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By: Dayne Fox, MMATorch Contributor
In order for Pedro Rizzo's career to go out on a positive note, it couldn't have ended more appropriately than it did. Rizzo battered the legs of Andrew Flores Smith with kicks until Smith couldn't take anymore, calling the fight from his stool in between rounds one and two. After the fight, Rizzo called it a career with his longtime mentor and trainer Marco Ruas and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria in the cage with him.
With Rizzo retiring, I felt it would be appropriate to list the words that I would most associate with the Brazilian striker: Leg kicks. Brilliance. Leg kicks. Scar tissue. Leg kicks. Randy Couture. Leg kicks. Timidity. Leg kicks.
Rizzo won't go down as a legend of the sport, but at one point it sure seemed like it was an inevitability. A devastating striker with leg kicks (have I dropped enough clues on that?) unlike any ever before seen in the sport when he hit the scene, Rizzo earned a title shot against Kevin Randleman at UFC 26, only to seemingly sleepwalk through the fight. He would rebound with a vengeance, tearing apart Dan Severn and Josh Barnett respectively in his next fights to earn another shot at the title, which was now held by Randy Couture.
That fight would be the defining moment of Rizzo's career, and if you've never taken the time to watch it, I highly recommend you do so. Couture came out like a bull early, flooring Rizzo in the first round with a takedown and pounding on him in an effort to end the fight; he came extremely close to doing so, bloodying up Rizzo in the process to take a clear 10-8 round.
It seemed that might continue in the bout, but think again. Couture opened the round with a leg kick, only for Rizzo to show him how it was really done. Couture, winded from his attempt to end the fight the previous round, would spend the rest of the round shooting desperate takedowns as Rizzo teed off on his legs, putting on a clinic of kicks that had Couture walking gingerly long before the round was up. Rizzo almost finished the fight with punches to a downed Couture, put on the ground following a few knees and a punch from Rizzo, only for Couture to be saved by the bell in a similar manner to which Rizzo had been saved in the first round. Most would agree that was a 10-8 round for Rizzo.
Couture was visibly in trouble before the start of the third round, as he would be bouncing out his legs, trying to get them loose after the devastation Rizzo put on them. It would be an understandably slow round, but a pivotal round. Couture would be stuffed on his opening takedown attempts before getting in on Rizzo's hips off of a missed Rizzo punch; it was the most significant action of the round. Many felt Couture deserved the round based on the takedown and top control from there (though he did little with it) while others felt Couture's inactivity from there wasn't enough to make up for Rizzo controlling the early pace and stuffing Couture's takedowns.
The fourth round contained more action, as both had seemed to catch their second wind by then. Couture took it pretty clearly, as he utilized early dirty boxing and another takedown to score significantly more offense, with Rizzo only landing (and throwing) one leg kick.
The fifth round featured Rizzo's best offense outside of the second. Couture marched forward in an attempt to keep Rizzo from landing any more of those debilitating kicks. Rizzo didn't land many, but he did land a few and he made them count. Rizzo would stuff all of Couture's takedown attempts in the round, and found his range by the end as a kick stumbled Couture, with Rizzo looking for the finish from there.
Rizzo was supremely confident that he had taken the fight, and was stunned when it was read a unanimous decision for Couture. Rizzo had done more damage for sure (Couture would later claim he couldn't walk for about three weeks and ended up with a permanent indentation in his thigh from the kicks), but fights were scored on a round to round basis, with the third round being the wild card for the decision. Kind of a shame that such an inactive round proved to be the pivotal point of such an awesome fight.
Rizzo would never recover from the loss. He would petition successfully for a rematch against Couture (with the help of a large amount of fans), but it wouldn't even be a competitive fight, as Couture was in control from the beginning, scoring a ground and pound stoppage in the third round. It seemed Rizzo would sleepwalk through the rest of his career, becoming a counter puncher reluctant to pull the trigger. His performances would become so disappointing that the UFC offered to buy him out of his lucrative contract, but Rizzo insisted on finishing it out. His final UFC performance would be against former heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez in what would be one of the worst fights in MMA history; Rodriguez was in the midst of his drug addled phase, unable to mount any effective offense, and whiffing on every one of his takedown attempts while Rizzo refused to initiate any offense, resulting in the two largely staring each other down.
Rizzo would try to rejuvenate his career in Pride, but two quick losses to Sergei Kharitonov and Roman Zentsov effectively ended the relevance of his career. He only picked up victories over other fighters well past their primes from that point on.
Nobody saw Rizzo's career ending like this following his first fight with Couture. He was only 26 at the time and with the most devastating leg kicks seen in the sport, a claim that could even be argued today over 14 years later. Rizzo proved to be his own worst enemy, though, and his legacy has become one of "what if." What if the judges had scored the fight in favor of Rizzo? What if Rizzo owned a killer instinct? Having spent his whole career under the guidance of Ruas, would it have made a difference if he had changed camps?
Clearly we'll never know the answer to these questions, with it being universally agreed that Rizzo never lived up to his potential. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a significant spot in the history of the UFC. He was one of the first stars the Zuffa era UFC hitched its wagon too (as shown by his soon to be regretted contract), and I can't mention enough how devastating his leg kicks were. Excuse me… still are as, Andrew Flores Smith is reminding me. Unfortunately he let the Hyde side of his fighting persona rear its head far too often, keeping a solid career from being a great one.
I hope Rizzo is content with his career and satisfied with his decision to walk away at this time, as he has always been a good guy. An infuriating performer, sure. But a good guy. Seriously, though, those leg kicks…
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