Ricardo Almeida: Record, Net Worth, Weight, Age & More!
Posted by Benjamin Strusnik on
Who is Ricardo Almeida?
Ricardo “Big Dog” Almeida is a 4th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu under the esteemed Renzo Gracie. He made a name for himself in Jiu Jitsu in the early 2000s by winning medals in several important grappling tournaments, including ADCC, the Brazilian National Championships, and The Pan American Championships.
Who is Ricardo Almeida?
Ricardo “Big Dog” Almeida is a 4th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu under the esteemed Renzo Gracie. He made a name for himself in Jiu Jitsu in the early 2000s by winning medals in several important grappling tournaments, including ADCC, the Brazilian National Championships, and The Pan American Championships.
The Arm-In Guillotine Choke by Ricardo Almeida is available from BJJFanatics.com.
The middle and welterweight Almeida is a specialist at the guillotine choke, routinely using it in MMA competitions to finish the fight. Impressively, Almeida even used the Guillotine to finish the legendary heavyweight Josh Barnett in the absolutes of ADCC in 2000. He stopped competing in world-level grappling tournaments after Abu Dhabi in 2003 in order to focus his attention on his budding career in Mixed Martial Arts.
At the same time Almeida was making waves in the Jiu Jitsu world, he was also rising to prominence in the MMA community. Almeida is now looked back on as one of the pioneers of the sport, having competed routinely in the biggest promotions available: the UFC, Pride, and Pancrase. His 13-5 record as a professional cage fighter spans from his Jiu Jitsu days in the early 2000s all the way to 2011, when he retired from competition for a second and final time.
Almeida now spends his time as a Jiu Jitsu coach helping young athletes achieve their goals. He continues to run academies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and recently has branched out to become certified as an MMA judge in the state of New Jersey as well.
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How Old is Ricardo Almeida?
Ricardo Almeida was born on November 29, 1976 in New York City. He turns 44 years old in 2021.
Ricardo Almeida Family
Ricardo Almeida is Married to Monica Delgado, with whom he has a daughter. Ricardo also has a son with autism. He cited a desire to spend more time with his family, and in particular his son, as one of his reasons for his second and final retirement in 2011.
How Much is Ricardo Almeida Worth?
Ricardo Almeida has had a successful Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Judging, and coaching career. His estimated net worth is between 1 million and 5 million dollars.
How Tall is Ricardo Almeida?’
Ricardo Almeida’s height has been listed as 6’0”, making him a larger-than-average fighter for the welterweight division. Some sources list his height one inch shorter, at 5’11”.
How Much Does Ricardo Almeida Weigh?
Ricardo Almeida competed in various Mixed Martial Arts organizations at both middleweight and welterweight. Welterweight is typically 170 pounds (77kg) while middleweight is one division higher, at 185 lbs (84kg). The switch from middleweight to welterweight came as a result of injuries that prevented weight lifting and forced Almeida to drop down a weight class.
