Rafael Cavalcante (born 5 April 1980), often known by his nickname of Feijão, is a Brazilian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who fights in the light heavyweight division. He is currently competing for

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

. He trains with

Anderson Silva Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and professional boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 ...

and

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (, born 2 June 1976), better known as Minotauro or Big Nog, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Inter ...

as part of the Black House camp. He formerly competed in

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

, where he was at one time Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. His nickname () means "

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

" in Portuguese. He holds notable wins over Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and

Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate ...

Background

Cavalcante is from São Paulo, Brazil and began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 10. Cavalcante also studied veterinary medicine for five years at the Universidade de Cuiaba - UNIC in his adopted hometown of Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, and it was the legendary

who personally convinced Cavalcante's father to allow his son to give up his medical career, in order to focus solely on training for a career in professional fighting under the tutelage of Nogueira. Cavalcante began training at Nogueira's gym daily, alongside the likes of Anderson Silva, André Galvão, and Nogueira's twin brother, Antônio Rogério Nogueira.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Cavalcante made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2006, in the Pantanal Combat tournament, in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, compiling an undefeated record of 3-0 before being signed by the IFL.

IFL

Cavalcante made his promotional debut at IFL: Atlanta, facing veteran Devin Cole whom he defeated via

TKO A technical knockout (TKO) is a professional fighting term. TKO may also refer to: Sports * TKO, the name of a professional wrestling move referring to either the cutter or stunner variant * TKO Group Holdings, a combat sports company Music Ar ...

early in the second round. Cavalcante made his next appearance at IFL: Las Vegas, facing fellow Brazilian Márcio Cruz. Cavalcante lost the fight via disqualification in the third round due to illegal upkicks. This was Cavalcante's first professional defeat.

EliteXC

In 2008, Cavalcante began competing for

EliteXC Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States–based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decem ...

, making his debut for the promotion and

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

debut at EliteXC: Street Certified on 16 February 2008, facing John Doyle. Cavalcante won via TKO in the first round. Cavalcante made his next appearance at EliteXC: Return of the King on 14 June 2008 against veteran Wayne Cole. Cavalcante won via TKO, after knocking down Cole with a series of punches and knees. On 26 July 2008, Cavalcante faced Travis Galbraith, who was given a weeks' notice for the fight, at EliteXC: Unfinished Business. Cavalcante won via knockout in the first round. Cavalcante was next scheduled to fight for the inaugural

Light Heavyweight Championship against

Cyrille Diabaté Cyrille Moktar Diabaté (born October 6, 1973) is a retired French mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has also competed in shoot boxing and Muay Thai. He has fought at Palace Fighting Championship, Tachi Palace Fights, PRIDE, ShoXC, Deep, ...

in November 2008, but Diabaté pulled out due to an injury, and the event itself was eventually folded as EliteXC closed operations a month before the fight's scheduled date. Cavalcante's contract was later purchased by

Strikeforce

On 6 June 2009, Cavalcante was originally scheduled to face

Renato Sobral Renato Sobral da Cunha (; born 7 September 1975), also known as "Babalu", is a retired Brazilian Luta Livre submission grappler, mixed martial artist, and was the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. Sobral previously fought in the U ...

at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields, but Sobral pulled out for personal reasons, and was replaced by Jared Hamman, who also pulled out, due to an injury. Cavalcante instead faced

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

veteran

Mike Kyle Michael Andrew Kyle (born March 31, 1980) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxer currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2001, Kyle has competed for the UFC, the WEC, Strikeforce, the ...

. Cavalcante was handed his first decisive defeat, losing to Kyle via knockout. On 15 May 2010 Cavalcante knocked out Antwain Britt at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery to become the number one contender for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship. Cavalcante fought against the heavily-touted

Muhammed Lawal Muhammed Lawal (born January 11, 1981), also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. As a mixed martial artist, he is a former Strikeforc ...

in Houston, Texas for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship, and defeated Lawal by TKO due to elbows from the clinch at 1:14 of round 3 to become the new Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. Cavalcante lost his title to

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American former mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a Middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

via third-round TKO, on 5 March 2011. Cavalcante faced

on 10 September 2011 at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov. He won the fight via KO in the second round. Feijao fought a rematch against Mike Kyle on 19 May 2012. He avenged his previous defeat by rocking Kyle with a knee and then choked him out with a guillotine choke after 33 seconds in the first round. After the fight he tested positive for the banned substance

stanozolol Stanozolol (Abbreviation, abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is a synthetic androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American ph ...

. As a result, the fight was overturned to a "no contest" by the CSAC and he was fined $2,500 and suspended for a year.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Cavalcante made his anticipated UFC debut against

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fluminense. Regarded as one of the best defenders of all time, he is known ...

on 8 June 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV 10. Despite success early in the first round, Cavalcante lost via knock out at the end of the round. Though he lost, he still earned the ''Fight of the Night'' bonus along with Silva. Cavalcante faced Igor Pokrajac on 9 November 2013 at UFC Fight Night 32. He won the fight via submission due to strikes in the first round. Cavalcante faced

Ryan Bader Ryan Bader ( ; born June 7, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of RIZIN. He previously competed for Bellator MMA where he was the Bellator Heavyweight Champion, and still holds the record for th ...

on 14 June 2014 at UFC 174. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Cavalcante faced Patrick Cummins on 1 August 2015 at

UFC 190 ''UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia'' was a mixed martial arts event held on August 1, 2015, at the Jeunesse Arena, HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between former ...

. He lost the back-and-forth fight by TKO due to elbows in the third round. Cavalcante faced Ovince Saint Preux on 6 February 2016 at UFC Fight Night 82. He lost the fight by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). After his loss to Ovince Saint Preux, he was subsequently released from the promotion.

Bellator MMA

On 1 July 2017, Cavalcante defeated Dan Konecke via technical knockout in the first round to earn a

contract.

Personal life

In June 2016, Cavalcante was involved in a bar fight at a country music bar in Cuiaba, Mato Grosso. In a police report, Cavalcante claims a man forcefully grabbed his girlfriend and along with a friend threatened to kill him. The other man stated Cavalcante verbally abused him and punched him in the face

Championships and accomplishments

** Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship (One time) *

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

** Fight of the Night (One time) *

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

**2010 All-Violence Second Team

Mixed martial arts record

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Aaron Rosa Aaron Isaac Rosa (born May 28, 1983) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2013, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, ShoXC, and Strikeforce. Background Born and raised in the bor ...

, TKO (punches) , Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Bears , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:35 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavalcante, Rafael 1981 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Brazilian sportspeople in doping cases Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Strikeforce (mixed martial arts) champions Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Doping cases in mixed martial arts Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian male Muay Thai practitioners People from Ilha Solteira Martial artists from São Paulo (state) 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen