Ricardo Almeida retires from MMA
After a loss at UFC 128, Renzo Gracie black belt Ricardo Almeida has retired from MMA competition. The fighter made the announcement on his official website on Wednesday. Almeida cited an inability to balance fighting with caring for his son who was recently diagnosed with autism. He said, “During these almost four years, it has been a personal struggle to find balance between my fighting career, caring for my son, who was diagnosed with autism soon after I signed a six-fight deal with the UFC, teaching at my growing jiu-jitsu academy and the family duties we all have.” Over the course of his MMA career, Almeida has picked up wins over Matt Horwich, Ryo Chonan, Kazuo Misaki, Ikuhisa Minowa and Akira Shoji. In 2003, he defeated Nathan Marquardt to become the middleweight King of Pancrase. He finishes his career with a 13-5 overall record and a 6-5 mark in the UFC. In addition to MMA, Almeida competed extensively in grappling. In 1997, he won the Brazilian national jiu-jitsu championships as a brown belt in 1997. From 1998-2003, Almeida medaled four times at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships (two silvers and two bronzes).
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