Will Ribeiro
| Will Marcos Pessoa Ribeiro | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 17, 1983 Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st) |
| Division | Bantamweight |
| Reach | 69 in (180 cm) |
| Team |
Black House Academia Boxe Thai |
| Rank | Olympian Boxing Black belt in Muay Thai under Luiz Alves Purple belt in Taekwondo Brown belt in Luta Livre Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira |
| Years active | 2003–2009 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 12 |
| Wins | 10 |
| By knockout | 5 |
| By submission | 2 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Losses | 2 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
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Will Ribeiro (born February 17, 1983) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and Luta Livre Esportiva (brown belt) practitioner, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Born in Campo Grande, a suburb of the city of Rio de Janeiro Will Ribeiro was raised along with his three siblings by his grandfather and mother, never having known their father. After the passing of their mother, Will and his family had to struggle to stay afloat, and the then 20-year-old Ribeiro took a career as a prizefighter to help support his family.
Will, who begun his training as a boxer in the age of 17, soon started to draw attention for his achievements in the sport, winning five straight titles in the state of Rio de Janeiro, also winning important titles such as the Copa Brasil de Boxe and the Torneio de São Paulo Eder Jofre. Ribeiro was then chosen as part of the Brazilian Olympic boxing team, in Santo André, São Paulo.
After making waves at fight events in Brazil, and quickly becoming a bantamweight prospect in MMA, including the Brazilian chapter of Shooto, Will Ribeiro was signed by World Extreme Cagefighting, debuting against the American Chase Beebe, and winning by a split decision. Afterwards, Will faced bantamweight standout Brian Bowles, being defeated by submission due to a guillotine choke in the third round. Will was a solid part of many rankings of his division, and was ranked the 9th top bantamweight fighter by Sherdog.
On December 16, 2008, Ribeiro was critically injured while riding on the back of a motorcycle on rain-slick wet roads without a helmet. He was in a hospital in a comatose state and has lost vision in one eye. Doctors gave him a 50/50 chance of ever waking from the coma. By December 23, doctors reported that he had not awoken from the coma, but that his condition was improving. This very unfortunate incident has effectively ended Ribeiro's Mixed Martial Arts career. At the time of his accident Will was ranked as the #7 Bantamweight fighter in the world by the MMAWeekly Worldwide MMA Ranking System.
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