Ricco Rodriguez
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| Ricco Rodriguez | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | Suave |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Weight | 280 lb (127 kg) |
| Born | August 19, 1977 |
| Town of birth | New York, New York |
| Fighting style | Freestyle wrestling |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 25 |
| By knockout | 6 |
| By submission | 15 |
| Losses | 6 |
| Draws | 0 |
Ricco "Suave" Rodriguez (August 19, 1977) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He has a professional MMA record of 25-6-0 as of October 14, 2005. He has fought in most of the prestigious fight organizations - UFC, PRIDE, King of the Cage - and rose to prominence as the UFC Heavyweight Champion before dropping the title to Tim Sylvia in 2003.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Rodriguez's martial arts background is in wrestling and he was one of the most highly decorated high school wrestlers in the state of New York. He later moved to California and began training in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with the Rigan and Jean Jacques Machado[1], going on to win numerous prestigious Jiu Jitsu tournaments and the gold medal at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. With his Jiu Jitsu and wrestling background, Rodriguez then embarked on a career in mixed martial arts.[2]
[edit] MMA career
Rodriguez's MMA career began in 1999 with a string of wins before losing to Bobby Hoffman at the Superbrawl 13 event in Hawaii that was notable for also featuring early fights in the careers of Josh Barnett and Heath Herring. Training with Mark Kerr and also Bas Rutten, he was featured in the documentary "The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Mark Kerr" and can be seen being knocked out by Rutten in the DVD release.
Moving to Japan, he trained at the Takada Dojo and fought in Pride. He can be seen cornering teammates Dajiro Matsui and Nobuhiko Takada in PRIDE and KOTC bouts. Despite earning success in PRIDE with wins against John Marsh, Takayuki Okada and Gary Goodridge, Rodriguez was unhappy with his status and earnings and decided to return to the United States.
After defeating Paul Buentello by kneebar, Rodriguez was invited to compete in UFC 32 against Andrei Arlovski and promptly won that match by TKO. He was scheduled to fight Lion’s Den fighter Pete Williams at the UFC 33, but the fight was postponed until UFC 34 due to an injury suffered by Williams during training. Rodriguez went on to beat Williams, Jeff Monson (UFC 35) and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (UFC 37) to earn a title shot against Randy Couture at UFC 39. He was able to use his greater size to come back after Couture's initial dominance and end the fight with strikes to win the UFC heavyweight title. He was training with Team Punishment and his strategy was helped by Tito Ortiz.[3]
In his first title defense, he was knocked out by Tim Sylvia in the first round and lost the belt. After this loss, he was dispatch to represent the UFC in PRIDE for a matchup between the former PRIDE champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (who he had previously beaten in a submission match by leg lock). Despite thowing several flying knees and taking down Nogueira several times, he was judged to have lost the fight, as Nogueira's multiple submission attempts and active attack were the criteria used to judge the fight as according to PRIDE rules, the key criteria is the "effort to finish the fight by KO or submission Damage" where Rodriguez did not register.[4] The American broadcast commentators and guest commentator (and former training partner of Rodriguez) Mark Coleman were unfamiliar with the rules and felt Rodriguez had won, confusing many fans. The ruling was later explained in detail by judge Matt Hume for the benefit of fans who did not understand the judging criteria and felt Rodriguez should have won.
Returning to the UFC for UFC 45, he lost the last fight of his contract to Pedro Rizzo by decision after being punished with Rizzo's trademark leg kicks.
Following the end of his UFC contract, he has fought for a number of smaller promotions such as the WFA and WEC and has noticeably gained weight since his UFC days.
On 22 July 2006, in a rematch of their August 2005 bout in the WEC, he avenged a loss to Ron Waterman at WFA: King of the Streets. He fought as a superheavyweight, at around 300lbs and was quoted as saying "I'm fat but I still got skills".[5]
Rodriguez made his professional boxing debut on 12 October 2006, beating Brandon Baker by KO.
Following his win against Imani Lee on November 17th 2006, Rodriguez was put under indefinite suspension by the California State Athletic Commission [6]
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Rodriguez tested positive for both marijuana and cocaine after his victory against Lee and was given a six month suspension for the offenses.[7]
Considering his victories before his loss to Sylvia, Rodriguez was hailed by many to be one of the best heavyweights in MMA. He holds notable wins over Randy Couture, Andrei Arlovski, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Gary Goodridge and Jeff Monson.
