Vítor de Souza Ribeiro (born February 24, 1979) is a retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2001, he has formerly competed for Strikeforce, Shooto, DREAM, Cage Rage, Cage Force, the World Fighting Alliance, and K-1 HERO'S. Ribeiro is the former Cage Rage World Lightweight Champion and the former Shooto World Lightweight Champion.

Professional grappling career

Vitor Ribeiro is an accomplished grappler. He has won the CBJJ Mundials (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship) four times, once as a purple belt in 1996 and three times as a black belt in three consecutive years (1999, 2000, and 2001). He competed in the ADCC World Championship in 2000 and 2003. Ribeiro competed against Adriano Silva in a superfight at BJJ Stars 12 on April 27, 2024. He lost the match on advantages.

Mixed martial arts career

After a brief absence from the MMA world, Ribeiro returned to competition at DREAM 8, where he dominated former Olympic wrestler Katsuhiko Nagata ending the fight with a TKO. In his next fight at DREAM 10, he lost to Shinya Aoki via unanimous decision. On September 24, 2009, it was announced that he had signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce. Ribeiro made his promotional debut on May 15, 2010, against undefeated Lyle Beerbohm and lost the bout via split decision. Ribeiro's next fight for Strikeforce came against Justin Wilcox at Strikeforce Challengers: Wilcox vs. Ribeiro. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. On August 8, 2013, Ribeiro announced that he has retired from a mixed martial arts competition. In 2015, Ribeiro transitioned to becoming a referee for mixed martial arts shows. He debuted as a referee for UFC events on April 18, 2015, at UFC on Fox: Machida vs. Rockhold. Vitor is currently the head BJJ instructor at his Manhattan academy as well as in Scotch Plains, NJ.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lineage

Mitsuyo Maeda » Carlos Gracie Sr. » Carlson Gracie » André Pederneiras » Vitor Ribeiro

Championships and Accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Grappling

Mixed martial arts record

Submission grappling record

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