however, by some MMA fans for not attempting to finish fights, instead settling for decision wins by controlling his opponents on the ground from top position. He holds notable wins over Wanderlei Silva, Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Henderson and Jeremy Horn.
Contents |
[edit] MMA Career
[edit] Abu Dhabi and RINGS
Ricardo Arona's popularity came from competing in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission wrestling competitions, where he won an open weight tournament as well as the 92kg (202 pound) tournament.
Soon after Abu Dhabi Combat Club, Arona joined RINGS, a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion. Arona's only loss in RINGS came at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko, who later went on to become Pride Fighting Championships' Heavyweight Champion. After losing to Fedor, Arona won his last three fights in RINGS.
[edit] Pride
After getting noticed in RINGS, Arona was offered a contract to join Pride Fighting Championships. Arona started his career in Pride strong, but after winning his first three Pride fights, he lost to Quinton Jackson in a spectacular knockout from a slam. Arona claimed that an illegal headbutt he received by Jackson at the end of the slam was what knocked him out. Four months later, Arona returned to Pride and won his next 3 fights. On April 23 2005, Arona entered Pride's Middleweight (205 lbs) Grand Prix. Arona won his first fight in the tournament against Dean Lister by unanimous decision. In the 2nd round of the Grand Prix, he won his fight against the famous Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO (Doctor Stoppage).
His semi-final match was against a rival, Wanderlei Silva, which was held on August 28, 2005. Ricardo 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. After defeating Wanderlei Silva, Arona advanced to finals where he faced rising MMA Middleweight star, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. In a dominant performance, Rua defeated Arona by knock out in the first round.
On December 31, 2005 Ricardo Arona fought Wanderlei Silva for a second time, this time for the Middleweight Championship. Ricardo Arona lost the match in a controversial split decision.
Arona's latest match was against Alistair Overeem on September 10, 2006 at PRIDE: Final Conflict Absolute. 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 and showed complete domination throughout the bout. He continued his assault until Overeem tapped out from a barrage of strikes.
Arona's next fight has been announced to be against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at PRIDE 34 on April 8, 2007.[1]
| 13 Wins (2 T)KO's, 3 submissions, 8 decisions), 4 Losses (2 (T)KO's, 2 decisions). | |||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Round | Time | |
| 9/10/2006 | Win | Alistair Overeem | Submission (Strikes) | PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute | 1 | 4:28 | |
| 12/31/2005 | Loss | Wanderlei Silva | Decision (Split) | PRIDE Shockwave 2005 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 8/28/2005 | Loss | Mauricio Rua | KO (Strikes) | PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 | 1 | 2:54 | |
| 8/28/2005 | Win | Wanderlei Silva | Decision (Unaminous) | PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| 6/26/2005 | Win | Kazushi Sakuraba | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| 4/23/2005 | Win | Dean Lister | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 10/31/2004 | Win | Sergey Ignatov | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | PRIDE 28 | 1 | 9:05 | |
| 6/20/2004 | Loss | Quinton Jackson | KO (Slam) | PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 | 1 | 7:32 | |
| 11/24/2002 | Win | Murilo Rua | Decision | PRIDE 23 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 4/28/2002 | Win | Dan Henderson | Decision (Split) | PRIDE 20 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 9/24/2001 | Win | Guy Mezger | Decision (Split) | PRIDE 16 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 8/11/2001 | Win | Gustavo Machado | TKO (Punches) | Rings-10th Anniversary | 1 | 1:29 | |
| 8/11/2001 | Win | Jeremy Horn | Decision (Majority) | Rings-10th Anniversary | 2 | 5:00 | |
| 6/15/2001 | Win | Hiromitsu Kanehara | Submission (Kneebar) | Rings-World Title Series 2 | 2 | 0:53 | |
| 12/22/2000 | Loss | Fedor Emelianenko | Decision (Unanimous) | Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block B | 3 | 5:00 | |
| 8/23/2000 | Win | Jeremy Horn | Decision (Split) | Rings-Millennium Combine 3 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| 4/20/2000 | Win | Andrei Kopylov | Decision (Unanimous) | Rings-Millennium Combine 1 | 2 | 5:00 | |
