Leonardo Santos (fighter)

Leonardo Santos
Nationality Brazilian
Weight 155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st)
Division Lightweight
Style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing
Fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Team Nova Uniao
Years active 2002-present
Mixed martial arts record
Total 12
Wins 9
By knockout 1
By submission 5
By decision 2
By disqualification 1
Losses 3
By knockout 1
By submission 0
By decision 2
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: November 14, 2011

Leonardo Silva dos Santos (born on February 5, 1989) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who fights at lightweight.[1] He has fought the likes of Takanori Gomi, Jean Silva and Jason Ball.

Contents

Early life and BJJ

Leonardo Santos was born on the 5th of February 1980 in Rio de Janeiro. He started training Jiu Jitsu when he was 4 years old under the legendary trainer Wendell Alexander (Co-Founder of Nova Uniao) in Sao Joao de Meriti (Rio de Janeiro) at the Mello Tenis Club. Although Leo as a kid had other interests (mainly soccer) and didn’t enjoy training all that much, he felt obliged to train as his older cousin and brother (MMA fighter Wagnney Fabiano) were avid Jiu Jitsu practitioners. With time Leo Santos started enjoying the benefits of Jiu Jitsu and also started enjoying the BJJ routine, success in BJJ Comps came with this new found love for the gentle art.

In 1995 Mr Alexander (Leo’s Coach) joined arms with Dedé Pederneiras to make one of the strongest teams in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the world had seen, Nova Uniao, and Leo Santos soon was one of Nova Uniao’s star competitors.

In 2002 Leo stopped competing at the Mundial (CBJJ World Championships) as this competition did not offer prize money to its competitors. This was something that a lot of fighters pressed for and which catapulted the rise of CBJJO, Leo Santos started competing in CBJJO’s tournaments only (with Gi) and was undefeated for over 5 years in that organization becoming widely considered by the media and the followers of the sport as one of the top 3 lightweights in BJJ at the time.

In 2006 after a short spell helping his brother Wagnney with his academy in Canada, Leonardo started dedicating himself fully to MMA having fought consistently for several different organizations.[2]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career, Shooto and Sengoku

Santos make his MMA debut against rising undeafted Japanese superstar Takanori Gomi, who at the time was the Shooto World Welterweight (154 lb) Champion, though the belt was at stake in this bout. The fight ended with a Majority Decision win for Gomi. [3]

After this bout he returned to BJJ full time, winning the World Cup Championship 4 times between 2002 and 2005. In 2006 after a short spell helping his brother Wagnney with his academy in Canada, Leonardo started dedicating himself fully to MMA. He complied a 8-3 record with major promotions like Shooto and World Victory Road.

BAMMA

He made his BAMMA at BAMMA 6, defeating Jason Ball via unanimous decision.[4]

He was scheduled to face Rob Sinclair at BAMMA 7, however he pulled out of the fight, refusing to fly over from Paris as he knew he would not make weight and knew he would not be able make the full amount of money from competing anyway.[5]

Championships and accomplishments

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Mixed martial arts record

Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 9–3 Jason Ball Decision (unanimous) BAMMA 6 02011-05-21 May 21, 2011 3 5:00 N/A
Win 8–3 Sotaro Yamada DQ (knees to the groin) World Victory Road Sengoku Raiden Championship 14 02010-08-22 August 22, 2010 1 3:56 N/A
Win 7–3 Kiuma Kunioku Submission (rear-naked choke) World Victory Road Sengoku Raiden Championship 12 02010-03-07 March 7, 2010 1 3:06 N/A
Loss 6–3 Kazunori Yokota Decision (split) World Victory Road Sengoku - Eighth Battle 02009-05-02 May 2, 2009 3 5:00 N/A
Win 6–2 Danilo Noronha Submission (arm-triangle choke) Shooto - Brazil 10 02009-01-17 January 17, 2009 1 3:20 N/A
Win 5–2 Corey Edwards KO (head kick) Shooto - Brazil 9 02008-11-28 November 28, 2008 1 1:21 N/A
Win 4–2 Alan Lopes Submission (triangle choke) Shooto - Brazil 8 02008-08-30 August 30, 2008 1 2:10 N/A
Win 3–2 Christian Lopez Submission (arm-triangle choke) Shooto - Brazil 7 02008-06-28 June 28, 2008 1 0:40 N/A
Win 2–2 Rafael Bastos Decision MTL - Mo Team League 2 02007-07-29 July 29, 2007 3 5:00 N/A
Loss 1–2 Jean Silva KO (punch) Super Challenge 1 02006-10-07 October 7, 2006 1 1:12 N/A
Win 1–1 Gabriel Moraes Submission (rear-naked choke) Guarafight 3 02006-08-12 August 12, 2006 1 N/A N/A
Loss 0–1 Takanori Gomi Decision (majority) Shooto - Treasure Hunt 7 02002-06-29 June 29, 2002 3 5:00 N/A

References

  1. ^ Sherdog.com. "Leonardo Santos MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography". Sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Leonardo-Santos-4810. Retrieved 2011-12-12. 
  2. ^ André Reis says: (2010-03-17). "Leonardo Santos". BJJ Heroes. http://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/leonardo-santos-leo-bjj-fighter-wiki. Retrieved 2011-12-12. 
  3. ^ Sherdog.com (2002-06-29). "Shooto Treasure Hunt 7". Sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/events/Shooto-Treasure-Hunt-7-910. Retrieved 2011-12-12. 
  4. ^ Bones, Crackity (2011-05-21). "BAMMA 6 Kong vs Ninja Live Results and Commentary". Bloody Elbow. http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/5/21/2182115/bamma-6-kong-vs-ninja-live-results-and-commentary. Retrieved 2011-12-12. 
  5. ^ Sep 09 12:10p by Shaun Al-Shatti (2011-09-09). "BAMMA 7 Fight Card: Leonardo Santos Withdraws From Title Bout, Deigo Vital Steps In - MMA Nation". Mma.sbnation.com. http://mma.sbnation.com/2011/9/9/2415075/bamma-7-card-leonardo-santos-deigo-vital-rob-sinclair. Retrieved 2011-12-12.