Ricardo Almeida Fight List (MMA)
“Big Dog” Almeida is one of the pioneers of MMA, fighting across multiple organizations spanning over a decade. A look at his MMA record below shows that Ricardo Almeida fought in the early 2000s, even before the sport caught fire in 2005 with the release of The Ultimate Fighter Season 1. His last fight took place in 2011 against longtime UFC veteran, Mike Pyle. Take a look at Ricardo Almeida’s entire list of professional Mixed Martial Arts bouts below:
- Mike Pyle - Loss - Unanimous Decision - UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones - Mar. 2011
- T.J. Grant - Win - Unanimous Decision - UFC 124: St. Pierre vs. Koscheck 2 - Dec. 2010
- Matt Hughes - Loss - Anaconda Choke - UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen - Aug. 2010
- Matt Brown - Win - Rear-Naked Choke - UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy - Mar. 2010
- Kendall Grove - Win - Unanimous Decision - UFC 101: Declaration - Aug. 2009
- Matt Horwich - Win - Decision - UFC Fight Night 18: Condit vs. Kampmann- Apr. 2009
- Patrick Cote - Loss - Split Decision - UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin - Jul. 2008
- Rob Yundt - Win - Guillotine Choke - UFC 81: Breaking Point - Feb. 2008
- Ryo Chonan - Win - Unanimous Decision - Pride: Bushido 3 - May 2004
- Nate Marquardt - Win - Guillotine Choke - Pancrase: Hybrid 10 - Nov. 200
- Kazuo Misaki - Win - Majority Decision - Pancrase: 10th Anniversary Show - Aug. 2003
- Yuki Sasaki - Win - Unanimous Decision - Pancrase: Hybrid 4 - Apr. 2003
- Ikuhisa Minowa - Win - Unanimous Decision - Pancrase: Hybrid 2 - Feb. 2003
- Osami Shibuya - Win - Rear-Naked Choke - Pancrase: Spirit 8 - Nov. 2002
- Andrei Semenov - Loss - TKO - UFC 35: Throwdown - Jan. 2002
- Eugene Jackson - Win - Triangle Choke - UFC 33: Victory in Vegas - Sep. 2001
- Matt Lindland - Loss - Disqualification - UFC 31: Locked &Loaded - May 2001
- Akira Shoji - Win - Unanimous Decision - Pride 12: Cold Fury - Dec. 2000
Ricardo Almeida's Best Fight of All Time
Between Jiu Jitsu tournaments and Mixed Martial Arts promotions, it’s hard to pick one moment that stands above the rest. Perhaps an early indicator of Almeida’s future success came in 2000, when Almeida and Barnett were paired up in the first round of the ADCC absolutes. The match seemed one sided, with Barnett enjoying a massive weight advantage and playing top position. Eventually, around five minutes into the bout, Almeida jumped to his feet, looped over the neck, and secured an arm-in guillotine finish. This upset was just a hint of things to come for the talented Almeida.
Who Did Ricardo Almeida Lose To?
Ricardo Almeida has an overall winning record but did suffer some losses both in the early and late stages of his career. Impressively, Almeida went on a 7 year winning streak, which included a multi-year retirement, between his 2001 loss to Andre Semenov by TKO and his 2008 Loss to Patrick Cote by split decision.
The Big Dog was only ever finished two times in his career. The first came at the hands of Andre Semenov with a TKO in 2001 due to punches. The second finish came against a UFC legend and hall-of-famer Matt Hughes, via anaconda choke. Hughes would also go on to beat Ricardo Almeida’s teacher and corner man, Renzo Gracie, in 2012 at UFC 112 by TKO.
Almeida’s fifth and final loss is a disqualification against Matt Lindland. After being repeatedly warned by the referee for fouls, Almeida committed a final foul and the fight ended early with a disqualification.
Ricardo Almeida Record
Ricardo Almeida competed across many Mixed Martial Arts organizations, including the UFC, Pride, and Pancrase. In total, he has a 13-5 record as a professional Mixed Martial Artist. He demonstrated a preference for various types of chokes and finished five of his opponents that way. He suffered four losses in his career, with the fifth loss on his record representing a 2001 disqualification against Matt Lindland.
Ricardo Almeida Injuries
Ricardo Almeida has retired from MMA twice, and sustained some significant injuries in his time off between active periods in his career. After retiring from the sport as a middleweight, he suffered an injury in training that prevented him from lifting weights. This inability to build muscle led to a natural change in his physique, and when the Big Dog returned for a second UFC run, he was much smaller. This time around, he would drop down a weight class to compete at 170 pounds (77kg).
Is Ricardo Almeida Retired?
Ricardo Almeida is retired from professional competition, having fought in the UFC for a final time against Mike Pyle in 2011. Since that time, he has focused first on his family and next on spreading his passion and knowledge of the sport in his roles as a coach and an instructor. He owns and operates Ricardo Almeida Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has schools in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania under that banner.
Almeida has also become a judge for Mixed Martial Arts under the New Jersey Athletic Control Board in order to give back to the sport in a new way. Finally, Ricardo Almeida is a content creator. His product “The Arm-in Guillotine Choke” was created in concert with BJJ Fanatics and gives a ton of subtle details on finishing this signature submission from the Big Dog himself.
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