Renato Verissimo is a Brazilian mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

, who has fought in the UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

 and Rumble on the Rock promotions. He is known throughout the MMA community by the nickname of "Charuto", meaning "cigar" in Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

.

He grew up in Brazil, where he trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and earned his black belt. After moving to Hawaii, he became involved in mixed martial arts through BJ Penn, who he instructed.

After fighting in Rumble on the Rock, his UFC debut was a decision victory over Carlos Newton

Carlos Newton

Carlos Newton is a Canadian mixed martial artist and former UFC Welterweight Champion. He is considered one of the true pioneers in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Known as the "The Ronin", he competed worldwide in the biggest MMA organizations including UFC, Pride FC, IFL, K-1, Shooto and most...

 at UFC 46

UFC 46

UFC 46: Supernatural was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 31, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on DVD.-History:Headlining the card was a...

, which earned him the chance to face former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes (fighter)

Matthew Allen Hughes is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer, and former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks in the UFC, won the welterweight title on two occasions, defended the belt a record seven times, and holds the...

 at UFC 48

UFC 48

UFC 48: Payback was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 19, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada...

. Charuto lost a controversial decision after an uneventful fight.

Charuto then returned to Hawaiian events, fighting for Rumble On The Rock and ICON Sport.

Charuto was featured in the August 8, 2007 episode of the Versus reality television series TapouT

TapouT (TV series)

TapouT is an American reality television series that focuses on the world of mixed martial arts. The series premiered on Versus on June 3, 2007 before moving to its regular Wednesday night timeslot beginning June 6...

. Most recently, he lost to Jake Shields

Jake Shields

Jake Shields is an American mixed martial artist who is currently fighting in the welterweight division of the UFC. He is the last Rumble on the Rock 175 lb champion. He is the first and last Elite XC Welterweight Champion. He is also the former Shooto Middleweight Champion and is the former...

 via TKO on the September 15th card EliteXC: Uprising

EliteXC: Uprising

EliteXC: Uprising was a mixed martial arts event promoted by EliteXC and co-promoted by Icon Sport and Rumble World Entertainment. The event took place on Saturday, September 15, 2007 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Oahu, Hawaii. The main card aired on Showtime, with 5 of the untelevised matches...

.

Charuto was also featured in Marshal D. Carper's 2010 book titled "The Cauliflower Chronicles", detailing Marshal's experience training at the BJ Penn Academy in Hilo, largely training under Charuto.

External links

• http://www.knucklepit.com/mixed-martial-arts-renato_verissimo.htm
• http://www.budovideos.com/shop/customer/product.php?productid=30638&cat=306&page=1