Anthony Perosh (born 5 October 1972) is a retired Australian professional

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, incorpo ...

who 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 cruis ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship 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 Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Background

Perosh was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and is of

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

descent, as both of his parents are Croatian immigrants. Perosh began training in martial arts while doing security work to help pay for college tuition. The training would help him in working security and he began his training in 1995 with Paul Zadro, when he was 23 years old. This original training was in Kempo Karate and Muay Thai, before he learned about Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In 1997 Perosh moved to Dallas, Texas to train with Carlos Machado (A World BJJ Champion) for over two years. In 2003, Machado presented Perosh with a

black belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

in Machado Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Perosh is now a fourth degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, still under Machado. Perosh trained to compete in mixed martial arts after he received his black belt when he was 31 years old.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Perosh made his professional mixed martial arts debut on 29 November 2003 defeating Api Hemara by first round rear-naked choke

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

. Perosh went on to fight two more times that night, winning both bouts by submission. He was invited to the UFC after compiling a 5–1 record with his only loss coming to 11–0 Sam Nest, by the way of decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

His UFC debut came not only against a fellow

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, is an international submission grappling competition, organised by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC). The inaugural tournament was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 1998. It has been held every two yea ...

grappler, but against an ADCC Champion in

Jeff Monson Oregon State Beavers Jeffrey William Monson (born January 18, 1971) is an American-Russian mixed martial artist, boxer, and submission grappler who competes primarily in the Heavyweight division. A professional compe ...

UFC 61 ''UFC 61: Bitter Rivals'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, July 8, 2006. The event took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada and was broadcast live on pay-per-view in t ...

. With both Monson and Perosh's Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills being cancelled out, the fight saw Monson instead win by

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

that subsequently led to a fight with Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. His next fight came against Christian Wellisch at UFC 66 in a bloody brawl that saw both fighters knock each other down along with Perosh earning more takedowns while Wellisch landed more strikes. The win could have gone to either fighter, but the judges gave it unanimously to Wellisch. Perosh was released from the UFC following the fight.

Post-UFC

On 22 May 2009, Perosh won the quarter-final match against Nate Carey at CFC 8. He also won the semi-final match against Dave Frendin at CFC 9 on 11 July 2009. On 21 August 2009, Perosh was defeated by future UFC veteran James Te-Huna in the finals, at CFC 10. Te-Huna controversially stomped on Perosh when he was down at the end of the fight but was not given a punishment.

Return to Ultimate Fighting Championship

At UFC 110, the UFC's debut event in Australia on 20 February 2010, Perosh made his return to the UFC filling in as a late replacement for Ben Rothwell against legendary kickboxer and former 2006 Pride World Grand Prix Openweight Champion Mirko Cro Cop on a mere two days notice. Doctors called an end to the fight with Cro Cop at the end of the second round, as Perosh was bleeding from a cut sustained midway through the 2nd round by a vicious elbow from his opponent. Although he lost, Perosh was given a four-fight contract with the UFC for stepping in on late notice against such a great opponent. On 27 March 2010, Perosh announced he would be undergoing knee surgery in the coming weeks and that he hoped that his next fight in the UFC would take place some time in September 2010. In his

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 cruis ...

debut at

UFC 127 ''UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Sunday, 27 February 2011 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Due to the time zone difference it aired live on Saturday, 26 February in Nort ...

, Perosh quickly defeated English fighter Tom Blackledge to finally capture his first win in the UFC. He won the fight by rear-naked choke submission at 2:45 of the first round in front of his hometown crowd in Sydney, Australia; he stated post-fight that he feels much stronger at light heavyweight and would like to see how far he can go in his new weight class. Perosh was scheduled to face Krzysztof Soszynski on 11 June 2011 at UFC 131. However, Perosh was forced from the bout with an eye injury and was replaced by Igor Pokrajac. On 5 November 2011 at

UFC 138 ''UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 5, 2011 at LG Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The event aired on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the United S ...

Perosh defeated Cyrille Diabaté via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:09 of round two to gain his second UFC win in succession. Perosh next faced promotional newcomer Nick Penner on 3 March 2012 at

UFC on FX 2 ''UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann'' (also known as ''UFC on FX 2'') was a mixed martial arts event held live by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday March 3, 2012 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Background ...

. He won the fight via

TKO TKO may refer to: Sports * Technical knockout, a professional fighting term * Total Knock Out, a professional wrestling move Music Artists * TKO (band), a rock band from Seattle, Washington * TKO, a pop group led by Katie White Albums * ''TKO ...

in the first round. Perosh faced

Ryan Jimmo Ryan Jimmo (November 27, 1981 – June 26, 2016) was a Canadian mixed martial artist who competed in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He mostly fought in Canada and competed on the eighth season of ''The Ult ...

on 21 July 2012 at UFC 149, losing via KO in 7 seconds. Perosh was expected to face

Joey Beltran José Felipe Beltran (born December 9, 1981) is an American bare-knuckle fighter and mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, and King of the Cage. He currently comp ...

on 15 December 2012 at UFC on FX 6. However, Perosh was forced from the bout with a toe injury and replaced by Igor Pokrajac. In his sixth fight for the promotion since his return, Perosh faced Vinny Magalhães on 3 August 2013 at UFC 163. He won the fight via

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

just 10 seconds in the first round. This earned Perosh his first ''Knockout of the Night'' bonus award. Perosh faced Ryan Bader on 7 December 2013 at UFC Fight Night 33. He lost the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 30–26). Perosh was expected to face Gian Villante on 28 June 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 43 ''UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquardt'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 43'') was a mixed martial arts event held on June 28, 2014, at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. Background The event was the first that the organization hosted in N ...

. However, Perosh was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Sean O'Connell. Perosh faced Guto Inocente at UFC Fight Night 55 on 8 November 2014. He won the fight via submission in the first round. Perosh faced

Sean O'Connell Sean O'Connell was a Gaelic football manager and player who featured for the Derry county team in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and was on the Derry side that finished runners-up to Dublin in the 1958 All-Ireland Championship – winning an ...

on 10 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 65. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. Perosh faced Gian Villante on 15 November 2015 at UFC 193. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Perosh announced his retirement from active competition in January 2016.

Personal life

Perosh previously ran Sinosic Perosh Martial Arts (SPMA), with his business and training partner, former UFC veteran Elvis Sinosic in Sydney. Perosh now currently runs Team Perosh Mixed Martial Arts which was established in late 2017, a martial arts school located in Sydney, Australia teaching Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, wrestling. Both Instructors decided to open their Individual Gyms after they agreed that one instructor should be at one location to pay closer attention to their students. His nickname, "The Hippo," derived from his specific jiu-jitsu game; his use of pressure from the top position made his training partners frustrated and say: "Get off me you hippo!".

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

*Cage Fighting Championships **CFC Light Heavyweight Tournament Runner Up *

** Knockout of the Night (One time)

Grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu

* World Jiu-Jitsu Championship **1999 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship Bronze Medalist **2003 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship Bronze Medalist * Pan American Championship **2000 Pan American Silver Medalist *

**5X ADCC World Championship Qualifier **ADCC 2009 South Pacific Champion *Australian National Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships **10X Australian National Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 15–10 , Gian Villante , KO (punch) , UFC 193 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:56 ,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

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Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

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Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

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Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 13–6 , Nick Penner , TKO (punches) , UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:59 , Sydney, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 12–6 , Cyrille Diabaté , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

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Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

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, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–5 ,

James Te Huna James Te Huna (born 29 September 1981) is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship who has been called a pioneer of New Zealand mixed martial artists. He was the first Australian-based fighter to win a UFC fight on Australi ...

, KO (punches) , CFC 10: Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Finals , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:21 , Sydney, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 9–4 , David Frendin , Submission (knees) , CFC 9: Fighters Paradise , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:45 ,

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References

External links

Official UFC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perosh, Anthony 1972 births Australian male mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing American Kenpo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Australian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Australian people of Croatian descent Sportspeople from Sydney Living people Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Australian Muay Thai practitioners Australian male karateka Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters