Pedro Rizzo
Pedro Rizzo was a prominent heavyweight in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and actually fought for the title on three occasions.
The closest he came to actually winning the belt undoubtedly came during a five round battle with Randy Couture at UFC 31 in 2001, although it was a fight that started out badly for the Brazilian as ‘The Natural’ was able to take Rizzo down and maul him with ground and pound in the opening five minutes.
However, Rizzo would recover from that and from the second round on began landing his renowned hard leg kicks, and infamously would leave a permanent dent in Couture’s leg from his uncommonly heavy blows.
The third round was very close, the fourth saw Couture edging ahead and then fittingly for what would prove to be 2001’s ‘Fight Of The Year’, the ebb and flow of the bout continued in the final round with Rizzo appearing to get the upper-hand.
So, the result would rest in the hands of judges who declared Couture the winner by unanimous decision.
The fight had been close enough that an immediate rematch was called for, but this time ‘The Natural’ found a definitive finish via a third round TKO stoppage in what would prove to be Rizzo’s last title opportunity.
