Rodolfo Vieira
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 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 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 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. 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 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 on June 16, 2018. He won the fight by a first-round submission. Vieria was scheduled to face Vitaliy Nemchinov at 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. 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 on January 16, 2021 at UFC on ABC 1. 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. 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. 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. Vieira is scheduled to face Chris Curtis on June 25, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 209.