Matthew Vincent Arroyo (born September 1, 1982) is a former American 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 ...

. He was featured on 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 ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'', fighting on Team

Serra Serra (Latin for "saw") may refer to: People * Serra (footballer) (born 1961), Portuguese footballer * Serra (surname) * Serra (given name) Cities, towns, municipalities Brazil *Serra, Espírito Santo, a city in the Greater Vitória area *Ampar ...

. He fights out of

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

with Gracie Tampa, under

Royce Gracie Royce Gracie (; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figure ...

black belt Rob Kahn.

Mixed martial arts career

''The Ultimate Fighter''

In his first bout of the competition, Arroyo was able to submit Dorian Price via rear naked choke in the first round. After losing a coin toss to Troy Mandaloniz, Arroyo was going to train with Team Hughes, but he and

Richie Hightower ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra'' was the sixth season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter'', and premiered on September 19, 2007 on Spike TV, after ''UFC Fight ...

both decided to continue training with Team Serra. Matt Hughes cornered his quarterfinal fight with Mandaloniz, whom he defeated 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 armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, p ...

in the first round. During the coaches' bowling competition, Arroyo successfully coached Matt Serra to victory over Matt Hughes. While preparing for his semifinal match vs.

Mac Danzig Mac Danzig (born January 2, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist, who competed as a lightweight in several MMA promotions, most notably the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season six. Background Da ...

, Arroyo sustained a rib injury and had to withdraw from the competition, prompting

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

to select John Kolosci as his replacement. Arroyo went on to defeat John Kolosci at '' The Ultimate Finale 6'' via submission (

) at 4:42 of the first round.

UFC career

After the end of the show, Arroyo was given a fight against John Kolosci at '' The Ultimate Finale 6''. Arroyo won by submission via armbar in the first round. He then had a rematch against Matt Brown at '' The Ultimate Finale 7''. Arroyo lost the bout by TKO in the second round. He lost to

Dan Cramer Daniel John Cramer (born October 31, 1985) is an American retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 2009 until 2014, Cramer made his professional debut with the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and was a competitor on SpikeTV's ' ...

at UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2, by split decision. After the loss, Arroyo was released from the UFC. Arroyo appears as a playable character in the video game '' UFC Undisputed 2009''.

Personal life

Arroyo holds a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from The University of Tampa, where he was also the president of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi. After college he sold life insurance for a year before committing himself to fighting full-time. He is currently very active in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. He has recently opened up his own MMA academy known as Gracie Tampa South with his mentor Rob Kahn. On December 30, 2009, Arroyo received his black belt in BJJ under Rob Kahn.Matt Arroyo Earns BJJ Black Belt
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Championships and accomplishments

** Submission of the Night (one time) vs. John Kolosci

Mixed martial arts record

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, Decision (split) , UFC 94 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2 , Matt Brown , TKO (punches) ,

The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest'' was the seventh season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter'', and premiered on April 2, 2008 on Spike, after ''UFC Fight Nigh ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , John Kolosci , Submission (armbar) , The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:42 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Ariel Pena , Submission (triangle choke) , Real Fighting Championships 8: Invasion of the Cage , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:39 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Matt Brown , TKO (punches) , Real Fighting Championships 7: Night of Champions , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:54 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Naeem Munir , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Combat Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 , Orlando, Florida, United States ,

References

External links

Matt Arroyo's official website
* *
Matt Arroyo's Myspace page

Gracie Tampa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arroyo, Matt 1982 births American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Florida Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people People from Cobleskill, New York Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters