Gil Philip Castillo (born October 21, 1965) is an American professional

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 ...

. A professional from 1998 until 2006, he fought in the

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 ...

, WEC and

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock Jr. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstre ...

. Castillo is the former King of the Cage Middleweight Superfight Champion.

Background

Gil Castillo was born in Ohio, California. Castillo excelled in

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

at Antioch High School and after competing for California State University at Long Beach, he entered the trials for the Olympic team. He went 2–2, and needed to win his fourth match to get on the squad that trains for the alternate team, but lost on points. After becoming a licensed

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

, Castillo found Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 1995, and was trained by Cesar Gracie and

Ralph Gracie Ralph Gracie (born May 25, 1971) is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and jiu-jitsu black belt. A member of the famed Gracie family, he is the son of Robson Gracie and the brother of 11 Gracies, including Charles Gracie, Renz ...

before they introduced him to

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 ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Castillo made his professional debut in early 1997 in a tournament. He won his debut via

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

submission only 40 seconds into the first round. He won his next fight after his opponent broke his wrist during the fight, and in the tournament final, Castillo faced veteran Vernon White and won via

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful; it will immobilize an opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock t ...

submission in just three minutes. Castillo fought for the King of the Cage Middleweight Superfight Championship on April 29, 2001, against then-champion Joe Hurley. In a back-and-forth fight, Castillo scored seven takedowns on the Lion's Den fighter, and won via unanimous decision. Castillo then fought future Strikeforce Welterweight Champion

Nate Marquardt Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight and welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 1999, he is a former Strikeforce W ...

for the IFC Welterweight Championship and won via unanimous decision before being invited to compete in the

UFC

UFC 33 ''UFC 33: Victory in Vegas '' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 28, 2001. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and ...

on September 28, 2001, Castillo made his

debut, fighting a much-larger

Dave Menne David Jeremy Menne (born July 29, 1974) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He was the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion and has also competed for Cage Rage, Bellator, Shooto, ADCC and RINGS. Background Menne was born in Minnea ...

for the first-ever

UFC Middleweight 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 class ...

. Castillo lost via unanimous decision and was handed his first professional loss. After picking up a unanimous decision win over Chris Brennan at UFC 35, Castillo fought for the

UFC Welterweight 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 ...

against then-champion Matt Hughes at UFC 40 on November 22, 2002. Castillo lost via doctor stoppage due to a cut received in the first round.

WEC

Castillo then began fighting for the WEC, making his debut for the organization on March 27, 2003, at

WEC 6 The year 2003 was the 3rd year in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 2003 WEC held 3 events beginning with, ''WEC 6: Return of a Legend''. Title fights Events list ...

against Chris Williams. Castillo won 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 ...

. Castillo fought on May 21, 2004, at WEC 10 against future IFL Lightweight Champion

Ryan Schultz Ryan James Schultz (born July 4, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2003 to 2013, he has competed in the WEC, IFL, and Japan's World Victory Road. He was the last International Fight League Lightweight Champion, co ...

and lost via

. His last appearance for the organization was on October 14, 2005, at WEC 17 against Steve Ramirez. Castillo won via

. Castillo's fought last on April 1, 2006, in an IFC event against current

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

Jake Ellenberger Jake Ellenberger (born March 28, 1985) is an American retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and former United States Marine Corps, United States Marine who was known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professi ...

. Castillo lost via

in the first round.

Mixed martial arts record

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Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

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Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 252 ...

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, Decision (majority) , WEC 10 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Renato Verissimo Renato Verissimo de Oliveira (born August 3, 1973) is a Brazilian 5th degree Black belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu under André Pederneiras and also a retired mixed martial artist, who has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Elite Xt ...

, TKO (corner stoppage) , Rumble on the Rock 4 , , align=center, 2 , 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, 10–2 , Chris Williams , TKO (corner stoppage) , WEC 6: Return of a Legend , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 , Matt Hughes , TKO (cut) , UFC 40 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Chris Brennan , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 35 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is a village in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is located in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

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

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , IFC 14 Warriors Challenge 14 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Joe Hurley , Decision (unanimous) , KOTC 8: Bombs Away , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Williams, California Williams (formerly Central) is a city in Colusa County, California. The population was 5,643 at the time of the 2010 census, up from 3,670 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area o ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Raymond Mansfield , Submission (omoplata) , IFC Warriors Challenge 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Friant, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Robert Ferguson , Decision (unanimous) , IFC Warriors Challenge 8 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 10:00 , Friant, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Dennis Muehy , Submission (armbar) , IFC Warriors Challenge 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:17 , Friant, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Aaron Sampson , Submission (armbar) , Stockton Brawl , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:17 ,

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Vernon White , Submission (armbar) , Stockton Challenge 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Allen Fernandez , Submission (rear naked choke) , Stockton Challenge 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:40 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* *
Gil`s myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Gil Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American mixed martial artists of Mexican descent American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American jujutsuka Sportspeople from Concord, California 1965 births People from Pleasant Hill, California Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Antioch High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen