Rodolfo Vieira Srour (born September 25, 1989 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he competes in the

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 be ...

division. Vieira is a four time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion and a seven time World Cup champion. Rodolfo's Jiu-Jitsu style displays a very diverse set of skills, allied with a fast pace guard passing style, great cardio and huge physical prowess, making him the most dominant Heavyweight in Jiu-Jitsu's recent years by completely dominating most of his fights. He is highly regarded for his guard passing skills. His recurrent matches with Marcus Almeida are among Jiu-Jitsu's most famous rivalries.

Background

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Rodolfo started training under Arlans Maia when he was 13, because he felt overweight. A few years later he joined the Gama Filho team (now Grappling Fight Team) under Julio Cesar Pereira, as a purple belt, where he would go on to receive his brown and black belts.

Grappling career

Rodolfo first made an impression on the international scene in 2009, by winning the World Cup Brazilian north trials as a brown belt in a mixed brown and black belt division. He went on to win his division World Cup with a victory over two-time world champion Braulio Estima, whilst he was still a brown belt, this earned him the nickname "black belt hunter". After promotion to black belt, injury sidelined him throughout most of 2010. He returned in 2011 at the black belt division, first winning his division and the absolute at the

Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...

then repeating the feat at the World Cup and then the World Championships, he faced Bernardo Faria in five out of the six finals. Vieira would go on to compete at the 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, after defeating Joseph Lee Blaize and Antonio Peinado, he lost by heel hook to Dean Lister, in the semi-finals. In 2012 after winning double gold at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

and the World Cup again, he went on to the World Championships. He suffered a defeat to Marcus Almeida in the quarter-finals of absolute division, he went on to defeat Xande Ribeiro to win his weight class for a second time. In 2013 he competed in the Copa Podio in Brazil, where he won his weight division and the absolute. He then competed at the World Cup, where he won his weight division but came second in the absolute again losing to Marcus Almeida. At the World Championships, Vieira retained his title in the -94 kg weight class but lost to Almeida in the final of the absolute. In 2014 in an effort to defeat Marcus Almeida Rodolfo put on more weight and moved up to the -100 kg weight class, at the 2014 World Cup he won his weight class defeating Luiz Panza in the final, but again was defeated by Marcus Almeida in the absolute final, however the match was much closer than their last previously contested matches. On December 11, 2020, Vieira returned to grappling competition to headline a Who's Number One event against Kaynan Duarte. Vieira was submitted with a rear-naked choke in 2:28.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Vieira made his professional debut, as a light heavyweight, against Daniyar Zarylbekov at Arzalet Fighting Globe Championship 1 on February 10, 2017. He won the fight by a first-round rear-naked choke submission. Vieira was scheduled to face Fagner Rakchal at Shooto Brazil 74 on August 27, 2017. He won the fight by a third-round submission.

Absolute Championship Berkut

Vieria made his ACB and middleweight debuts against Alexander Neufang at ACB 82 on March 9, 2018. Vieria won the fight by a first-round technical knockout. Vieria made his second appearance with the promotion against Jacob Holyman-Tague at ACB 88 on June 16, 2018. He won the fight by a first-round submission. Vieria was scheduled to face Vitaliy Nemchinov at ACA 96 on June 8, 2019. Vieria won the fight by a first-round submission.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Vieira was signed by UFC in June 2019. Vieira made his debut at UFC, facing Oskar Piechota, at UFC on ESPN+ 14 on August 10, 2019. He won the fight via an arm-triangle submission in round two. Vieira faced Saparbek Safarov on March 7, 2020 at UFC 248. He again won the fight via an arm-triangle submission in the first round. Vieira was scheduled to face Markus Perez on October 11, 2020 at

UFC Fight Night 179 ''UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 179'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 37'' and ''UFC Fight Island 5'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 11, 2020 at ...

. However, on September 21, Vieira pulled out due to rib injury that was sustained in training, forcing him to rest and not be able to prepare for the fight. Vieira was scheduled to face

Anthony Hernandez Anthony Hernandez (born October 18, 1993) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, he has also competed with Globa ...

on January 16, 2021 at

UFC on ABC 1 ''UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar'' (also known as ''UFC on ABC 1'' and ''UFC Fight Island 7'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 16, 2021, at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island ...

. However, Hernandez pulled out due to a positive COVID-19 test and they were rescheduled for UFC 258 on February 13, 2021. After a competitive first round Vieira became fatigued and was submitted via guillotine choke in round two. After the loss, Vieira vowed to fix his cardio issues. Vieira faced Dustin Stoltzfus on July 17, 2021 at UFC on ESPN 26. He won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in round three. This win earned him the'' Performance of the Night'' award. Shortly after the fight, Vieira began working with Mano Santana, Lyoto Machida's Karate coach, to improve his striking. Vieira was scheduled to face Wellington Turman on January 22, 2022 at UFC 270. However after Vieira was forced to withdraw due to medical reasons, the bout was cancelled. It was revealed after his withdrawal that Vieira had to undergo a cerebral angiography in order to determine if he would be able to continue fighting professionally, and he was cleared to continue. Vieira faced

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on June 25, 2022 at UFC on ESPN 38. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Vieira was scheduled to face Cody Brundage on November 19, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 215. However, Vieira pull out from the event due to undisclosed reason and the bout was scrapped.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Ultimate Fighting Championship ** Performance of the Night (One Time) vs.

Grappling

* IBJJF **IBJJF World Champion (weight and absolute weight classes) (2014/2013/2012/2011). **IBJJF Pans Champion (weight and absolute weight classes) Champion (2011) **IBJJF European Open Champion (weight and absolute weight classes) (2012) **IBJJF World Championship Runner-up (absolute weight class) (2014/2013/2012) * ADCC **ADCC Champion (2015) **Copa Pódio **Copa Pódio Champion (2014/2013) **IBJJF Europea **IBJJF European Open Champion (weight and absolute weight classes)(2012) **UAEJJF Abu Dhabi **UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro Champion (absolute weight class)(2014) **UAEJJF Abu Dhabi World Pro Champion (weight and absolute weight classes)(2012/2011) **CBJJ Brazilian **CBJJ Brazilian Champion (weight and absolute weight classes)(2008 purple belt) **CBJJ Brazilian Champion (weight and absolute weight classes) ( 2007 blue belt)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Dustin Stoltzfus , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:54 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–1 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC 258 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:53 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Saparbek Safarov , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , UFC 248 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:58 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Oskar Piechota , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , UFC Fight Night: Shevchenko vs. Carmouche 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:26 ,

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Vitaliy Nemchinov , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ACA 96 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:01 , Łódź, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jacob Holyman-Tague , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ACB 88 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:51 , Brisbane, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Alexander Neufang , TKO (punches) , ACB 82 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:42 , São Paulo, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Fagner Rakchal , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Shooto Brazil 74 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:47 , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Daniyar Zarylbekov , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Arzalet Fighting Globe Championship 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:27 , São Paulo, Brazil , , -

Grappling Record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vieira, Rodolfo Brazilian male mixed martial artists Brazilian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Living people 1989 births Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters