Rafael Carvalho de Souza (born 27 July 1986) is a Brazilian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who most recently competed in the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

and

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

divisions of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

, where he was a former Bellator Middleweight World Champion. As of December 2017, Carvalho is tied with

Alexander Shlemenko Alexander Pavlovich Shlemenko (russian: Александр Павлович Шлеменко, born 20 May 1984) is a Russian mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Middleweight (MMA), Middleweight division. He is most notable for fighti ...

for most title defenses in the division's history. He also won the Smash Fight middleweight championship in 2013.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

First loss and rebound

Carvalho made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Julio Cesar Araujo Fernandes on 17 December 2011 at Samurai FC 6. Carvalho lost the fight via submission in the first round. Following the loss, Carvalho went on a nine-fight unbeaten streak that included a unanimous decision win over

Gustavo Machado Gustavo Machado da Silva (born May 17, 1975) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who has competed for the International Fight League, Shooto, Deep (mixed martial arts), DEEP, RINGS, Pancrase and King of the Cage promotions. Machado ...

that won him the Smash Fight middleweight championship, before signing with

Bellator MMA

Road to Bellator middleweight title

Carvalho was expected to make his promotional debut against fellow newcomer

Anthony Ruiz Anthony Ruiz (born November 3, 1977) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions of MMA. A professional since 2003, he has competed for Bellator MMA, Strikeforce, the W ...

on 19 September 2014 at

Bellator 125 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweigh ...

. However, after an injury to Brett Cooper, Carvalho stepped up and faced Brian Rogers in the co-main event. Carvalho won the back-and-forth fight via TKO in the first round. Carvalho faced

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

veteran

Joe Schilling Joseph Francis Schilling (born January 13, 1984) is an American professional Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator Kickboxing in the Middleweight division, and in the Middleweight division for Bell ...

on 10 April 2015 at Bellator 136. He won the fight by split decision.

Bellator middleweight champion

Carvalho faced Brandon Halsey in the main event at

Bellator 144 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

for the vacant Bellator Middleweight Championship on 23 October 2015. Carvalho stopped Halsey via a body kick in the second round in an upset. Halsey dominated the first round on the ground; almost finishing Carvalho with an arm-triangle choke. With the comeback victory, Carvalho became the first fighter to defeat Halsey. Carvalho made his first defense of his title against

Melvin Manhoef Melvin Manhoef (born 11 May 1976) is a retired Surinamese-born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer. In kickboxing, he is a former It's Showtime Middleweight Champion, and in MMA he was the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion. In mixed mar ...

on 20 May 2016 at

Bellator 155 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickboxi ...

. He won via a controversial split decision to retain the Bellator Middleweight Championship. Bellator announcer Jimmy Smith called it one of the worst decisions he had ever seen; likewise 5 of 5 media outlets scored the bout in favor of Manhoef. An immediate rematch with Manhoef was scheduled to take place at Bellator 168, on 10 December 2016. However, Carvalho pulled out of the fight due to injury. The rematch eventually took place on 8 April 2017 at Bellator 176. Carvalho won the bout via knockout due to a head kick in the fourth round. Following the event, Carvalho was fined $5,000 by the

Association of Boxing Commissions The Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) is a North American not-for-profit professional boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) organization that organizes contests and record-keeping. It is governed by delegates of state, provincial, and tribal at ...

(ABC) for unsportsmanlike conduct, due to jumping out the cage in his post-fight celebration. In a May 2017 interview with MMAfighting.com, Carvalho expressed interest in a bout with newly signed welterweight Rory MacDonald after the two exchanged words on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. In addition, he hoped to make his next title defense in July or August. In his third title defense, Carvalho faced

Alessio Sakara Alessio Sakara (born September 2, 1981) is an Italian professional mixed martial artist, former professional boxer and Sanshou kickboxer, currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, Sakara has al ...

at Bellator 190 on 9 December 2017. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. As a result, Carvalho tied the record for most title defenses, held by

, in the divisions' history (three). In his fourth title defense, Carvalho faced

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator MMA ...

on 25 May 2018 at Bellator 200 in London. This was the last fight on his contract. He lost the fight via technical knock out in round one.

Return to contender status

On 12 September, it was announced that Carvalho had re-signed with the Bellator MMA promotion. It was also announced that Carvalho is expected to face promotional newcomer and former

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Lyoto Machida (born 30 May 1978), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and karateka, who currently competes in the Light heavyweight division. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light ...

on 15 December at Bellator 213. On weigh-in day, Carvalho missed weight, weighing in at 186.5 pounds, over the maximum non-title limit of 186.0 pounds. The bout proceeded at Catchweight and Carvalho was fined 20% of his purse. Carvalho was defeated by split decision. Carvalho faced

Chidi Njokuani Chidi Godson Njokuani (born December 31, 1988) is an American former Muay Thai kickboxer and current professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professio ...

at Bellator 224 in a 190 lb Catchweight bout on 12 July 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision. After the fight with Njokuani, Carvalho announced that he will be moving up to the light heavyweight division.

