Cyrille Diabaté

Cyrille Moktar Diabaté (born October 6, 1973) is a retired French mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has also competed in shoot boxing and Muay Thai. He has fought at Palace Fighting Championship, Tachi Palace Fights, PRIDE, ShoXC, Deep, Cage Rage and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Mixed martial arts career

Pride Fighting Championships Diabaté then faced off against Maurício Rua at Pride Final Conflict Absolute. After 5:29 of the first round, Rua defeated Diabaté via TKO (stomps). This loss led to Diabaté heading for smaller organizations.

His first fight was in England, for the Cage Rage promotion. He defeated Ryan Robinson via armbar and followed this up with a blood-soaked decision victory in a ShoXC card, where he faced Jaime Fletcher.

Diabaté defeated Marcus Hicks via submission (armbar) after just 89 seconds. This win was his fourth in a row and was followed up by a win over Rob Smith via submission.

Ultimate Fighting Championship Cyrille appeared frequently as a striking coach for Team Henderson in season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter. It was announced in February 2010 that Diabaté had signed a four fight contract with the UFC.

In his debut at UFC 114 he defeated Luiz Cané via TKO in the first round. Diabaté later expressed disappointment in his own performance, having had to "survive a flash knockout" early in the first round.

In his second appearance, Diabaté lost to Alexander Gustafsson on October 16, 2010, at UFC 120. In the fight, he was dominated by the Swede for the entire first round standing, and in the second round he was taken down early and submitted with a rear naked choke. This was his first loss in four years.

For his third UFC fight, Diabaté faced Steve Cantwell on March 3, 2011, at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Diabaté fought Anthony Perosh on November 5, 2011, at UFC 138. He lost the bout against Perosh via submission due to a rear naked choke in the second round.

Diabaté was expected to face Jörgen Kruth on April 14, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 2. However, Kruth was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Tom DeBlass. Diabaté won the fight via majority decision.

Diabaté was briefly linked to a bout with Fabio Maldonado on November 17, 2012, at UFC 154. However, Maldonado was pulled from the bout and faced Glover Teixeira on October 13, 2012, at UFC 153, replacing an injured Quinton Jackson. Diabaté instead faced Chad Griggs at the event. Diabate defeated Griggs via first round rear naked choke submission.

Diabaté faced Jimi Manuwa on February 16, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald. Manuwa was declared the winner (TKO) after Diabaté was unable to continue after tearing a calf muscle near the end of the first round.

Diabaté faced Ilir Latifi at UFC Fight Night 37. Before the fight, Diabaté announced he will retire from MMA regardless of the bout's outcome. He lost the fight via submission in the first round. After his loss to Latifi, Diabaté made his retirement from combat sports official.

Kickboxing record (Incomplete) Win Michael Bisping CWFC: Strike Force 1 Coventry, West Midlands, England Decision (Unanimous)

Loss Aleksandr Pitchkounov Ichigeki Paris 2005 Paris, France Decision (Unanimous)

Loss Alexey Ignashov MT ONE Saint-Pierre, Réunion Decision

Loss Petar Majstorović K-1 Spain Grand Prix 2003 in Barcelona Barcelona, Spain Decision (Unanimous)

Win Damián García K-1 Spain Grand Prix 2003 in Barcelona Barcelona, Spain KO (Strikes)

Win Lee Hasdell Shoot Boxing: S Volume 1 Tokyo, Japan TKO (Doctor Stoppage)

Win Rick Roufus I.S.K.A. Championship Las Vegas, Nevada, United States TKO (Doctor Stoppage)

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Ilir Latifi Submission (ninja choke) UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa

London, England Loss

Jimi Manuwa TKO (retirement) UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald

London, England Win

Chad Griggs Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC 154

Montreal, Quebec, Canada Win

Tom DeBlass Decision (majority) UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva

Stockholm, Sweden Loss

Anthony Perosh Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC 138

Birmingham, England Win

Steve Cantwell Decision (unanimous) UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann

Louisville, Kentucky, United States Loss

Alexander Gustafsson Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC 120

London, England Win

Luiz Cané TKO (punches) UFC 114

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Rob Smith Submission (rear-naked choke) TPF 2: Brawl in the Hall

Lemoore, California, United States Win

Marcus Hicks Submission (armbar) AMMA 1: First Blood

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Win

Lodune Sincaid TKO (doctor stoppage) PFC 12: High Stakes

Lemoore, California, United States Win

Jaime Fletcher Decision (unanimous) ShoXC: Hamman vs. Suganuma 2

Friant, California, United States Win

Ryan Robinson Submission (armbar) Cage Rage 21

London, England Loss

Maurício Rua TKO (stomps) Pride FC - Final Conflict Absolute

Saitama, Japan Win

Yasuhito Namekawa KO (flying knee) Real Rhythm: 4th Stage

Osaka, Japan Win

Yasuhito Namekawa KO (punches) Deep: 24 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Takahiro Oba Submission (rear-naked choke) Real Rhythm: 3rd Stage

Osaka, Japan Win

Mu Jin-Na KO (head kick and punches) Real Rhythm: 2nd Stage

Osaka, Japan Loss

Fábio Piamonte Submission (arm-triangle choke) Cage Rage 12

London, England Loss

Renato Sobral Submission (guillotine choke) Cage Rage 9

London, England Return to Light Heavyweight. Loss

Arman Gambaryan Decision (unanimous) M-1 MFC: Middleweight GP

St. Petersburg, Russia Middleweight debut. Loss

Rodney Glunder Decision (unanimous) 2 Hot 2 Handle

Amsterdam, Netherlands Light Heavyweight debut. Win

James Žikic Decision (unanimous) EF 1: Genesis

London, England Win

Dave Vader Submission (triangle choke)

Rotterdam, Netherlands Win

Bob Schrijber Decision

Rotterdam, Netherlands Win

Matt Frye KO (punches) Cage Wars 2

London, England Loss

Josh Dempsey Decision Cage Wars 1

Portsmouth, England Draw

Rodney Glunder Draw Rings Holland: No Guts, No Glory

Amsterdam, Netherlands Win

Andre Juskevicius KO (punches) Golden Trophy 2000

Orléans, France Win

Ryuta Sakurai TKO (punches) Golden Trophy 1999

France