# Murilo Bustamante

Murilo Bustamante (Portuguese pronunciation:; born 30 July 1966) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion. He is one of the founders of the Brazilian Top Team and is the current leader. In addition to competing for the UFC, he has also fought in PRIDE, making it to the Pride Shockwave 2005 Final, and also fought in Yarennoka!

## Background

Bustamante was born in coastal Rio de Janeiro and originally had dreams of professional surfing, but began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu soon after having his first fight when he was 10 years old. He began officially competing when he was 15, before adding judo, and then began boxing when he was 18. He is a black belt under the renowned Carlson Gracie. He has won numerous world titles in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which includes the World Championships of Jiu-Jitsu.

## Instructor lineage

Kano Jigoro → Tomita Tsunejiro → Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr. → Carlson Gracie → Murilo Bustamante

## Sports accomplishments

Murilo's grappling accomplishments include Championships at the World Class level, as well as appearances at the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he has won The Mundials World Championships in 1999 and has won the Brazilian National Championship 4 times.
In ADCC, he competed at the 88–98 kg in both 1999 and 2000, and the Absolute tournament in 1999. He managed a record of 3–2 with his losses coming by way of points over submission.

### UFC career

Bustamante signed a four-fight deal with the UFC and faced Yoji Anjo in his promotional debut at UFC 25 on 14 April 2000. He won the debut via second-round submission.
He then moved up to light heavyweight to face future champion Chuck Liddell at UFC 33 on 28 September 2001. He lost the fight via unanimous decision which was hotly contested.
After the controversial loss, Bustamante decided to move back to middleweight division, receiving an immediate title shot against reigning champion Dave Menne at UFC 35 on 11 January 2002. He claimed the championship via second-round technical knockout.
As the final fight of his contract and the first title defense, Bustamante faced Matt Lindland at UFC 37 on 10 May 2002. Lindland allegedly tapped to an armbar in the first round and referee McCarthy waved the bout off. Lindland immediately claimed that he did not tap out and McCarthy resumed the once-finished bout. Eventually, Bustamante submitted Lindland in the third round and successfully defended his title.
Bustamante was offered a new contract by the UFC, with a permission to entertain other offers as a free agent. However, when finding out UFC had the best offer on the market and returned to negotiations with them, the organization had lowered their offer to a level preceding the Lindland fight.

### Post-UFC career

Bustamante ended up signing with PRIDE in 2003.
He was a finalist of the PRIDE Welterweight Tournament 2005 on 31 December. After two impressive victories via an armbar and a TKO, defeating Ikuhisa Minowa and Masanori Suda respectively, Bustamante entered the finals against Dan Henderson. In the finals, Bustamante dropped an extremely close split decision to the two-time PRIDE champion.
Murilo dedicates his time to teach Brazilian jiu-jitsu, submission grappling and MMA to his students for all levels at Brazilian Top Team training camps, as well as seminars all over the world.
Murilo was scheduled to fight at Superior Challenge 6 and would have faced Tor Troeng.
Bustamante was scheduled to face Yuya Shirai at Clube da Luta on 20 July 2011 but had to pull out of the fight due to an unspecified injury.

## Grappling credentials

ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships
ADCC 2000 88–98 kg: 1st round
ADCC 1999 88–98 kg: Semi finals. (Note: Murilo defeated Ricardo Almeida by points, but was unable to continue the tournament.) Absolute: Quarter finals.
Record of opponents:
* Won:, Dexter Casey (sub), Ivan Salaverry (pts), Ricardo Almeida (pts),
* Lost: Mike Van Arsdale (pts), Ricco Rodriguez (pts)
CBJJ World Championships
1999 Black Belt Pesado: 1st Place
1998 Black Belt Pesado: 3rd Place Black Belt Absolute: 3rd Place
1996 Black Belt Pesado: 2nd Place

## Championships and accomplishments

* MMAFighting
** 2002 Middleweight Fighter of the Year
* PRIDE Fighting Championships
** 2005 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Runner Up
* Ultimate Fighting Championship
** UFC Middleweight Championship (1 Time)
*** One successful title defense
*** First ever Brazilian titleholder in UFC history
** UFC Encyclopedia Awards
*** Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Dave Menne
*** Submission of the Night (Two times) vs. Yoji Anjo and Matt Lindland

## Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown :
| 24 matches | 15 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 7 | 2 |
| By submission | 4 | 0 |
| By decision | 4 | 6 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Win | 15–8–1 | Dave Menne | Decision (unanimous) | AFC - Amazon Forest Combat 2 | 31 March 2012 | 3 | 5:00 | Manaus, Brazil | |
| Loss | 14–8–1 | Jesse Taylor | TKO (retirement) | Impact FC 2 - The Uprising: Sydney | 18 July 2010 | 2 | 2:10 | Sydney, Australia | |
| Loss | 14–7–1 | Makoto Takimoto | Decision (split) | Yarennoka! | 31 December 2007 | 2 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Win | 14–6–1 | Ryuta Sakurai | KO (punch) | Deep: 29 Impact | 13 April 2007 | 1 | 3:50 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 13–6–1 | Dong Sik Yoon | Decision (unanimous) | Pride - Bushido 13 | 5 November 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Yokohama, Japan | |
| Loss | 12–6–1 | Amar Suloev | Decision (unanimous) | Pride - Bushido 11 | 4 June 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 12–5–1 | Dan Henderson | Decision (split) | Pride Shockwave 2005 | 31 December 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Final. |
| Win | 12–4–1 | Ikuhisa Minowa | TKO (soccer kicks) | Pride Bushido 9 | 25 September 2005 | 1 | 9:51 | Tokyo, Japan | PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Semi-Final. |
| Win | 11–4–1 | Masanori Suda | Submission (armbar) | Pride Bushido 9 | 25 September 2005 | 1 | 3:20 | Tokyo, Japan | PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Opening round. |
| Win | 10–4–1 | Ryuta Sakurai | Decision (unanimous) | Pride Bushido 6 | 3 April 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | Yokohama, Japan | |
| Loss | 9–4–1 | Kazuhiro Nakamura | Decision (unanimous) | Pride Final Conflict 2004 | 15 August 2004 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 9–3–1 | Dan Henderson | TKO (knee and punches) | Pride Final Conflict 2003 | 9 November 2003 | 1 | 0:53 | Tokyo, Japan | PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Reserve Bout. |
| Loss | 9–2–1 | Quinton Jackson | Decision (split) | Pride Total Elimination 2003 | 10 August 2003 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal. |
| Win | 9–1–1 | Matt Lindland | Submission (guillotine choke) | UFC 37 | 10 May 2002 | 3 | 1:33 | Bossier City, Louisiana, United States | Defended the UFC Middleweight Championship. Bustamante was stripped of the title on October 5, 2002 after signing with PRIDE |
| Win | 8–1–1 | Dave Menne | TKO (punches) | UFC 35 | 11 January 2002 | 2 | 0:44 | Uncasville, Connecticut, United States | Won the UFC Middleweight Championship. |
| Loss | 7–1–1 | Chuck Liddell | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 33 | 28 September 2001 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 7–0–1 | Sanae Kikuta | Decision (unanimous) | Pancrase - Trans 6 | 31 October 2000 | 1 | 15:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 6–0–1 | Yoji Anjo | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | UFC 25 | 14 April 2000 | 2 | 0:31 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 5–0–1 | Jerry Bohlander | KO (upkick) | Pentagon Combat | 27 September 1997 | 1 | 5:38 | Brazil | |
| Draw | 4–0–1 | Tom Erikson | Draw | Martial Arts Reality Superfighting | 22 November 1996 | 1 | 40:00 | Birmingham, Alabama, United States | |
| Win | 4–0 | Juan Mott | TKO (submission to punches) | Martial Arts Reality Superfighting | 22 November 1996 | 1 | 1:08 | Birmingham, Alabama, United States | |
| Win | 3–0 | Chris Haseman | TKO (corner stoppage) | Martial Arts Reality Superfighting | 22 November 1996 | 1 | 1:01 | Birmingham, Alabama, United States | |
| Win | 2–0 | Joe Charles | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 2 | 24 June 1996 | 1 | 3:08 | Brazil | |
| Win | 1–0 | Marcelo Mendes | TKO (injury) | Desafio-Jiu-Jitsu vs. Luta Livre | 26 September 1991 | 1 | 4:42 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |