A pair of BJJ and MMA legends, Ricardo Arona and Ricardo Almeida, met in an epic clash in the final of the under 99kg division at ADCC 2001. The two men achieved great things in both sports, with Almeida having an extensive UFC career and Arona becoming a PRIDE veteran before eventually being added to the ADCC Hall of Fame. Both men finished out their career with multiple medals from different editions of the ADCC world championships and impressive wins over big names. Collectively they own wins over top MMA fighters of that era like Matt Brown, Wanderlei Silva, Nate Marquardt, and Dan Henderson and this match between them has gone down as one of the best examples of the excitement ADCC rules can produce.
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Ricardo Arona v Ricardo Almeida – ADCC 2001
At the time that their match took place, both men were very early in their professional MMA careers. Ricardo Arona was only 2-1 and Ricardo Almeida was only 1-0, with both of them fighting exclusively in Japan at the time. All three of Arona’s fights were for RINGS and Almeida had made his debut at PRIDE 12, although both of them had jumped in the deep end and were already taking on top fighters. Almeida had more experience competing at ADCC as he had been at all three of the first editions, taking home a silver medal in 1998 and bronze medals in 1999 and 2000. Arona on the other hand had only competed in the previous edition in 2000, but he dominated the opposition in the under 99kg division and was the reigning champion at the time.
The Under 99kg Division
Both Ricardo Arona and Ricardo Almeida were among the favorites to win the under 99kg division at ADCC 2001 and they were seeded on opposite sides of the bracket as a result. As two of the top seeds, they were given lower-ranked competitors in their opening matches and both men booked their places in the quarter-final with ease. Arona defeated Ruslan Masharenko and Almeida defeated Yuri Stetsenko, although their next matches were considerably tougher on paper. Arona had to grind his way past fellow MMA veteran Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral, while Almeida had to stop one of the top American grapplers at the time, Dean Lister.
Ricardo Arona had to defeat Jon Olav Einemo in his semi-final match, while Ricardo Almeida had to get past Alexandre Ferreira in order to book his place in the final of ADCC 2001. Both men managed to do it and although it wasn’t an easy journey for either one of them, the under 99kg division had it’s finalists. The bronze-medal match took place first of course, with Ferreira defeating Einemo in order to secure the third spot on the podium. After 15 matches between 16 of the best grapplers on the planet at that weight class, fans were finally going to see the conclusion of the division.
The Final Match – Ricardo Arona v Ricardo Almeida
Ricardo Arona and Ricardo Almeida clinched up early and it was clear that neither man was willing to risk ending up on the bottom. They were both battling for position and Almeida managed to get a Russian 2-on-1 early but couldn’t do anything with it before Arona disengaged. Almeida shot in for a takedown but a heavy sprawl shut him down, although he eventually worked his way back to his feet. Arona managed to get control of his opponent’s head but Almeida used the opportunity to drop straight into a butterfly sweep, sending Arona over the top of him. Arona scrambled brilliantly and fought his way up, even managing to secure top position by controlling from the front-headlock and sprawling out again.
Almeida managed to sit through to closed guard and tried for a quick sweep but Arona stood up to prevent it, quickly diving on a toehold shortly after. Almeida escaped and scrambled back to his feet, resuming the grinding clinch-battle. He shot in again but Arona’s sprawl was way too quick, and he was driven over to his back as well. Arona stood up to pass but Almeida wrestled up, getting much deeper than before and even lifting his opponent into the air at one point. Ricardo Arona stayed heavy on top though and used the threat of a guillotine to force Almeida to disengage.
After a little time in the clinch, Almeida snapped Arona into an arm-in guillotine and jumped into closed guard to try and finish it. Arona stayed standing and managed to shake Almeida off, but Almeida managed to create space and tried to wrestle up again. Arona disengaged and they got back to work in the clinch, with Almeida jumping on another arm-in guillotine before getting shaken off quicker this time. Arona dropped into his opponent’s closed guard and was threatened by an armbar, but kept good posture to prevent it. Ricardo Almeida started using Z-guard to get an underhook and as Arona started using pressure to shut it down, he inverted for a beautiful sweep.
Almeida had to keep control of Arona’s leg and stand up to finish the sweep, dumping Arona to the ground. Arona quickly created space and turned to turtle, scrambling to his feet but giving up a bodylock from the back in the process. Almeida used the bodylock to slam his opponent to the ground but Arona turned with it and managed to return to standing facing him. After a brief exchange of pummeling for underhooks, Ricardo Almeida shot in for a single-leg and managed to lift Arona into the air again. This time he got all the way to standing and tried to slam Arona into the ground, but Arona managed to base out and turn at the last second to save himself.
Arona reacted quickly and managed to secure the front-headlock again, working his way to Almeida’s back. Ricardo Almeida managed to stand and create space, using a snap-down feint to open up Arona up for another shot, but a sprawl saved him once again. Arona tried to drive him over and worked his way up on a single-leg but Almeida managed to disengage. They wrestled in the clinch again but Arona hit a quick trip this time and although he spent a second in top position, Almeida managed to scramble to his feet and disengage to avoid being scored on.
Ricardo Almeida tried to take a leg but Arona sprawled, once again trying to use the front-headlock to take the back. Almeida turned into him and secured half-guard as he did, getting the underhook quickly. After trying to work his way up on the underhook, Almeida rolled under for the sweep and transitioned to attacking the leg when Arona defended. Arona protected his trapped leg and stayed on top, slowly working it free as Almeida returned to playing guard. Although Arona was trying to work an over-under pass, Almeida was threatening him off his back and forcing him to abandon deep passing attempts.
Almeida worked back to half-guard and Arona stood up to pass, but Almeida tried to wrestle up on a single-leg again. Ricardo Arona sprawled and tried to turn Almeida onto his back but a quick spin helped Almeida work his way back up to his feet. As soon as he did, Arona shot in for a takedown of his own for the first time. He put Almeida down but he couldn’t keep control of him, losing the grips he had on his legs as they went out of bounds. They were reset and resumed their clinch-battle, with Almeida shooting in for another takedown soon after and getting sprawled on again.
Almeida worked his way to standing and tried for another quick takedown attempt, but ate another hard sprawl from Ricardo Arona for his efforts. Arona shot in for a takedown of his own shortly after they returned to standing, driving Almeida out of bounds and getting them reset in the center again. Almeida tried a flying armbar in the dying seconds of the match and Arona stayed on top until the time ran out. Neither man was able to score on the other but Arona was declared the winner because Almeida received two negative points during the course of the match.
They Almost Run It Back In The Absolute Division
Ricardo Arona had retained his status as the champion of the under 99kg division, but the day wasn’t done for him or Ricardo Almeida yet. Both men entered the absolute division at ADCC 2001 and were again seeded on opposite sides of the bracket, with Arona beating Roger Neff and Almeida beating Ruslan Masharenko in the opening round. They came up against two legends in the quarter-final round, with Saulo Ribeiro and Mike Van Arsdale standing in the way of Arona and Almeida respectively. They each won those matches and there was just one more man standing in the way of each of them getting a rematch of their epic battle.
Ricardo Almeida had to get past Jean Jacques Machado, and Ricardo Arona had to defeat Vitor Belfort. Both opponents were difficult for different reasons but Almeida and Arona had looked fantastic over the course of ADCC 2001 and fans in attendance thought they might get to see an immediate rematch. Unfortunately, Almeida was stopped by Machado and was not able to get a place in the final. Arona not only defeated Belfort but he also defeated Machado in the final and he became the third double champion in ADCC history. Arona didn’t concede a single point throughout his entire ADCC run he returned at ADCC 2002 to win the superfight championship by dethroning Mark Kerr, securing his place in the history books with a perfect 13-0 ADCC record.
