| Victor Valimaki | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 17, 1981 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Other names | The Matrix |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) |
| Division | Light Heavyweight |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 24 |
| Wins | 16 |
| By knockout | 5 |
| By submission | 6 |
| By decision | 5 |
| Losses | 8 |
| By knockout | 5 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 2 |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Victor "The Matrix" Valimaki (born December 17, 1981) is a Canadian mixed martial artist. He competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Valimaki holds notable victories over Dan Severn, Jason Day and Vernon White.
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Victor made his professional MMA debut in 2001, with his first pro fight being with the Maximum Fighting Championship against JR Wallace at MFC 1. Valimaki lost by decision, then bounced back picking up three consecutive wins in a row, two of which was at MFC 3 and MFC 4, improving his record to 3-1.
On September 21, 2002, Victor fought fellow Canadian and UFC veteran, Rob MacDonald. At the end of the first round, Valimaki's coaches noticed that he could not continue the fight, and threw in the towel.
After his fight with MacDonald at MFC 5, Valimaki was absent from fighting for almost 3 years. When he returned to MMA in September 2005, at MFC 8: Resurrection, he faced Dan "The Beast" Severn, and won an impressive, hard-fought Unanimous Decision.
Then, he went on to win 4 more fights from June to September 2006, including wins over Jason Day and Vernon White.
In December 2006, Valimaki got his first shot at the UFC. He fought David Heath at UFC Fight Night 7, but came up short with Heath winning a Split Decision.
Valimaki then returned to the MFC and defeated Jared Kilkenny by knockout, which earned him a second chance to fight in the UFC.
Valimaki returned to the UFC at UFC 70 - Nations Collide against up and comer, Alessio Sakara. After attempting to exchange strikes with Sakara, Valimaki fell short of a win, as the more experienced Sakara was able to win the fight by TKO at 1:44 of the first round, dropping his record to 0-2 inside the octagon.
After his stint with the UFC, Valimaki returned to the MFC on August 24, 2007 for the MFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Canadian, Roger Hollett. Early in the first round, Hollett caught Valimaki with a punch that connected to his face, which opened up a cut near his eye, and rupturing his orbital bone. Shortly after, Valimaki submitted due to his impaired vision from the injury.
Since his bout with Hollett at MFC 13, Valimaki has been riding a 7 fight win streak, including his most recent win by a 5 round Decision for the TFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Lew Polley, who was the first person to ever defeat Roger "The Hulk" Hollett.
On March 19, 2010, Valimaki faced Canadian, and TKO veteran, Martin "The Stress" Desilets at TFC 10: High Voltage (formerly High Octane) in Edmonton, Alberta for Valimaki's first title defense as the TFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Early on in the fight, Desilets hit Valimaki with an accidental low blow. After the fight was restarted by referee Yves Lavigne, the two began to exchange. Near the end of the round, Desilets caught Valimaki with a flurry of punches, then hit Valimaki with a second accidental low blow. Valimaki dropped to his knees and signaled to the ref that he was hurt and made a "T" with his hands for a time out. Yves Lavigne decided, by his own judgement, that Victor had taken too much damage and halted the bout at 4:50 of the first round, to award Desilets the controversial victory via TKO and crown him as the new TFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
On May 21, 2010, it was announced at the Aggression MMA 3 event that Valimaki has signed a fight deal with the Canadian Promotion. He is scheduled to make his AMMA debut on July 9, 2010 facing a not yet announced opponent.
Valimaki is scheduled to face Strikeforce vet Ovince St. Preux at Aggression MMA IV: Victory on July 9, 2010. This will be Valimaki's first fight since his controversial first round loss to Martin Desilets on March 19, 2010. St. Preux is coming off a 3 fight win streak, all ending in the first round.
After being scheduled to face St. Preux on July 9, Valimaki was forced off the card due to an injury sustained while training. Valimaki is set to return to the TFC organization at TFC 11: Full Force, in a much anticipated rematch against Martin Desilets for the TFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Desilets reigned victorious in their fist meeting at TFC 10: High Octane in March 2010, winning by a controversial first round TKO stoppage.
On September 10, 2010, at TFC 11: Full Force, Valimaki fought a rematch against Martin "The Stress" Desilets for the TFC Light Heavyweight Title. Valimaki was unable to regain the belt, as Desilets landed a knee to the head at :37 sec of the first round to stop Valimaki.
