Gilbert Yvel

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 PRIDE and Other Notable Bouts
4 Affliction
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Gilbert "Hurricane" Yvel (born June 30, 1976) is a Dutch professional mixed martial artist and professional kickboxer.

He stands 6 ft. 2 in. (188 cm) tall and fights in the heavyweight division at approximately 240 lbs..

Yvel is a veteran the PRIDE organization and currently fights as a heavyweight for Affliction.

Early Career

Gilbert Yvel made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Rings Holland: The Final Challenge on February 2, 1997. He defeated fellow Dutchman, Rob van Leeuwen via TKO in the first round.

Following that bout, Yvel rolled off six more first round TKOs in his next six fights. That KO streak was broken on February 8, 1998 when he picked up a submission victory over future PRIDE competitor, "Dirty" Bob Schrijber.

After picking up another TKO victory, Yvel suffered the first professional defeat of his career when he was knocked out in a rematch with "Dirty" Bob with punches and kicks in the first round.

That loss was followed by another when Yvel was disqualifed for biting opponent, Karimula Barkalaev at an IAFC event in May of 1998. This disregard for the rules would become something of a trademark for Yvel in the coming years.

Yvel broke his two fight losing streak with a TKO victory over Valentijn Overeem in June of 1998.

After three more TKO victories, Yvel faced and defeated UFC veteran, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka via cut stoppage in the first fight of an ill-fated trilogy between the two.

In his next bout, Yvel stopped future three time K-1 Grand Prix champion, Semmy Schilt with strikes in the second round. That win was followed with his second bout with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka that ended as a TKO victory for Kohsaka after Yvel suffered an injury.

Yvel responded by scoring three first round victories before facing Kohsaka for the third time. This time their bout was ended prematurely by a cut sustained by Kohsaka which gave Yvel his second indecisive victory between the two out of their three indecisive bouts.

To start the new millenium, Yvel defeated Joop Kasteel via first round TKO in February. Just 20 days later, Yvel faced Dan Henderson in a Rings event. Yvel suffered his fourth professional defeat as he was on the losing end of a unanimous decision after two rounds.

Yvel responded well once again, defeating his next two opponents via TKO. Included amongst those two was Japanese superstar, Kiyoshi Tamura.

PRIDE and Other Notable Bouts

With a 22-4 record, Yvel earned a call up to the Japan based, PRIDE Fighting Championships. He made his PRIDE debut at PRIDE 9: New Blood against Vitor Belfort. In what was predicted to be a stand-up affair the bout ended up as a takedown and ground control clinic by Belfort who eventually earned himself the unanimous decision victory.

Yvel got another chance to make a good impression on PRIDE fans at PRIDE 10 which he capitalized on spectacularly. He faced UFC veteran, Gary Goodridge and knocked him cold with a head kick just 28 seconds into the fight.

In October of 2000, Yvel was matched up against Brazilian wrecking machine, Wanderlei Silva as part of PRIDE 11. The potentially thrilling contest was halted at the 21 second mark of the first frame as an errant kick from Silva collected Yvel in the junk resulting in the bout being labelled a no contest.

At PRIDE 12, Yvel was controlled by Japanese fighter Kazuyuki Fujita for the length of the fight, losing a unanimous decision. A frustrated Yvel picked up a victory in a smaller promotion before returning at PRIDE 14 where he was submitted by noted slugger, Igor Vovchanchyn with a rear naked choke.

Yvel's growing frustration with all of his opponent's not wanting to stand with him was said to have been the catalyst for his PRIDE 16 display where he was disqualified against Don Frye for holding the ropes and eye gouging.

Two victories outside of PRIDE, which included a TKO victory over Bob Schrijber in the third fight between the two, was all that was needed to earn Yvel a call back to PRIDE. He returned at PRIDE 21 and was defeated by unanimous decision by UFC veteran, Jeremy Horn.

The Horn loss resulted in an extensive break from PRIDE. He filled up the space in between with a draw against Daniel Tabara, a TKO victory over future UFC competitor, Cheick Kongo and a disqualification loss against Atte Backman. The DQ against Backman came after Yvel grew frustrated with the referee who he then proceeded to turn to and knock out cold.

PRIDE apparently ignored or embraced Yvel's behaviour and invited him back for PRIDE: Bushido 6 on April 3, 2005. He faced Ikuhisa Minowa and was submitted with a toe hold just over a minute in.

Yvel defeated Valentijn Overeem again outside of PRIDE before being knocked out by Roman Zentsov at PRIDE: Total Elimination Absolute in an alternate bout for the Open Weight Grand Prix on May 5, 2006.

Yvel finished off 2006 outside of PRIDE with two first round TKO victories.

On April 8, 2007, Yvel had his last ever PRIDE bout when he faced Akira Shoji at PRIDE 34. Yvel defeated Shoji via TKO at 3:04 of round 1.

Affliction

Following the demise of PRIDE, Yvel returned to some smaller promotions where he racked up four straight victories spanning to November of 2008.

Shortly after the win in November, Yvel signed a contract with Affliction with his debut to come at their show on January 24, 2009, Affliction: Day of Reckoning. At the event Yvel faced former UFC heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett in the co-main event. Yvel spent the majority of the bout under Barnett's mount eating and returning punches. The punishment became all too much in the third round however as he tapped out due to strikes.

Yvel will next compete outside of Affliction against fellow Affliction competitor and UFC veteran, Pedro Rizzo.