[edit] Mixed martial arts record
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
| Win | Imani Lee | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | BIB - Beatdown in Bakersfield | 11/17/2006 | 1 | 2:12 | |
| Win | Abdias Irisson | TKO | MMAX 7 - MMA Xtreme 7 | 11/11/2006 | 1 | N/A | |
| Win | Ron Waterman | TKO (Doctor Stoppage) | WFA-King of the Streets | 7/22/2006 | 1 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Taylor Brooks | Submission (Armbar) | MMAX 1-MMA Xtreme 1 | 3/25/2006 | 1 | N/A | |
| Loss | Robert Beraun | Decision (Unanimous) | RITC 78-Back with a Vengeance | 1/14/2006 | 3 | 3:00 | |
| Win | David Mori | N/A | MMAFC 4-MMA Fighting Challenge 4 | 12/3/2005 | N/A | N/A | |
| Win | Corey Salter | Submission | UTS 3-Ultimate Texas Showdown 3 | 11/26/2005 | 2 | 0:17 | |
| Win | Jimmy Ambriz | Submission (Punches) | WEC 17-Halloween Fury 4 | 10/14/2005 | 1 | 4:13 | |
| Loss | Ron Waterman | Decision (Unanimous) | WEC 16-Clash of the Titans 2 | 8/18/2005 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Andy Montana | Submission (Armbar) | IE-Independent Event | 7/15/2005 | 1 | 1:50 | |
| Win | Ruben Villareal | Submission (Armbar) | Extreme Wars-X-1 | 7/2/2005 | 1 | 2:38 | |
| Win | Scott Junk | Submission (Front Choke) | ROTR 7-Rumble On The Rock 7 | 5/7/2005 | 2 | 0:42 | |
| Win | Mike Seal | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | MMA Mexico-Day 2 | 12/18/2004 | 1 | N/A | |
| Loss | Pedro Rizzo | Decision (Unanimous) | UFC 45-Revolution | 11/21/2003 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 | 8/10/2003 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Loss | Tim Sylvia | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 41-Onslaught | 2/28/2003 | 1 | 3:09 | |
| Win | Randy Couture | Submission (Strikes) | UFC 39-The Warriors Return | 9/27/2002 | 5 | 3:04 | |
| Win | Tsuyoshi Kohsaka | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 37-High Impact | 5/10/2002 | 2 | 3:25 | |
| Win | Jeff Monson | TKO (Punches) | UFC 35-Throwdown | 1/11/2002 | 3 | 3:00 | |
| Win | Pete Williams | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 34-High Voltage | 11/2/2001 | 2 | 4:02 | |
| Win | Andrei Arlovski | TKO (Strikes) | UFC 32-Showdown in the Meadowlands | 6/29/2001 | 3 | 1:23 | |
| Win | Paul Buentello | Submission (Kneebar) | KOTC 7-Wet and Wild | 2/24/2001 | 2 | 4:21 | |
| Win | John Marsh | Decision | PRIDE 12 Cold Fury | 12/9/2000 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Giant Ochiai | Submission (Choke) | PRIDE 10 Return of the Warriors | 8/27/2000 | 1 | 6:04 | |
| Win | Gary Goodridge | Decision | PRIDE 9 New Blood | 6/4/2000 | 2 | 10:00 | |
| Win | Travis Fulton | Submission (Armbar) | KOTC 2-Desert Storm | 2/5/2000 | 1 | 4:49 | |
| Win | Sam Adkins | Submission (Choke) | Armageddon-Armageddon 2 | 11/23/1999 | N/A | N/A | |
| Loss | Bobby Hoffman | KO (Punches) | SB 13-SuperBrawl 13 | 9/7/1999 | 1 | 3:13 | |
| Win | Steve Shaw | Submission (Armbar) | RITC 6-Rage in the Cage 6 | 7/10/1999 | 1 | 1:34 | |
| Win | Rocky Batastini | Submission (Armbar) | EC-Extreme Cage | 3/25/1999 | N/A | N/A | |
| Win | Scott Adams | Decision | EC-Extreme Cage | 3/25/1999 | 3 | 4:00 |
[edit] External links
- Professional MMA record
- Professional boxing record
- PRIDE profile
- Interview with Boxing Insider by Derek Callahan dated 15 February 2005
| Previous champion Josh Barnett |
8th UFC Heavyweight Champion September 27, 2002-February 28, 2003 |
Next champion Tim Sylvia |
