Luigi Fioravanti

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

Profile

Luigi Fioravanti (born January 22, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist training out of American Top Team.

He stands 5 ft. 8 in. (173 cm) tall and fights in the welterweight division (170 lbs.).

Fioravanti last fought as a welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Luigi Fioravanti made his professional mixed martial arts debut on April 10, 2004 for the Obaktagon Challenge promotion. Fioravanti defeated future TUF 9 competitor, Kiel Reid via submission in the first round.

In 2005, Fioravanti picked up five victories from five outings with only one bout making it to the judges.

At Absolute Fighting Championships 15, Fioravanti defeated Sean Sallee via submission due to strikes in the first round to improve his record to 7-0.

UFC

In April of 2006 Fioravanti made his debut for the UFC. He faced TUF 1's Chris Leben on the main card of UFC Fight Night 4 and suffered his first professional defeat when he was on the losing end of a unanimous decision after three rounds of slugging.

Fioravanti picked up a win outside of the UFC following the Leben loss before returning at The Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale where he knocked out TUF 3 contestant, Solomon Hutcherson in 4:15 of round 1.

Three months later, Fioravanti stopped Japanese fighter, Hidetaka Monma in the first round outside of the UFC. He made his return to the UFC in December of 2006 at UFC Fight Night 7. He faced former UFC middleweight champion, Dave Menne in a welterweight contest and knocked off the former champ with punches in the first round.

The impressive victory saw Fioravanti matched up against fellow rising welterweight, Jon Fitch on the undercard of UFC 68. Fioravanti was game against Fitch but was ultimately overwhelmed, losing via second round rear naked choke submission.

At UFC Fight Night 10, Fioravanti was sluggish and lost a unanimous decision to Forrest Petz. The win forced Fioravanti out of the UFC for a fight. He earned the right to retain his place in the UFC after he stopped Frank Camacho at an event held in Guam.

At UFC 82, Fioravanti faced TUF 2's Luke Cummo on the show's undercard. Fioravanti used his superior wrestling to keep the dangerous Cummo off balance the whole fight. After three rounds, Luigi was awarded the wide unanimous decision win.

Three months later, Fioravanti was given main card duties at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale. He faced TUF 1 middleweight winner, Diego Sanchez and although he stuffed Sanchez's takedowns was surprisingly blitzed on the feet. In the third round Sanchez landed a high kick and a follow up knee and punches that forced the referee to stop the fight.

Fioravanti looked to rebound from the loss at UFC: Fight for the Troops in December of 2008. Both he and his opponent, Brodie Farber came in overweight for the bout and the fight turned out to be very lacklustre. Fioravanti grinded out a unanimous decision win after three rounds to push his UFC record to 4-4.

At UFC Fight Night 17, Fioravanti faced rising welterweight star, Anthony Johnson on the show's main card. Fioravanti looked tentative on the feet and was punished for it, losing via TKO nearing the end of the first round. Following the loss, Fioravanti was cut from his UFC contract.