Ricardo Arona

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Ricardo Arona bigraphy, stories - Brazilian martial artist

Ricardo Arona : biography

July 17, 1978 –

Ricardo Arona ( born July 17, 1978 in Araruama, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and finalist. He has competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships and RINGS in his mixed martial arts career, and was a member of Brazilian Top Team. He is the former RINGS Middleweight Championship, as well as the 2001 RINGS Middleweight Championship Tournament Winner, and 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Runner Up.

Submission grappling record

KO PUNCHES |- style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;" | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Result | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Method | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Event | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes |- |Win|| Mark Kerr || Points || ADCC 2003 Superfight|| 2003 || 13-0 || |- |Win|| Jean Jacques Machado || Points || ADCC 2001 Absolute Division || 2001 || 12-0 || Final; Wins ADCC Absolute Championship |- |Win|| Vitor Belfort || Points || ADCC 2001 Absolute Division || 2001 || 11-0 || Semi-Finals |- |Win|| Saulo Ribeiro || Points || ADCC 2001 Absolute Division || 2001 || 10-0 || Quarter-Finals |- |Win|| Roger Neff || Submission || ADCC 2001 Absolute Division || 2001 || 9-0 || Opening Round |- |Win|| Ricardo Almeida || Points || ADCC 2001 Under 99KG || 2001 || 8-0 || Final; Wins ADCC Under 99KG Championship |- |Win|| Jon Olav Einemo || Points || ADCC 2001 Under 99KG || 2001 || 7-0 || Semi-Finals |- |Win|| Renato Sobral || Points || ADCC 2001 Under 99KG || 2001 || 6-0 || Quarter-Finals |- |Win|| Ruslan Mashurenko || Points || ADCC 2001 Under 99KG || 2001 || 5-0 || Opening Round |- |Win|| Jeff Monson || Points || ADCC 2000 Under 99KG|| 2000 || 4-0 || Final; Wins ADCC Under 99KG Championship |- |Win|| Tito Ortiz || Points || ADCC 2000 Under 99KG || 2000 || 3-0 || Semi-Finals |- |Win|| Kareem Barkalev || Points || ADCC 2000 Under 99KG || 2000 || 2-0 || Quarter-Finals |- |Win|| Hiromitsu Kanehara || Submission || ADCC 2000 Under 99KG || 2000 || 1-0 || Opening Round |-

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 organization. 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).