Kurt Pellegrino

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1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 UFC Career
4 Mixed martial arts record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino (born May 7, 1979) is an American professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt.

He stands 5 ft. 8 in. (173 cm) tall and fights in the lightweight division (155 lbs.).

Pellegrino is a WEC and Pancrase veteran and currently fights as a lightweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Kurt Pellegrino made his professional mixed martial arts debut at WEC 4: Rumble Under The Sun on August 31, 2002. He faced future TUF 6 winner, Mac Danzig and prevailed via unanimous decision after three rounds.

In November, 2003, Pellegrino faced Jay Isip in his second professional bout, winning via armbar in the first round.

Pellegrino's first loss came in his next fight as he entered the Pancrase organization and was submitted by a second round guillotine choke by future Sengoku lightweight champion, Satoru Kitaoka.

Pellegrino bounced back strongly as he racked up five straight victories in his next five bouts stretching to February of 2006. All five victories came by either stoppage or submission with a notable victory over Sergey Golyaev.

UFC Career

In July of 2006, Pellegrino made his UFC debut when he faced off against Drew Fickett in a welterweight bout on the undercard of UFC 61. Pellegrino controlled the first two rounds but got lazy in the third, and Fickett capitalized, submitting Pellegrino with a rear naked choke 1:20 in.

Just over a month later, Pellegrino picked up a guillotine choke submission win in a smaller promotion to get his confidence back up before returning to the UFC.

At UFC 64, Pellegrino submitted Junior Assuncao with a first round rear naked choke in a lightweight bout.

Pellegrino picked up his second UFC victory at UFC Fight Night 9 in April of 2007 when he submitted Nate Mohr with an achilles lock in the first round.

At UFC 74, Pellegrino was given the highest profile and toughest bout of his career when he faced TUF 2 welterweight winner, Joe Stevenson in a lightweight bout on the main card. Pellegrino kept things close throughout the three round contest but Stevenson always appeared to be doing just a little more. All three judges awarded the bout unanimously for Stevenson. For their efforts, both fighters received "Fight of the Night" honors.

In January of 2008, Pellegrino faced off against highly regarded grappler, Alberto Crane on the undercard of UFC Fight Night 12. Pellegrino was immediately dropped with a high kick which reportedly knocked a tooth out. He recovered however and managed to stop Crane in the second round with punches.

On the main card of the stacked UFC Fight Night 13, Pellegrino faced off against another TUF winner, in the form of TUF 5 lightweight winner, Nate Diaz. "Batman" dominated the first round on the ground with continous guard passing and vicious ground and pound. He looked to continue it into the second round but after making a crucial mistake he fell into a Diaz triangle choke and was forced to submit.

Pellegrino rebounded from the disappointing Diaz defeat to claim "Fight of the Night" honors with a three round war and victory over Thiago Tavares on the undercard of UFC 88.

On February 7, 2009, Pellegrino submitted TUF 5's Rob Emerson with a rear naked choke in an undercard bout at UFC Fight Night 17.

"Batman" is rumored to return in the summer against the always dangerous, Josh Neer.