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

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.

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

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