Pedro Rizzo returns to MMA in September, faces veteran Travis Fulton in Brazil

Pedro Rizzo will make his return to MMA in September.

The former UFC heavyweight contender, who hasn’t fought since May of 2013, is scheduled to face Travis Fulton in the main event of Face to Face in Vitoria, Brazil, on Sept. 12. FTF promoter Alex Gaze confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com following a report by Globo Esporte.

Rizzo (19-11), who fought for the UFC gold three times during his 9-5 run inside the Octagon between 1998 and 2003, holds knockout wins over the likes of Dan Severn, Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlvoski under the promotion’s banner. The Brazilian striker looks to rebound from a two-fight losing streak against to Fedor Emelianenko and Satoshi Ishii.

Fulton (251-50-10, 1 no-contest), who only fought twice for the UFC during his 312-fight career, enters the bout coming off a first-round loss to Alexei Kudin, which snapped a fought-fight winning streak. “The Ironman’s” record shows 152 submissions and 92 knockouts.

Speaking with MMAFighting.com in 2014, Rizzo explained why he wanted to continue fighting despite his success as a MMA coach.

“I fight because that’s what I love to do. I love to be inside the ring,” Rizzo said. “I don’t care about birthdays, Christmas and those things. I always lived my life by weeks. It’s four weeks for my next fight, ten weeks, whatever. That’s how my life always was. My goal is to fight. Titles and victories are consequences of my training. My motivation is to beat the next opponent.

“Everybody knows me, I never chose opponents. I went to Russia to fight Fedor (Emelianenko) two years after my last fight. If they come up with a good opponent, it will motivate me even more to continue in this journey for a long time. My goal is to do a great fight for the fans in Brazil, make people think ‘wow, he’s 40 and keeps fighting like this.’ That’s what I want.”

Pedro Rizzo will make his return to MMA in September.

The former UFC heavyweight contender, who hasn’t fought since May of 2013, is scheduled to face Travis Fulton in the main event of Face to Face in Vitoria, Brazil, on Sept. 12. FTF promoter Alex Gaze confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com following a report by Globo Esporte.

Rizzo (19-11), who fought for the UFC gold three times during his 9-5 run inside the Octagon between 1998 and 2003, holds knockout wins over the likes of Dan Severn, Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlvoski under the promotion’s banner. The Brazilian striker looks to rebound from a two-fight losing streak against to Fedor Emelianenko and Satoshi Ishii.

Fulton (251-50-10, 1 no-contest), who only fought twice for the UFC during his 312-fight career, enters the bout coming off a first-round loss to Alexei Kudin, which snapped a fought-fight winning streak. “The Ironman’s” record shows 152 submissions and 92 knockouts.

Speaking with MMAFighting.com in 2014, Rizzo explained why he wanted to continue fighting despite his success as a MMA coach.

“I fight because that’s what I love to do. I love to be inside the ring,” Rizzo said. “I don’t care about birthdays, Christmas and those things. I always lived my life by weeks. It’s four weeks for my next fight, ten weeks, whatever. That’s how my life always was. My goal is to fight. Titles and victories are consequences of my training. My motivation is to beat the next opponent.

“Everybody knows me, I never chose opponents. I went to Russia to fight Fedor (Emelianenko) two years after my last fight. If they come up with a good opponent, it will motivate me even more to continue in this journey for a long time. My goal is to do a great fight for the fans in Brazil, make people think ‘wow, he’s 40 and keeps fighting like this.’ That’s what I want.”