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Gabriel Gonzaga Record, Net Worth, Weight, Age & More!

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Gabriel Gonzaga

Who Is Gabriel Gonzaga?

Gabriel Gonzaga is a fourth degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and professional boxer and mixed martial artist. He competed in the Heavyweight division of the UFC, and is most well known for his head kick knockout and upset win over Mirko Cro Cop for a heavyweight title shot at UFC 70. He won a gold medal at the 2006 Mundials, which is widely considered to be one of the best Jiu Jitsu competitions in the world.

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Who Is Gabriel Gonzaga?

Gabriel Gonzaga is a fourth degree Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and professional boxer and mixed martial artist. He competed in the Heavyweight division of the UFC, and is most well known for his head kick knockout and upset win over Mirko Cro Cop for a heavyweight title shot at UFC 70. He won a gold medal at the 2006 Mundials, which is widely considered to be one of the best Jiu Jitsu competitions in the world.

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Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Gabriel began training judo at the age of 14. Shortly after he transitioned to Jiu Jitsu where he trained under the tutelage of Wander Braga. Much of Gonzaga’s achievements were in Jiu Jitsu early on before he made the transition to his MMA career.

Gabriel has competed at the professional level in Jiu Jitsu, MMA, boxing, and bare knuckle boxing. He has coined several titles in all of these disciplines. He is sometimes referred to by his nickname “Napao” which means “big nose” in Portuguese. 

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How Old Is Gabriel Gonzaga?

Born May 18, 1979, Gabriel Gonzaga is 42 years old.

Gabriel Gonzaga’s Family

Gabriel Gonzaga and his wife Cau Janoni have one daughter and one son.

How Much Is Gabriel Gonzaga Worth?

Gabriel Gonzaga is worth approximately $300,000.

How Tall Is Gabriel Gonzaga?

Gabriel Gonzaga stands at 6 feet and 2 inches tall.

How Much Does Gabriel Gonzaga Weigh?

Gabriel Gonzaga weighs 264 pounds.

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Gabriel Gonzaga Fight List

Gabriel’s UFC debut occurred at UFC 56 where he knocked out Kevin Jordan via superman punch in the third round. Gonzaga returned for his next fight against Fabiano Scherner at UFC 60, where he won by TKO in the second round. He then defeated Carmelo Marrero by armbar in the first round.

Ganzaga scored a legendary win with a head kick knockout against Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70. This scored him knockout of the year in 2007. This win lined him up to face Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. The fight occurred at UFC 74, but Gonzaga lost by TKO from punches in the third round.

He returned to the octagon for UFC 80 where he faced Fabricio Werdum, but lost again by TKO in the second round. Gonzaga fought Justin McCully at UFC 86 and won by submission. Early in the first round Gonzaga rocked McCully with a leg kick that sent him to the ground. Gonzaga quickly transitioned into half guard and then to the mount, where he finished an americana for the win.

Gonzaga defeated Josh Hendricks at UFC 91 by knockout in the first round. He then went on to face Shane Carwin at UFC 96. Carwin was an undefeated heavyweight at the time. Gonzaga broke Carwin’s nose with a three punch combination early in the first round. Gonzaga attempted to take the fight to the ground, but Carwin quickly built back up to his feet and knocked Gonzaga out with an overhand right punch.

Gonzaga defeated Chhris Tuchscherer by TKO at UFC 201, however this fight was controversial. Gonzaga landed an illegal low blow which caused significant damage to Chris. Chris took the full allotted 5 minutes to recover, but Gonzaga landed a powerful head kick soon after and continued to dominate the fight.

Gonzaga was set to fight at UFC 108 against Junior dos Santos, but was forced to pull out of the bout due to a staph infection. This fight eventually took place at UFC Live: Vera vs Jone in 2010, and Gonzaga lost by knockout in the first round. Soon after, Gonzaga faced Brendan Schaub at UFC 121 in October 2010. Schaub won the fight by unanimous decision after out striking Gonzaga for all three rounds. This was the first fight for Gonzaga that went the distance. After his loss to Schaub, Gonzaga was released from the UFC.

During his time away, Gonzaga announced that he only planned on competing in Jiu Jitsu in the future, but did express interest in returning to MMA at some point. He returned to MMA action at the Reality Fighting promotion to fight Reality Fighting Heavyweight Champion Parker Porter. Gonzaga won the fight by an arm-triangle choke in the third round, winning the Reality Fighting Heavyweight Championship.

In December 2011 it was announced that Gonzaga had re-signed with the UFC for a four-fight contract. His first bout was against Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 142, where Gonzaga won by submission in the first round. Gonzaga continued to perform well and was able to continue fighting after his four-fight contract.

In their big rematch fight, Gonzaga faced Mirko Cro Cop again at UFC Fight Night 64 in April 2015. Gonzaga started the fight extremely dominant and won the first two rounds. However, Gonzaga was finished in the third round by TKO by a surprise flurry of punches and elbows that gave Mirko the opportunity to turn the fight around. The fight earned both fighters the Fight of the Night bonuses. 

Gonzaga defeated Konstantin Erokhin in December 2015 at The Ultimate Fighter 22 finale by unanimous decision.

Gonzaga was supposed to face Ruslan Magomedov at UFC fight Night 86, however Ruslan had to pull out of the fight due to an injury and was replaced by Derrick Lewis, who ended up defeating Gonzaga by knockout in the first round.

In addition to his MMA career, Gonzaga also pursued a professional boxing career. He made his professional boxing debut for the Rivera Promotions Entertainment promotion in September 2017. He fought Alejandra Esquilin Santiago in October 2017 and won the four round bout by majority decision.

Gonzaga has also fought in bare knuckle boxing. In August 2019 he announced that he would make his debut as the headliner at BKFC 8 against UFC veteran Antonio Silva. Gonzaga won the fight by second round knockout.

Gabriel Gonzaga Best Fight Of All Time

Gabriel Gonzaga’s best fight of all time is widely considered to be his fight against Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70. Mirko was by far the favorite for the fight and had quite the record at that point in his career. Gonzaga won by head kick knockout which happened to be Mirko's signature move. This win set Gonzaga up to be the next contender for UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture. His head kick knockout won Knockout of the year for 2007.

Who Did Gabriel Gonzaga Lose to?

In his MMA career Gabriel Gonzaga has lost to Fabricio Werdum, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin, Junior dos Santos, Brendan Schaub, Travis Browne, Stipe Miocic, Matt Mitrione, Mirko Cro Cop, Derrick Lewis, and Alexander Emelianenko.

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Gabriel Gonzaga’s Record

Gabriel Gonzaga’s professional MMA record is 17-12.

Gabriel Gonzaga Injuries

Gonzaga was set to fight Junior dos Santos at UFC 108, but had to pull out of the fight due to a staph infection. Gonzaga was set to replace Antonio Silva to fight Roy Nelson at UFC 146, but pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury.

Is Gabriel Gonzaga Retired?

Gabriel Gonzaga initially announced his retirement from MMA in 2016, stating he would only return if the UFC offered a six figure contract. However, Gonzaga recently had a bare knuckle boxing bout against Antonio Silva in October 2019. Gonzaga is still listed as active for both MMA and boxing.

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