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

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 ...

who most recently competed in the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

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 beg ...

divisions of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

, where he was a former Bellator Middleweight World Champion. As of December 2017, Carvalho is tied with Alexander Shlemenko 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 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 (mixed m ...

on 19 September 2014 at Bellator 125. 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 full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

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 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. ...

. He won the fight by split decision.

Bellator middleweight champion

Carvalho faced Brandon Halsey in the main event at Bellator 144 for the vacant

Bellator Middleweight Championship Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") was an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded ...

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 people, Surinamese-born Dutch people, Dutch mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Kickboxing, kickboxer. In kickboxing, he is a former It's Showtime (kickboxing), It's Showtime Middl ...

on 20 May 2016 at Bellator 155. 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 ...

(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, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. 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 als ...

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 Alexander Shlemenko, 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. Mousasi most recently competed in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. He is also the former DREAM Light Heavywe ...

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 class ...

Lyoto Machida is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as a UFC Middleweight Championship title challenger. He mos ...

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 professional mixed martial artist, former Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer, 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 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. 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 on 6 days notice at Bellator 258 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. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Post Bellator

In his first bout after leaving Bellator, Carvalho faced Marcelo Alfaya on November 15, 2023 at Centurion FC 16, winning the bout and the title via unanimous decision.

Global Fight League

On December 11, 2024, it was announced that Carvalho was eligible to be drafted in the Global Fight League. However, he was not drafted for the 2025 season. In turn, in April 2025, it was reported that all GFL events were cancelled indefinitely.

Bare-knuckle boxing

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship

Carvalho was scheduled to make his BKFC debut on December 21, 2024 against Gilberto Fuentes at BKFC on DAZN: Hollywood, FL. However, the bout was postponed after Carvalho signed with Global Fight League.

Championships and accomplishments

** Bellator Middleweight World Championship (One time; former) ***Three successful title defenses **Tied with Alexander Shlemenko 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 has been owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time'' magazine, ''ESPN The Magazine'', ''Th ...

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

Mixed martial arts record

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References

External links

Rafael Carvalho
at

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * ''Bellator'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Triglidae (sea robins) ** ...

(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 male Muay Thai practitioners Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Martial artists from Rio de Janeiro (city) Bellator MMA champions 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen