Ricardo Almeida: Respecting the Choke

Watching Ricardo Almeida (10-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) over the course of what has been a shockingly under-discussed career, it’s easy to remember what has been my mantra since I started training in jiu-jitsu: Respect the Choke.

As a third degree blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie, there are few fighters in the UFC middleweight division who can tough Almeida’s ground game, though he may be superceded by emerging contender Demian Maia (10-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC, #5 IWMMAR), but as Maia goes into what may be a hotly contested bout with Nate Marquardt (28-8-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC, #4 IWMMAR), it’s worth pointing out that the far less recognizable Almeida submitted Nate the Great when the two fought in Pancrase back in 2003 (Almeida is one-of-two fighters ever to tap Nate, and one-of-three to finish him).

What pushed Almeida out of many minds was his long hiatus from the world of MMA, when he left in 2004 to focus on developing his own Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy in Hamilton, New Jersey. Since returning in 2008, Almeida has gone 2-1, with his only loss coming in a fight that was for a title shot, dropping a split decision to Patrick Cote (14-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC). His two wins came in dominant performances.

Almeida’s history in the sport is a major point of interest for those who enjoy the older UFC events, and the Japanese scene. After making an impressive debut in Japan, defeating long time staple of the Japanese MMA scene Akira Shoji (14-16-5 MMA) at PRIDE 12, Almeida came to fight in the United States.

The Big Dog, Cachorrao, debuted in the UFC against a man considered one of the best fighters at the time, but ended up losing to Matt Lindland (21-6 MMA, 9-3 UFC) by disqualification after repeated warnings for fouls. Lindland was undefeated at the time and continued his tear through the UFC until losing to then middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante (14-7-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC).

Cachorrao continued in the UFC, racking up his first submission when he caught Eugene Jackson (15-8-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC) in a triangle choke. After his first serious loss, when he was TKO’d by Andrei Semenov (29-9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), Almeida left the UFC and fought in the Pancrase organization, where he went on a five fight tear that should be seen as the definitive stretch of his career at this point.

Including that win over Marquardt, Almeida choked out Pancrase legend Osami Shibuya (38-32-15 MMA) and defeated Yuki Sasaki (22-15-1 MMA) as well as high profile Pride veterans Ikuhisa Minowa (42-30-8 MMA) and Kazuo Misaki (22-9-2-1 MMA), though those wins came before either Minowa or Misaki debuted in Pride.

Almeida then made his Pride debut, defeating Ryo Chonan (15-10 MMA, 1-3 UFC), before going on his hiatus.

Whether Almeida will defeat Kendall Grove (10-5-0-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at UFC 101 is still very much up in the air, but Almeida will definitely have an advantage over the 6’6 middleweight on the mat. Grove has good submissions (the Belcher fight is one of Grove’s best performances, in my opinion), but Almeida’s ground game is one of the best in the UFC, and if the bout ends up on the mat, Almeida is a heavy favorite to take it.