Heavyweight Pedro Rizzo has retired at age 41, following a win in his native Brazil. Not surprisingly, his leg kicks were such that opponent Andrew Smith was unable to come out for the second round at Face to Face 12 in Vitoria, Brazil.
Rizzo retires with a record of 20-11.
Rizzo hadn’t fought since a decision loss in May 2013 to Satoshi Ishii in Japan. Prior to that, he headlined an M-1 Global event 11 months earlier, but was knocked out by Fedor Emelianenko in the first round. That fight came nearly two years after a TKO win over Ken Shamrock in Australia gave him a three-fight winning streak.
Rizzo started his career 9-0, including wins in his first four UFC fights – three coming by knockout. That got him a shot at the heavyweight title against Kevin Randleman at UFC 26 in June 2000, but he dropped a unanimous decision.
He rebounded with knockout wins over Dan Severn and Josh Barnett at UFC 27 and 30, respectively, to get a shot at champ Randy Couture. But at UFC 31, he again lost a title fight decision. He got a rematch at UFC 34, but was stopped by Couture with a third-round TKO..
Rizzo went 9-5 in the UFC, and went 5-6 after leaving it. Win or lose he brought both great skill and a toughness that inspired the entire sport.
