Amaury Bitetti is a Brazilian

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

former fighter and promoter holding the rank of 7th degree black and red coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Considered by many as one of the best BJJ competitors of all time, Bitetti is a two-time world jiu-jitsu champion in open weight, the first-ever to win the category, and a two-time Brazilian national champion. After competing in

Vale Tudo Vale Tudo or vale-tudo (; ), also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few Regulation of sport, rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventua ...

MMA 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 ...

Bitetti founded the MMA fight organization ''Bitetti Combate''.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu career

Bitetti trained under the late Carlson Gracie starting at age five at the Carlson Gracie Academy in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. He won the

World Jiu-Jitsu Championship The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament held annually by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation. It is widely considered the most important and prestigious jiu-jitsu tournament of the year. The ...

in the Absolute division in 1996 and 1997. Bitetti went on to win the

Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship The Campeonato Brasileiro de Jiu-Jitsu (lit. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship), commonly known as ''Brasileiro'', is an annual Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) tournament held in Brazil by the IBJJF. ''Brasileiro'' has been held annually since 199 ...

in 1998 and 2000 in the -94 kg division, as well as a bronze medal at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 1999.

Mixed martial arts career

Desafio

Bitetti's first fight was going to be in the Desafio – Jiu Jitsu vs Luta Livre event in 1991, a challenge between Brazilian jiu-jitsu and

Luta Livre Luta Livre (, lit. ''freestyle fighting'' or ''wrestling''), known in Brazil as Luta Livre Brasileira (lit. ''Brazilian freestyle fighting'') or Luta Livre Submission, and also Brazilian Submission Wrestling, is a Brazilian martial arts and comb ...

fighters. He was originally escalated to face Luta Livre expert

Marco Ruas Marco Antônio de Lima Ruas (; born 23 January 1961) is a Brazilian former mixed martial arts fighter, submission wrestling, submission wrestler, kickboxer and instructor. Ruas was the List of UFC champions#Tournament winners, UFC 7 Tournament ...

, but Ruas ended up cancelling his participation and Bitetti was declared the winner by W.O. Amaury had his debut in 1995 for the Desafio: International

tournament. Entering the competition representing the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he was pitted at the first round against

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

stylist Francisco Nonato, but he defeated him by taking the fight to the mat and raining punches on him. Bitetti next defeated

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

James Adler the same way, and he advanced to the finals, where he faced

capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...

fighter Mestre Hulk. The grappler waited after some spinning kicks and tried to

shoot Shoot most commonly refers to: * Shoot (botany), an immature plant or portion of a plant * Shooting, the firing of projectile weapons * Photo shoot, a photography session; an event wherein a photographer takes photographs Shoot may also refer t ...

, but he was suddenly caught by a right hook from the capoeirista and fell to the ground, where he received fourteen unanswered punches until referee Joao Alberto Barreto stopped the match.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In 1996, Bitetti debuted in

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 ( ...

at its event UFC 9, replacing an injured

in his fight against

Don Frye Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the '' UFC 8'' and '' David vs. Goliath 96'' tournament ...

. The match would become infamous for the amount of punishment Amaury received, as Frye stopped his early takedowns and started landing punches, knees and elbows on the Brazilian, both standing and on the ground. After a hard series of elbows to the spine and head, the referee stopped the match to declare Frye winner. Amaury returned to UFC in UFC 26, where he faced

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock ( né Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known ...

trainee Alex Andrade. This time Bitetti started aggressively, but Andrade answered and followed with a kick to the face, which gained him a yellow card as he was wearing wrestling shoes and thus he couldn't legally kick. The Brazilian continued landing several combinations through the match, but he ended winning by disqualification instead, as at the second round he was kicked in the head again, which got Andrade out of the match.

After retirement

Bitetti was also in

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 ...

's corner when Nogueira submitted

Tim Sylvia Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight. While he is best kn ...

to win the

UFC Heavyweight Championship 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 clas ...

UFC 81 ''UFC 81: Breaking Point'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held on February 2, 2008, by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip. Background The main event featured Tim Sylvia and Ant ...

. He also holds a win over UFC veteran Dennis Hallman. He founded his own mixed martial arts organization called ''Bitetti Combat'' in 2002. The company hosted its 14th event on 9 March 2013. Bitetti stated that he wished to compete against Roberto Traven at the 2013 ADCC. Bitetti was awarded his coral belt in May 2020 by master Osvaldo Alves after 31 years as a black belt

Championships and accomplishments

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

* 2 x IBJJF World Champion (1996 / 1997) * 3rd place IBJJF World Championship (1999) * CBJJ Brazilian Nationals Championship (1998 / 2000)

Mixed martial arts

** UFC Encyclopedia Awards *** Fight of the Night (One time) vs.

*Desafio **International Vale Tudo Tournament Finalist (1995)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Dennis Hallman , Decision (split) , Shogun 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–2 , Alex Andrade , DQ (kicking with shoes) , UFC 26 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:43 ,

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

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, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–2 ,

, TKO (knees and punches) , UFC 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:22 ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Mestre Hulk , KO (punches) , Desafio: International Vale Tudo , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:23 , Brazil , Tournament finals , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , James Adler , TKO (submission to punches) , Desafio: International Vale Tudo , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:51 , Brazil , Tournament semifinals , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Nonato Nonato , TKO (submission to punches) , Desafio: International Vale Tudo , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:57 , Brazil , Tournament quarterfinals

References

External links

*
Bitetti Combat homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitetti, Amaury Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a coral belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship medalists