Move up to light heavyweight

In his light heavyweight debut, Carvalho faced

Vadim Nemkov Vadim Aleksandrovich Nemkov (russian: Вадим Александрович Немков; born 20 June 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and a four-time Combat Sambo World Champion. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweig ...

at Bellator 230 on 13 October 2019. After being largely dominated in the fight, Carvalho lost via submission late in the second round. Carvalho faced Alex Polizzi at Bellator 245 on 11 September 2020. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Bellator MMA announced on 27 October 2020, that Carvalho had been released from the promotion.

Return to Middleweight

After the release from Bellator, Carvalho was set to headline LFA 107 against Sharaf Davlatmurodov on 14 May 2021. However, the bout was called off as Carvalho stepped in as a replacement for Costello van Steenis to face

Lorenz Larkin Lorenz Larkin (born September 3, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2009, Larkin formerly competed for Strikeforce and the Ulti ...

on 6 days notice at

Bellator 258 Bellator 258: Archuleta vs. Pettis was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on May 7, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. This fight card is notable for being Anthony Johnson's final fight before ...

on 7 May 2021. The promotion announced that this bout would be a one off fight deal. Carvalho lost the bout via split decision. Replacing Tony Johnson, Carvalho faced Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov on April 15, 2022 at

Bellator 277 ''Bellator 277: McKee vs. Pitbull 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 15, 2022, at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, United States. Background The event was headlined by a rematch between ...

. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Championships and accomplishments

** Bellator Middleweight World Championship (One time; former) ***Three successful title defenses **Tied with

for the most successful Middleweight title defenses in Bellator history (3) *

MMA Junkie MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Magazine'', ''The N ...

**October 2015 Knockout of the Month vs. Brandon Halsey *Smash Fight **Smash Fight Middleweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 16–7 , Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov , TKO (elbows and punches) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:04 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–6 ,

, Decision (split) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–5 , Alex Polizzi , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 245 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–4 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , Bellator 230 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:56 ,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 16–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 224 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Thackerville, Oklahoma Thackerville is a town in Love County, Oklahoma. It is located in South Central Oklahoma. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Thackerville is located at (33. ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–3 ,

, Decision (split) , Bellator 213 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–2 ,

, TKO (punches) , Bellator 200 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:35 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 15–1 ,

, KO (punches and elbow) , Bellator 190 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 ,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 14–1 ,

, KO (head kick) , Bellator 176 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 3:15 ,

Torino, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 13–1 ,

, Decision (split) ,

, , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 , Brandon Halsey , TKO (body kick) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:42 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1 ,

, Decision (split) , Bellator 136 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Brian Rogers , TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:06 ,

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Mauri Roque , TKO (knee to the body and punches) , Talent MMA Circuit 9: Sao Jose dos Pinhais 2014 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:47 ,

São José dos Pinhais São José dos Pinhais () is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is a part of the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba. Etymology With geographical and religious origins the city's name is a homage to São José (Saint Joseph) and ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Sergio Souza , TKO (knee to the body and punches) , Iron Fight Combat 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:15 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Smash Fight 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Curitiba, Paraná Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Fernando Scherek , TKO (punches) , Adventure Fighters Tournament 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:39 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Kaue Dudus , TKO (punches) , Samurai FC 9: Water vs. Fire , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:48 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Eduardo Gimenez , TKO (punches) , Empire Promotions: Empire FC , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:55 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Luiz Cado Simon , TKO (punches) , Forca Jovem Parana: Nocaute ao Crack 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, N/A ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Glauber Valadares , TKO (punches) , Predador FC 21 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:52 ,

Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul Campo Grande (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West region of the country. The city is nicknamed ''Cidade Morena'' ("Swarthy City" in Portuguese) because of the reddish-brown colour o ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Flavio Rodrigo Magon , TKO (punches) , Adrenaline Fight 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:42 , Apucarana, Paraná, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Julio Cesar Araujo Fernandes , Submission (anaconda choke) , Samurai FC 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Brazil ,

References

External links

Rafael Carvalho
at Bellator (archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carvalho, Rafael 1986 births Living people Brazilian male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian Muay Thai practitioners Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Bellator MMA champions