Ricardo “Cachorrao” Almeida Signs a 6-Fight Contract with the UFC
In an effort to breathe life back into its rather dull Middleweight division, the UFC has just signed Renzo Gracie student, Ricardo “Cachorrao” Almeida. According to Graciemag.com, Almeida signed a six fight deal which will see him return to the octagon early 2008. Almeida was originally supposed to appear on the now defunct October 12th Cage Fury Fighting Championship card, he managed to work out a deal with the UFC following the cancellation of the event.
Almeida is touted as a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu specialist and has a professional record of 8-2-0; he has victories over several notable fighters including Ikuhisa Minowa, Nathan Marquardt, and Kazuo Misaki. It has been over 3 years since Almeida has seen any action. Almeida last participated at the PRIDE – Bushido 3 event where he defeated Ryo Chonan by a unanimous decision. Despite his 3 year absence, Almeida will be a welcomed addition to the UFC’s Middleweight division, especially in the wake of this weekend’s highly anticipated rematch between UFC Middleweight champ, Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin where it is certain that either the UFC’s number 1 or 2 Middleweight will go down.
Tags: Ricardo Almeida
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A few days ago Leland wrote an awesome post on how the UFC’s middleweight division needed a kick in the ass. I think signing Almeida is a decent move. Not a huge kick, but one nonetheless:)
It will be nice having some fresh blood in the middleweight division. Hopefully they give him a good test in his debute.
Finally, fresh blood in the middleweight divsion. Hopefully they’ll start signing more fighters to divison.
I’ve actually got a post in the works on this current signing. Almeida is an exciting prospect, but he may have hard times at the top of the middleweight division. The interesting matchup is against Nathan Marquardt. If anyone has seen his battle with Almeida in the Pancrase organization, it sparks some big fireworks as far as a grudge goes.
Almeida held a choke in for a very long time, even after Marquardt tapped and the referee tried pulling Almeida off. Marquardt got free finally, and flat out slugged Almeida in the face after the fight was over. A riot ensued in the ring. I imagine the UFC will want to see that matchup happen.