Ricardo Arona

Ricardo Arona (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈkaʁdu aˈʁõnɐ]; born July 17, 1978 in Niterói) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and PRIDE FC Middleweight Grand Prix finalist. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career, and is a member of Brazilian Top Team.

Mixed martial arts career

Abu Dhabi and RINGS

Ricardo Arona's popularity came from competing in the Olimpo's Combat Club submission wrestling competitions, where he won an open weight tournament as well as the 92 kg (202 pound) tournament. Arona is the only competitor in Abu Dhabi to have won a championship and to be undefeated so far. ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

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, in a controversial decision on the scoring system of the RINGS organisation. Some people thought and believed had it been scored on different value terms, that Arona would've clearly won the fight. However again, as RINGS scoring was not based on positional control but rather on damage dealt and attempts to finish the fight, categories in which many thought Fedor surpassed Arona in, the decision was given to Emelianenko, thus supporting the judges' decision. Fedor later went on to become Pride Fighting Championships' Heavyweight Champion. After losing to Fedor, Arona won his last three fights in RINGS.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

After being noticed in RINGS, Arona was offered a contract to join PRIDE Fighting Championships. Arona started his career in PRIDE strong winning his first three fights against Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson and Murilo Rua. He then lost his fourth fight 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 Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO (Doctor Stoppage).

His semifinal match, against rival Wanderlei Silva, was held on August 28, 2005. 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 Silva, Arona advanced to finals where he faced rising MMA fighter Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. In a dominant performance, Rua defeated Arona by knockout by hammerfists to the face 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 split decision.

On September 10, 2006 Arona faced Alistair Overeem. 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 by blanketing him and showed complete domination throughout the bout. He continued his assault until Overeem tapped out from a barrage of strikes.

Arona claims he suffered from a dengue hemorrhagic fever,^[2] going into his fight against Sokoudjou on April 8, 2007 at PRIDE 34 and because of it, he was knocked out by Sokoudjou in just under 2 mintues.

After his loss to Sokoudjou, Arona's comeback fight against UFC veteran Marvin Eastman was canceled due to an injury that Eastman suffered during training. The fight with Eastman was rescheduled and took place at Bitetti Combat MMA 4 on September 12, 2009. Arona won the fight via unanimous decision.

Personal life

During his free time Arona skates, rock climbs and surfs to keep himself in shape.

Championships and Accomplishments

• Fighting Network RINGS
  • RINGS Middleweight Championship (1 Time, First, Last)
  • 2001 RINGS Middleweight Championship Tournament Winner

• PRIDE Fighting Championships
  • 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Runner Up

Grappling credentials

• ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships
  • 2003: Superfight championship: Defeated Mark Kerr
  • 2001: 88 – 98 kg: 1st Place, Openweight: 1st Place
  • 2000: 88 – 98 kg: 1st Place
• CBJJ World Championships
  • 2000: Black Belt Pesado : 2nd Place
  • 1999: Brown Belt Pesado : 1st Place, Brown Belt Open Weight: 2nd Place
  • 1998: Purple Belt Pesado : 1st Place
• CBJJ Brazilian Championships
  • 1999: Brown Belt Pesado: 1st Place

Mixed martial arts record

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	14-5	Marvin Eastman	Decision (unanimous)	Bitetti Combat MMA 4	02009-10-12September 12, 2009	3	5:00	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Loss	13–5	Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou	KO (punch)	PRIDE 34	02007-05-08April 8, 2007	1	1:59	Saitama, Japan
Win	13–4	Alistair Overeem	TKO (submission to punches)	PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute	02006-10-10September 10, 2006	1	4:28	Saitama, Japan
Loss	12-4	Wanderlei Silva	Decision (split)	PRIDE Shockwave 2005	02005-12-31December 31, 2005	3	5:00	Saitama, Japan	PrideFC Middleweight championship
Loss	12-3	Maurício Rua	KO (punches)	PRIDE Final Conflict 2005	02005-08-28August 28, 2005	1	2:54	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Final
Win	12-2	Wanderlei Silva	Decision (unanimous)	PRIDE Final Conflict 2005	02005-08-28August 28, 2005	2	5:00	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Semifinal
Win	11–2	Kazushi Sakuraba	TKO (corner stoppage)	PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005	02005-07-26June 26, 2005	2	5:00	Saitama, Japan	Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Quarterfinal
Win	10-2	Dean Lister	Decision (unanimous)	PRIDE Total Elimination 2005	02005-05-23April 23, 2005	3	5:00	Osaka, Japan	Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Opening Round
Win	9-2	Sergei Ignatov	Submission (rear naked choke)	PRIDE 28	02004-10-31October 31, 2004	1	9:05	Saitama, Japan
Loss	8–2	Quinton Jackson	KO (Slam)	PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004	02004-07-20June 20, 2004	1	7:32	Saitama, Japan
Win	8–1	Murilo Rua	Decision (unanimous)	PRIDE 23	02002-12-24November 24, 2002	3	5:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	7–1	Dan Henderson	Decision (split)	PRIDE 20	02002-05-28April 28, 2002	3	5:00	Yokohama, Japan
Win	6–1	Guy Mezger	Decision (split)	PRIDE 16	02001-10-24September 24, 2001	3	5:00	Osaka, Japan
Win	5-1	Gustavo Machado	TKO (punches)	Rings-10th Anniversary	02001-08-11August 11, 2001	1	1:29	Tokyo, Japan	Wins 2001 RINGS Middleweight Championship Tournament; Becomes first RINGS Middleweight Champion
Win	4-1	Jeremy Horn	Decision (majority)	Rings-10th Anniversary	02001-08-11August 11, 2001	2	5:00	Tokyo, Japan	RINGS Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinals
Win	3–1	Hiromitsu Kanehara	Submission (kneebar)	Rings-World Title Series 2	02001-07-15June 15, 2001	2	0:53	Yokohama, Japan
Loss	2–1	Fedor Emelianenko	Decision (unanimous)	Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block B	02000-12-22December 22, 2000	3	5:00	Osaka, Japan
Win	2-0	Jeremy Horn	Decision (split)	Rings-Millennium Combine 3	02000-05-20April 20, 2000	2	5:00	Osaka, Japan
Win	1-0	Andrei Kopylov	Decision (unanimous)	Rings-Millennium Combine 1	02000-05-20April 20, 2000	2	5:00	Tokyo, Japan

Submission grappling record (13-0)

Result	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Notes
Win	Mark Kerr	Points	ADCC 2003 Superfight	2003
Win	Jean Jacques Machado	Points	ADCC 2001 Absolute Division	2001			Final; Wins ADCC Absolute Championship
Win	Vitor Belfort	Points	ADCC 2001 Absolute Division	2001			Semi-Finals
Win	Saulo Ribeiro	Points	ADCC 2001 Absolute Division	2001			Quarter-Finals
Win	Roger Neff	Submission	ADCC 2001 Absolute Division	2001			Opening Round
Win	Ricardo Almeida	Points	ADCC 2001 Under 99KG	2001			Final; Wins ADCC Under 99KG Championship
Win	Jon Olav Einemo	Points	ADCC 2001 Under 99KG	2001			Semi-Finals
Win	Renato Sobral	Points	ADCC 2001 Under 99KG	2001			Quarter-Finals
Win	Ruslan Mashurenko	Points	ADCC 2001 Under 99KG	2001			Opening Round
Win	Jeff Monson	Points	ADCC 2000 Under 99KG	2000			Final; Wins ADCC Under 99KG Championship
Win	Tito Ortiz	Points	ADCC 2000 Under 99KG	2000			Semi-Finals
Win	Kareem Barkalev	Points	ADCC 2000 Under 99KG	2000			Quarter-Finals
Win	Hiromitsu Kanehara	Submission	ADCC 2000 Under 99KG	2000			Opening Round

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists
• Brazilian Top Team

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for Ricardo Arona from Sherdog
• PRIDE FC Profile