By The Numbers: Pedro Rizzo

Pedro Rizzo was an apex predator in mixed martial arts for the better part of a decade and to this day remains one of the sport’s most celebrated heavyweights.

“The Rock” was a key figure in the early Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he was often paired with many of his best-known contemporaries, from David “Tank” Abbott and Mark Coleman to Tra Telligman and Ricco Rodriguez. Rizzo wrapped up a 14-fight run in the organization with a 9-5 record and took his talents elsewhere, competing in Pride Fighting Championships, Affliction, M-1 Global and a number of other companies. Having never won a major MMA championship, he retired following a leg kick-induced stoppage of Andrew Flores Smith at a Face to Face event on Sept. 12, 2015.

As Rizzo’s exploits drift further and further into memory, a look at some of the numbers that accompanied him throughout his journey:

49: Years of age for Rizzo, who was born on May 3, 1974 in Rio de Janeiro.

15: Rizzo victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 75% of his career total (20). His list of victims includes Josh Barnett, Ken Shamrock, Andrei Arlovski and Dan Severn. Rizzo holds one other victory by submission (5%) and four others by decision (20%).

18: Seconds needed for Rizzo to submit Michael Tielrooy with a keylock under the World Vale Tudo Championship banner in November 1996. Having occurred in his third professional assignment, it was the fastest finish of his 31-fight career.

3: Different decades in which Rizzo suited up as a mixed martial artist. He went 9-0 in the 1990s, 8-9 in the 2000s and 3-2 in the 2010s.

1,322: Days spent by Rizzo as an undefeated fighter. He debuted with a first-round technical knockout of Eric Labaille at an International Mix-Fight Association show on Oct. 26, 1996 and proceeded to piece together a nine-fight winning streak before losing a five-round unanimous decision to then-Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Kevin Randleman at UFC 26 on June 9, 2000.

40: Rounds completed by Rizzo as a professional mixed martial artist. He went the distance on eight different occasions and carried a 4-4 record in those bouts.

7: UFC fights in which Rizzo registered at least one knockdown. He went 6-1 in those appearances.

12: Leg kicks landed by Rizzo in a unanimous decision defeat to Randy Couture in the second of his three failed bids to capture the UFC heavyweight crown at UFC 31. Couture left the cage with the title and a permanently altered appendage. He detailed it in his book, “Becoming the Natural” in 2009: “I still have a dent in my quadriceps where my muscle died from the damage. It took three weeks for me to walk normally.”

6: Countries in which Rizzo competed as a mixed martial artist. He went 10-7 in the United States, 7-0 in his native Brazil, 1-3 in Japan, 1-0 in the Netherlands, 1-0 in Australia and 0-1 in Russia.

.720: Cumulative winning percentage between the 10 opponents—Couture (twice), Barnett, Randleman, Satoshi Ishii, Fedor Emelianenko, Gilbert Yvel, Roman Zentsov, Sergei Kharitonov, Vladimir Matyushenko and Gan McGee—who defeated Rizzo. They own a combined record of 266-103-2.