Marcus Aurelio

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 PRIDE
4 UFC
5 Post-UFC Career
6 Mixed martial arts record
7 Gallery
8 External links

Profile

Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio (born August 18, 1973) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt training out of American Top Team.

He stands 5 ft. 10 in. (178 cm) tall and fights in the lightweight division (155 lbs.).

Aurelio is a UFC and PRIDE veteran with his last fight taking place under the World Cagefighting Alliance.

Early Career

Marcus Aurelio made his professional mixed martial arts debut on June 29, 2002 for the WEFC promotion. He submitted opponent, Walter McCall with a triangle choke in the second round.

Aurelio won his next three fights via armbar submission, which included future DREAM competitor, David Gardner.

After capturing the HOOKnSHOOT lightweight championship with a triangle choke over Darrell Smith, Aurelio suffered his first professional defeat when he was on the losing end of a split decision to self righteous human blanket, Antonio McKee.

Six days later, Aurelio was back in the win column when he stopped James Dunn at Mass Destruction 12.

In November of 2003, Aurelio entered a 16 man lightweight Grand Prix held by the Japan based, ZST promotion. Aurelio qualified for the final 8 with an armbar submission win over Takumi Nakayama.

The remaining bouts of the Grand Prix were held on the one night on January 11, 2004. Aurelio defeated Japanese submission wizard, Masakazu Imanari in the quarter finals by split decision. With the victory he moved on to face Remigijus Morkevicius in the semi finals and submitted the Lithuain with a triangle choke in the first round.

In the final, Aurelio faced UFC veteran, Rich Clementi. Just 40 seconds in, Clementi called a stop to the bout due a broken nose, awarding Aurelio the ZST Grand Prix title.

PRIDE

After stopping Naoyuki Kotani at a ZST event on May 5, 2004, Aurelio earned a call up to the PRIDE Fighting Championships's Bushido series. He made his PRIDE debut at PRIDE: Bushido 4 against tough Japanese fighter, Dokonjonosuke Mishima and was defeated via split decision after 15 minutes.

Aurelio earned his first PRIDE victory at PRIDE: Bushido 6 nine months later when he scored a unanimous decision victory over Daisuke Nakamura. He followed that victory with another unaimous decision, this time over Jutaro Nakao at PRIDE: Bushido 8.

At PRIDE: Bushido 10, Aurelio faced off against lightweight wrecking machine and PRIDE lightweight champion, Takanori Gomi in a non-title bout. Coming into the bout, Gomi was riding a 10 fight win streak and was a heavy favorite. Aurelio shocked everyone though as he choked Gomi unconscious with an arm triangle choke at 4:31 of round 1.

He was unable to capitalize on the momentum of the bout however, as he was on the losing end of a unanimous decision against Mitsuhiro Ishida at PRIDE: Bushido 11 in June of 2006.

Although he was defeated by Ishida, Aurelio was still given a shot at Gomi's lightweight title when the two faced off in a rematch at PRIDE: Bushido 13. Their second bout was as lacklustre as their first bout was surprising however, as Aurelio found himself going down via a razor close split decision.

UFC

Following Zuffa's buyout of PRIDE, Aurelio's contract was transferred over to the UFC. He made his UFC debut on the undercard of UFC 74 against tireless lightweight, Clay Guida. Aurelio's inability to get the fight to the ground was the telling factor of the fight and was on the losing end of a split decision, that really should have been a unanimous decision to Guida.

Aurelio picked up his first UFC victory at UFC 78 when he monstered Luke Caudillo and defeated him via TKO in the first round.

At UFC Fight Night 13, Aurelio signed to fight Spencer Fisher, however an injury to Fisher prompted his removal. After trying and failing to gain the services of Jim Miller as a replacement, the UFC settled on UFC newcomer, Ryan Roberts as a replacement. The fight was a quick one as Aurelio dropped Roberts with a punch and then secured an armbar to force the tap at just 16 seconds of the first round.

Aurelio finally made it to the main portion of a UFC card at UFC 86 when he faced Tyson Griffin. Much like the Guida fight, Aurelio's inability to get the fight to the mat consistently resulted in Aurelio being on the losing end of decision.

At UFC 90, Aurelio filled in as a replacement for Gleison Tibau in a grudge match with former training partner, Hermes Franca. Franca's leg kicks and Aurelio's inability to get off resulted in a lopsided decision win to Franca.

Post-UFC Career

Aurelio was released from his UFC contract following the successive losses to Griffin and Franca. In his first bout since the release, he knocked out UFC veteran, Chris Liguori in the second round of a WCA event in February of 2009.