On December 10, 2010, Valimaki faced Karl Knothe at TFC 12: Devastation. Knothe defeated Valimaki via TKO(strikes) at 4:59 of Round 1. With the win, Knothe increased his Win streak to 12, as Valimaki falls to 3 consecutive defeats in a row.
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 24 matches | 16 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 5 | 5 |
| By submission | 6 | 1 |
| By decision | 5 | 2 |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Vänttinen | Fight Festival 31 | October 1, 2011 | Helsinki, Finland | ||||||
| Loss | 16-8 | Karl Knothe | TKO(strikes) | TFC 12: Devastation | December 10, 2010 | 1 | 4:59 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Loss | 16-7 | Martin Desilets | KO(knee) | TFC 11: Full Force | September 10, 2010 | 1 | 0:37 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | Rematch for TFC Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Loss | 16-6 | Martin Desilets | TKO (strikes) | The Fight Club 10: High Octane | March 19, 2010 | 1 | 4:50 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | Lost the TFC Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 16-5 | Lew Polley | Decision (unanimous) | The Fight Club 8: Salvation | September 18, 2009 | 5 | 5:00 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | Won the Vacant TFC Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 15-5 | Jason Cecil | Submission (guillotine) | The Fight Club 7.5: Bad InTENTions | July 16, 2009 | 1 | 4:11 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 14-5 | Isaiah Larson | TKO (strikes) | The Fight Club 7: Full Throttle | May 30, 2009 | 2 | 3:40 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 13-5 | Rodney Glunder | Submission (rear naked choke) | M-1 Challenge 10 - Finland | November 26, 2008 | 1 | 2:14 | Helsinki, Finland | |
| Win | 12-5 | Noah Inhofer | TKO | King Of The Cage Canada - Unrefined | September 18, 2008 | 2 | N/A | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 11-5 | Nick Hinchliffe | Submission (strikes) | King Of The Cage Canada - Excalibur | July 19, 2008 | 2 | 1:47 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 10-5 | Chester Post | Submission (rear naked choke) | King Of The Cage Canada - Moment de Vérité | June 20, 2008 | 1 | N/A | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
| Loss | 9-5 | Roger Hollett | Submission (strikes) | MFC 13 - Lucky 13 | August 24, 2007 | 1 | 2:06 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | For the MFC Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Loss | 9-4 | Alessio Sakara | TKO (strikes) | UFC 70 | April 21, 2007 | 1 | 1:44 | Manchester, England | |
| Win | 9-3 | Jared Kilkenny | KO | MFC 11 - Gridiron | February 3, 2007 | 1 | 3:26 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Loss | 8-3 | David Heath | Decision (split) | UFC Fight Night 7 | December 13, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | San Diego, California, United States | |
| Win | 8-2 | Vernon White | Decision (unanimous) | EF 2 - The Ultimate Decision | September 29, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | |
| Win | 7-2 | Jason Day | Submission (rear naked choke) | MFC 10 - Unfinished Business | September 8, 2006 | 1 | 2:15 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 6-2 | Shane Lightle | TKO | ECC 3 - East Coast Warriors | July 22, 2006 | 1 | 1:46 | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | |
| Win | 5-2 | Craig Sloan | Decision | ECC 2 - Collision Course | June 30, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Moncton, New Brunswick | |
| Win | 4-2 | Dan Severn | Decision (unanimous) | MFC 8 - Resurrection | September 9, 2005 | 3 | 5:00 | Alberta, Canada | |
| Loss | 3-2 | Rob MacDonald | TKO (towel) | MFC 5 - Sweet Redemption | September 21, 2002 | 1 | 5:00 | Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 3-1 | Chris Peak | TKO | MFC 4 - New Groundz | June 1, 2002 | 2 | Alberta, Canada | ||
| Win | 2-1 | Johnny Gooch | Submission (rear naked choke) | MFC 3 - Canadian Pride | March 3, 2002 | N/A | Alberta, Canada | ||
| Win | 1-1 | Rich Martens | Decision | BDCT 1 - Beat Down in Cow Town 1 | April 7, 2001 | 1 | 7:00 | Alberta, Canada | |
| Loss | 0-1 | JR Wallace | Decision | MFC 1 | March 3, 2001 | N/A | Alberta, Canada |