Paul Buentello

From CageWiki

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

Profile

Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello (born January 16, 1974) is an American professional mixed martial artist training out of the American Kickboxing Academy.

He stands 6 ft. 2 in. (188 cm) tall and fights in the heavyweight division at approximately 245 lbs..

Buentello is a former UFC and Strikeforce heavyweight title challenger and currently competes as a heavyweight for Affliction.

Early Career

Paul Buentello made his professional mixed martial arts debut as part of a one-night eight-man tournament held by the United Shoot Wrestling Federation promotion on April 12, 1997.

He defeated his first round opponent, Derek McGill via choke submission in 6:00 of round 1. He followed that victory with another choke submission win later that night before losing in the final to former fellow high school student, Evan Tanner by rear naked choke in 2:20 of round 1.

Four months later, Buentello dropped his second professional bout when he was defeated by submission by UFC legend, Dan Severn in just under three minutes.

Buentello entered another USWF 8-man tournament in June of 1998, which he won in a combined total time of just over three minutes.

That tournament success was followed by a TKO loss to Todd Broadway at an Extreme Challenge event in May of 1999.

Buentello won his next five bouts with that win streak finally being broken in the final of a one night 8-man tournament held by the IFC. Buentello submitted to strikes from Gan McGee in 2:44 of round 1.

A quick TKO of Larry Parker in his next bout was the only bout between the McGee loss and three more successive losses which included a kneebar submission defeat to future UFC heavyweight champion, Ricco Rodriguez.

Buentello halted the worrying three fight slide with a TKO defeat of Gary Marshall in August of 2001.

After three successive KO victories (including perennial douche bag, Mike Kyle) Buentello was defeated again - this time by unanimous decision by UFC veteran, Bobby Hoffman.

Buentello quickly rebounded from that loss to head kick Andy Montana into oblivion two months later and then defeat Hoffman in a rematch via verbal submission a month after that.

Buentello fought only once in both 2003 and 2004, winning via TKO and KO over Lloyd Marshbanks and Bo Cantrell respectively.

UFC

With a 19-8 record, Buentello received a call-up to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He faced off against rising contender, Justin Eilers at UFC 51 on February 5, 2005. Buentello showed crisp striking as he knocked Eilers out in 3:34 of round 1.

At UFC 53, Buentello was expected to fill in as a replacement for Ricco Rodriguez in an interim championship bout against Andrei Arlovski but in a strange set of circumstances, he had to pull out due to an injury of his own that ended up not being as bad as initially thought. Such was the recovery of Buentello that he was able to compete at UFC 53 while the man he just knocked out - Eilers - was fighting Arlovski for the title.

Buentello faced Kevin Jordan on the card and earned "submission of the night" honors with a one-armed guillotine choke of an extremely gassed Jordan.

Four months later, Buentello was given a crack at the heavyweight championship held by Arlovski at UFC 55. The bout was a quick one as Arlovski landed a crisp right hand that left Buentello limp on the mat just 15 seconds in.

At UFC 57, Buentello rebounded from the disappointment of his title bout with a second round stoppage of Gilbert Aldana.

Following the Aldana victory, Buentello was released from his UFC contract.

Strikeforce and Affliction

Buentello quickly signed with the California based, Strikeforce promotion after his UFC departure and headlined Strikeforce: Tank vs. Buentello in October, 2006. As the name implies, he faced infamous UFC brawler, Tank Abbott and knocked the legend out with a punch in 43 seconds.

Buentello defeated Ruben Villareal and Carter Williams in his next two bouts under the Strikeforce banner with each victory coming via way of TKO.

In November of 2007, Buentello faced off against Alistair Overeem for the vacant Strikeforce heavyweight title at Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives. The bout was a painful one for Buentello as he was battered by Overeem on the ground and on the feet, eventually submitting to knees to the body in the second round.

Buentello signed to fight for the upstart Affliction promotion after the Overeem defeat and made his Affliction debut at their inagural event, Affliction: Banned.

Originally to face PRIDE veteran, Aleksander Emelianenko on the show, he instead faced Gary Goodridge on one days notice after Emelianenko's medicals stopped him from participating. In a lacklustre bout, Buentello methodically outpointed Goodridge for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.

At Affliction: Day of Reckoning, Buentello squared off against Fedor Emelianenko protege, Kiril Sidelnikov. Buentello dwarded Sidelnikov in terms of experience and it showed as he battered the Russian for two and a half rounds with the bout finally mercifully waved off in the third.

Buentello will next return at Affliction: Trilogy in August, 2009 when he faces former UFC heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia.