In the ‘98 ADCC competition, Verissimo beat Issam Farouk Saade in the elimination round, Elvis Sinosic (Pictures) in the quarterfinals and lost to Mario Sperry (Pictures) in the semis. Renato also had a draw with Beau Hershberger for the third place honors that year. A year later Verissimo had just one match at Abu Dhabi, losing to Karimula Barkalaev.
Verissimo began fighting MMA in 2002, but he’d already competed in an Abu Dhabi-style event in 1997 called IWF: The Contenders, in which he faced Mike Van Arsdale (Pictures). Renato lost a decision and moved to teach in Hawaii. He stopped Roland Elbe at the Warrior’s Quest 4 with strikes in the first round. In ’03 he began competing in ROTR and fought to a No Contest (illegal head butt) with Shannon Ritch (Pictures). Then he rolled through Ray Fabre at ROTR 3.
At ROTR 4 he gave a bloody beating to Cesar Gracie (Pictures) disciple and UFC veteran Gil Castillo (Pictures) and made his Octagon debut at UFC 46 against former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton (Pictures). From the beginning it was “Charuto” who looked like the veteran, working for submissions from his back and striking from the top, giving the recovering Newton, who had the flu, all he could handle for three rounds.
Verissimo won a decision and returned to UFC 48 for a title shot against Matt Hughes (Pictures). Though he lost a decision, it could’ve gone either way and “Charuto” showed he was definitely for real. Frank Trigg (Pictures) put on an impressive display at UFC 50 and stopped Verissimo. The Brazilian returned at ROTR and stopped Yuichi Nakanishi (Pictures).
Last January Verissimo entered the ROTR 175-pound tournament and was favored to go far in an impressive field. His opening round opponent, Carlos Condit (Pictures), had a wealth of experience but was still considered the underdog against “Charuto.” In a shocking turn of events Verissimo was stopped with a knee to the face just 17 seconds into the match.
HIRONAKA: Kuniyoshi Hironaka (Pictures) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing stylist with a record of 9-2-0 in MMA. He trains with Akeomi Nitta, Toshiyuki Wadou, Naoki Samukawa, Makoto Aramaki, Kazumichi Tokoro, Takeshi Goto, Keito Sakaiya and Takeharu Watabiki.
Hironaka began fighting MMA in 2001 in SHOOTO, where he beat Takayuki Ohkouchi (Pictures) by unanimous decision. He fought exclusively in SHOOTO in 2002 and compiled a 5-1 record. This included wins over Toru Nakayama (Pictures), Yuji Kusu, Yasuyuki Tokuoka, Mark Moreno (Pictures) and Nick Diaz (Pictures). His only loss that year was to Hirofumi Hara when he was stopped with strikes in the first round.
In November of 2004 Hironaka took a bout in the SHOOTO Lithuania and defeated Ramunas Komas (Pictures). He was back in Japan in ’05 and lost to Shinya Aoki (Pictures) on a cut stoppage. Last December Hironaka defeated Takuya Wada (Pictures) by triangle choke in the first round of the GCM: D.O.G. 4 show. Then last February he beat Team Quest wrestler Ryan Shultz via armbar in the second round.
MY PICK: Though I expect Verissimo to win this bout, it should be one of the more competitive single bouts. Hironaka has a decent record and has been in the ring with solid competition, like Diaz and Schultz, and beat them. “Charuto” likely see this as an opportunity to stay afloat in the ROTR and also get in line to face whoever wins the tournament title. Kuniyoshi has only been stopped twice, so Verissimo will likely have to unload on Hironaka the way he did with Castillo and Newton. Also in his favor is the fact that he is likely the best grappler Hironaka has ever faced. Verissimo by TKO in the second round.