Ricardo Almeida or “Big Dog” was born in USA but was raised in Brazil. At 20 he went back to the US where has been living for twelve years “I feel myself equally Brazilian and American” said Almeida, who has a wife and children in the US.
The student of Renzo Gracie started in the UFC in 2001. He fought three times and then left the organization to fight in other promotions. After that he retired at the age of 28, too young to abandon the sport.
Ricardo took part in the preparation of all the fights of his master Renzo and it kept him in good shape and conditions to give MMA another go in February 2008 (at UFC 81).
“I was never distant from training despite the fact I wasn’t competing anymore. I remember I was in Vancouver (Canada) to support Roger Gracie’s debut in the end of 2006 and talked seriously to Renzo about coming back. I almost fought in 2007 and it was made real only in 2008” Almeida said today.
On his return, Almeida showed off his effective jiu jitsu, submitting Rob Yundt in the first round by guillotine choke like he used to finish the fights in the beginning of his career.
Almeida could have fought for the middleweight title had he beaten Patrick Cote at UFC 86 but the Canadian stopped him by unanimous decision and stepped to the front of the line.
"What frustrates me most about that fight is that I couldn’t show my game. I didn’t fight like I use to. I had awful physical conditions as I said in previous interviews. I prefer not to use excuses. I only fought well in the first round. That wasn’t my day,” regrets the BJJ black belt.
Almeida intends to drop a weight class but before that he has Kendall Grove in the way on Saturday 8th, in Philadelphia. Almeida set a great camp for the upcoming challenge and he is full of confidence.
“Maybe Grove is the tallest athlete in UFC. I’ve brought tall fighters to spar with in jiu jitsu and wrestling and standing. The preparation went on very well. I’m OK and getting confidence to square off standing.”
“I’m not thinking on fighting for the belt right now because I will drop weight after this fight. But a win over Kendall helps me to get closer to the title shot for sure. My aim is fight for the belt. I don’t know how the things will go on when I start at 177-pound division. It’ll depend on my first performance there.”
Ricardo Almeida is coming off a victory over Matt Horwich at UFC Fight Night 18 that took place on April 1st.
Source: http://www.brasilcombate.com.br/ricardo ... ht-classes