Jump to content

Pedro Rizzo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pedro Rizzo
BornPedro Augusto Rizzo
(1974-05-03) 3 May 1974 (age 50)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Other namesThe Rock
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight244 lb (111 kg; 17 st 6 lb)
DivisionHeavyweight
Reach77 in (196 cm)
StyleMuay Thai, Luta Livre, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Capoeira
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofRio de Janeiro, Brazil
TeamRuas Vale Tudo
Black House
American Top Team
Teacher(s)Marco Ruas
Rank4th Dan Black Belt in Luta Livre
Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Black Pra Jiad in Muay Thai
Black Cord in Capoeira
Years active1996–2015 (MMA)
Kickboxing record
Total34
Wins31
By knockout30
Losses2
By knockout2
Draws1
Mixed martial arts record
Total31
Wins20
By knockout15
By submission1
By decision4
Losses11
By knockout7
By decision4
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Pedro Augusto Rizzo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpedɾu ˈʁizu]; born 3 May 1974) is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed for the UFC, PRIDE, M-1 Global, and Affliction. Although he never captured the UFC Heavyweight Championship, Rizzo competed for it three times and was regarded as a top contender for many years. Coming from a Muay Thai background, Rizzo competed in Vale Tudo before transitioning into mixed martial arts. Often regarded as one of the most dangerous strikers in heavyweight history, Rizzo holds notable victories over former UFC champions Mark Coleman, Dan Severn, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Ricco Rodriguez and Ken Shamrock.

Mixed martial arts career

[edit]

Early in his career Rizzo adopted brutal leg kicks from his master trainer Marco Ruas and also from training at the Amsterdam-based Chakuriki gym. Pedro developed a strong stand-up style early on—and used this to great effect throughout his career.

Rizzo is a former World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC) Heavyweight Champion and former contender for the UFC heavyweight belt. Rizzo was almost an unstoppable force in his early UFC run, which culminated in a highly controversial loss at the hands of Randy Couture. The UFC heavyweight title fight between these fighters took place in Atlantic city on 4 May 2001, and Rizzo dominated the pace of the fight and punished Couture with heavy leg kicks; which at the conclusion of the bout left Couture unable to exit the arena without assistance. After the judges read out the scores, even Couture's expression of disbelief assisted the public's reaction of a fight in which Rizzo was clearly robbed. Rizzo then had a chance to rematch Couture but was soundly beaten by Couture in this rematch, and after this fight Rizzo's performances were mixed. Rizzo never seemed to recover from the controversial loss to Couture in that first fight, and this is what is believed to have taken the wind out of Rizzo's sails; as his hunger and drive were never the same as a consequence.

A stint in PRIDE FC did not go too well for the former UFC Heavyweight title contender, and Rizzo suffered quick losses at the hands of Sergei Kharitonov and Roman Zentsov.

Rizzo returned to his winning ways on 9 March 2007, when he beat UFC veteran Justin Eilers by unanimous decision at the début show of Art of War Undisputed Arena Fighting Championship, which was held in Dallas, Texas.

He defeated Jeff Monson on 1 September 2007. This fight took place on the first pay-per-view event promoted by the Art of War Undisputed Arena Fighting Championship organization. Rizzo was defeated at Affliction: Banned by Josh Barnett, via knockout in round 2.

He was defeated by Gilbert Yvel at Ultimate Chaos: Lashley vs. Sapp via knockout in round 1. In his rematch with Jeff Monson, Rizzo won a decision at Bitetti Combat. He revealed in the post-fight interview that he had an elbow problem 10 days before the fight and that was why he could not push for the knockout that "the Brazilian fans deserved".

Rizzo also won his last two fights, against Gary Goodridge at Washington Combat and against eventual UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock at Impact Fighting Championships in Australia.

He was expected to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia on 14 August at War on the Mainland but it was discovered that Sylvia broke his foot in his fight with Mariusz Pudzianowski.[1]

Rizzo was expected to be the main event against Tim Sylvia at ProElite 2 in November,[2] However he pulled out of the bout due to an injury.[3]

On 21 June 2012, Rizzo faced former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, at M-1 Global ring in St. Petersburg, Russia. Rizzo got caught by a right hand from Fedor that knocked him down; Fedor then proceeded with punches that left Rizzo motionless at 1:24 of the first round.

On 26 May 2013, Pedro faced Japanese heavyweight Satoshi Ishii at IGF: GENOME 26. He lost via unanimous decision.

On 12 September 2015, Pedro returned to face Andrew Flores at Face to Face 12.[4] He won via leg kicks, forcing Flores to quit in between rounds, and Rizzo announced his retirement shortly after the fight.[5]

Personal life

[edit]

Rizzo has a daughter.[6]

Championships and accomplishments

[edit]
  • Art of War Undisputed Arena Fighting Championship
    • IFA Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
  • World Vale Tudo Championship
    • WVC Superfight Championship (1 Time)
    • WVC 2 Tournament Winner
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Mixed martial arts record

[edit]
Professional record breakdown
31 matches 20 wins 11 losses
By knockout 15 7
By submission 1 0
By decision 4 4
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 20–11 Andrew Flores Smith TKO (leg kicks) Face to Face 12 12 September 2015 1 5:00 Espírito Santo, Brazil
Loss 19–11 Satoshi Ishii Decision (unanimous) IGF: Genome 26 26 May 2013 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 19–10 Fedor Emelianenko KO (punches) M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Rizzo 21 June 2012 1 1:24 St. Petersburg, Russia
Win 19–9 Ken Shamrock TKO (leg kicks and punches) Impact FC 2 18 July 2010 1 3:33 Sydney, Australia
Win 18–9 Gary Goodridge TKO (doctor stoppage) Washington Combat: Battle of the Legends 15 May 2010 2 5:00 Washington D.C. United States
Win 17–9 Jeff Monson Decision (unanimous) Bitetti Combat MMA 4 12 Sep 2009 3 5:00 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Loss 16–9 Gilbert Yvel KO (punches) Ultimate Chaos: Lashley vs. Sapp 27 Jun 2009 1 2:10 Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
Loss 16–8 Josh Barnett KO (punch) Affliction: Banned 19 Jul 2008 2 1:44 Anaheim, California, United States
Win 16–7 Jeff Monson TKO (punches) Art of War 3 1 September 2007 3 2:40 Dallas, Texas, United States Defended the IFA Heavyweight Championship.[7]
Win 15–7 Justin Eilers Decision (unanimous) Art of War 1 9 March 2007 3 5:00 Dallas, Texas, United States Won the vacant IFA Heavyweight Championship.[8]
Loss 14–7 Roman Zentsov KO (punch) PRIDE 31 26 February 2006 1 0:25 Saitama, Japan
Loss 14–6 Sergei Kharitonov TKO (soccer kick and punches) PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005 26 June 2005 1 2:02 Saitama, Japan
Win 14–5 Ricco Rodriguez Decision (unanimous) UFC 45 21 November 2003 3 5:00 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Win 13–5 Tra Telligman TKO (doctor stoppage) UFC 43 6 June 2003 2 4:24 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 12–5 Vladimir Matyushenko Decision (unanimous) UFC 41 28 February 2003 3 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss 12–4 Gan McGee TKO (corner stoppage) UFC 39 27 September 2002 1 5:00 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
Win 12–3 Andrei Arlovski KO (punches) UFC 36 22 March 2002 3 1:45 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 11–3 Randy Couture TKO (punches) UFC 34 2 November 2001 3 1:38 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States For the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Loss 11–2 Randy Couture Decision (Unanimous) UFC 31 4 May 2001 5 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States For the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Fight of the Year (2001).
Win 11–1 Josh Barnett KO (punch) UFC 30 23 February 2001 2 4:21 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win 10–1 Dan Severn TKO (submission to punches) UFC 27 22 September 2000 1 1:33 New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Loss 9–1 Kevin Randleman Decision (unanimous) UFC 26 9 June 2000 5 5:00 Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States For the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Win 9–0 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka TKO (punches) UFC 23 19 November 1999 3 1:12 Tokyo, Japan
Win 8–0 Tra Telligman KO (punch) UFC 20 7 May 1999 1 4:30 Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Win 7–0 Mark Coleman Decision (split) UFC 18 8 January 1999 1 15:00 Kenner, Louisiana, United States
Win 6–0 Tank Abbott KO (punch) UFC Brazil 16 October 1998 1 8:07 Sao Paulo, Brazil
Win 5–0 Richard Heard TKO (submission to punches) World Vale Tudo Championship 3 19 January 1997 1 13:12 Brazil
Win 4–0 Vernon White KO (soccer kick) World Vale Tudo Championship 2 10 November 1996 1 6:30 Brazil
Win 3–0 Michael Tielrooy Submission (keylock) World Vale Tudo Championship 2 10 November 1996 1 0:18 Brazil
Win 2–0 Nicholas Hill (as Niccolaus) TKO (submission to punches) World Vale Tudo Championship 2 10 November 1996 1 1:49 Brazil
Win 1–0 Eric Labaille TKO (punches) IMA: Battle of Styles 26 October 1996 1 2:57 Netherlands

[9]

Kickboxing record (incomplete)

[edit]
Kickboxing Record
31 Win (30 (T)KO, 1 decisions), 2 Losses, 1 Draw
Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record
11 May 1997 Loss Suriname Lloyd van Dams Nikko T. Press Productions: Battle of the Best Netherlands 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant TKO (Corner Stoppage) 2
Battle of the Best Heavyweight Tournament Final.
11 May 1997 Win Netherlands Rob van Esdonk Nikko T. Press Productions: Battle of the Best Netherlands 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant TKO (Corner Stoppage) 3
Battle of the Best Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal.
11 May 1997 Win Netherlands Orlando Breienburg Nikko T. Press Productions: Battle of the Best Netherlands 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00
Battle of the Best Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
9 December 1995 Loss England Michael Thompson K-1 Hercules '95 Japan Nagoya, Aichi TKO (Doctor Stoppage) 3 1:19 14-1
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Tim Sylvia broke his foot and will not face Rizzo". Archived from the original on 25 June 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
  2. ^ Palmquist, Chris (29 September 2011). "Sylvia/Rizzo, Arlovski/Fulton headline ProElite 2 in Nov". The Underground.
  3. ^ "Injured Rizzo Withdraws from Nov. 5 ProElite Bout Against Sylvia". Retrieved 17 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Pedro Rizzo gets new opponent for upcoming fight in Brazil". mmafighting.com. 10 September 2015.
  5. ^ "41-year-old UFC vet Pedro Rizzo wins in Brazil, announces retirement". mmafighting.com. 13 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Pedro Rizzo interview: MMA Sport interview exclusive with Pedro Rizzo". MMASportsmag.com, by Ed Preuss. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2008.
  7. ^ "– RIZZO KO'S THE SNOWMAN AT ART OF WAR | MMAWeekly.com". Mmaweekly.com | Ufc and Mma News, Results, Rumors, and Videos. 2 September 2007.
  8. ^ "– MONSON READY FOR TWO FIGHTS IN TWO WEEKS | MMAWeekly.com". Mmaweekly.com | Ufc and Mma News, Results, Rumors, and Videos. 15 August 2007.
  9. ^ Sherdog.com. "Pedro". Sherdog. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pedro_Rizzo&oldid=1239417955"