Raphael Assunção

Raphael Assunção (born 19 July 1982) is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Background Born in Recife in Northeast Brazil, Assunção moved to United States with his immigrant parents when he was a child. He now lives and trains in Atlanta with Ascension MMA under Manu N'toh. He is also the brother of Júnior Assunção and Freddy Assunção who also fight as mixed martial artists. Assunção has a daughter.

Mixed martial arts career

World Extreme Cagefighting Assunção joined the WEC in 2009, with a 12–1 professional record. He made his promotional debut on 5 April 2009 at WEC 40 against Jameel Massouh. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

He faced Yves Jabouin on 2 September 2009 at WEC 43. Assunção won the back and forth fight by split decision.

Assunção faced Urijah Faber on 10 January 2010 at WEC 46. Faber won the fight via third-round submission.

Assunção then faced Diego Nunes on 20 June 2010 at WEC 49. He lost the fight via split decision.

Assunção faced LC Davis on 11 November 2010 at WEC 52. Assunção won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship On 28 October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

Assunção was expected to face Manvel Gamburyan on 19 March 2011 at UFC 128, but Gamburyan was forced out of the bout with a back injury and replaced by Erik Koch. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Assunção next faced UFC newcomer Johnny Eduardo on 27 August 2011 at UFC 134. He won the fight via unanimous decision and was out up to 6 months with a possible nasal fracture.

Assunção faced Issei Tamura on 11 July 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. He won the fight via second-round TKO.

Assunção faced Mike Easton on 8 December 2012, at UFC on Fox 5, replacing an injured Bryan Caraway. He won the fight via unanimous decision despite suffering a broken arm during the first round.

Assunção faced Vaughan Lee on 8 June 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV 10. He won the fight via armbar submission in the second round.

Assunção was expected to face T.J. Dillashaw on 4 September 2013 at UFC Fight Night 28. However, the pairing was delayed and was rescheduled for a future event due to a minor medical issue for Assunção. The bout with Dillashaw was rescheduled and took place on 9 October 2013, at UFC Fight Night 29. Assunção defeated Dillashaw via split decision. 10 out of 13 media outlets scored the bout for Dillashaw. The back and forth action earned both the participants Fight of the Night honors.

Assunção was expected to face Francisco Rivera at UFC 170. However, Rivera was forced from the bout due to a hand injury. Assunção instead faced touted UFC newcomer Pedro Munhoz. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Assunção was briefly linked to a Bantamweight Championship bout against Renan Barão on 24 May 2014 at UFC 173. However, Assunção opted to decline the bout as a rib injury sustained in his last bout at UFC 170 had not healed enough to resume the proper training in advance of the event. Barão instead faced, and was ultimately defeated by T.J. Dillashaw.

Assunção faced Bryan Caraway on 4 October 2014 at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine. He doubled the numbers of strikes Caraway threw and caught him with knees to win a unanimous decision victory.

On 22 December 2014, Assunção announced that he had suffered a broken ankle during training that would not require surgery, but is expected to be sidelined for up to 10 weeks.

A rematch with perennial contender Urijah Faber was expected to headline UFC Fight Night 62 on 21 March 2015. However, Assunção was forced out of the bout as an ankle first injured in mid-December 2014 was slow to heal and that he was unable to resume the proper training to prepare for the fight in that time frame. Subsequently, in August 2015, Assunção's management team announced that he would undergo surgery on the ankle and hoped to return by the end of the year.

A rematch with T.J. Dillashaw took place on 9 July 2016 at UFC 200. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Assunção was expected to face Aljamain Sterling on 9 December 2016 at UFC Fight Night 102. However, Sterling pulled out of the fight on 23 November citing injury. Assunção was subsequently removed from the card. The bout with Sterling was rescheduled and took place on 28 January 2017 at UFC on Fox 23. Assunção won the fight via split decision.

Assunção faced Marlon Moraes on 3 June 2017 at UFC 212. He won the back-and-forth fight by split decision.

Assunção faced Matthew Lopez on 11 November 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis. At the weigh-ins, Lopez missed weight, weighing in at 138.5 lbs., three and a half pounds over the Bantamweight limit. As a result, he forfeited 20% of his purse to Assunção and the bout proceeded as Catchweight. He won the fight via knock out in the third round. This win also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus award.

Assunção faced Rob Font on 7 July 2018 at UFC 226. He won via unanimous decision.

Assunção faced Marlon Moraes in a rematch on 2 February 2019 in the main event at UFC Fight Night 144. Assunção won the first fight by split decision at UFC 212 on 3 June 2017. Before accepting the rematch, Assunção negotiated a new contract with the UFC. Assunção lost the rematch in the first round after being dropped by two punches and then submitted via a guillotine choke.

Assunção faced Cory Sandhagen on 17 August 2019 at UFC 241. He lost the bout by unanimous decision.

Assunção was scheduled to face Cody Garbrandt as the co-main event on 28 March 2020 at UFC on ESPN 8. However, Garbrandt pulled out on 12 March due to kidney issues. As of now, Assunção is expected to remain on the card against an unknown opponent. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed. Instead the fight was rescheduled and took place on 6 June 2020 at UFC 250. Assunção lost the bout via second-round knockout.

Assunção was scheduled to face Raoni Barcelos on 27 February 2021 at UFC Fight Night 186. However, Assunção pulled out of the fight in early February after testing positive for COVID-19.

Assunção was scheduled to face Kyler Phillips on 24 July 2021 at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw. However, Assunção suffered a biceps injury in late June and was replaced by Raulian Paiva.

Assunção faced Ricky Simón on 18 December 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus. He lost the bout via knockout in the second round.

Assunção faced Victor Henry on 15 October 2022, at UFC Fight Night 212. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Assunção was scheduled to face Kyler Phillips on 11 March 2023, at UFC Fight Night 221. However, Phillips withdrew from the event for undisclosed reasons, and he was replaced by Davey Grant. He lost the fight via an inverted triangle choke technical submission in the third round, and announced his retirement during the post-fight interview.

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship Fight of the Night (One time) vs. T.J. Dillashaw Tied (Aljamain Sterling) for fourth most bouts in UFC Bantamweight division history (18)

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Davey Grant Technical Submission (inverted triangle choke) UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Victor Henry Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Araújo

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Ricky Simón KO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Cody Garbrandt KO (punch) UFC 250

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Cory Sandhagen Decision (unanimous) UFC 241

Anaheim, California, United States Loss

Marlon Moraes Submission (guillotine choke) UFC Fight Night: Assunção vs. Moraes 2

Fortaleza, Brazil Win

Rob Font Decision (unanimous) UFC 226

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Matthew Lopez KO (punch) UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis

Norfolk, Virginia, United States Win

Marlon Moraes Decision (split) UFC 212

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Win

Aljamain Sterling Decision (split) UFC on Fox: Shevchenko vs. Peña

Denver, Colorado, United States Loss

T.J. Dillashaw Decision (unanimous) UFC 200

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Bryan Caraway Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Win

Pedro Munhoz Decision (unanimous) UFC 170

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

T.J. Dillashaw Decision (split) UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Shields

Barueri, Brazil Win

Vaughan Lee Submission (armbar) UFC on Fuel TV: Nogueira vs. Werdum

Fortaleza, Brazil Win

Mike Easton Decision (unanimous) UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz

Seattle, Washington, United States Win

Issei Tamura TKO (punches) UFC on Fuel TV: Muñoz vs. Weidman

San Jose, California, United States Win

Johnny Eduardo Decision (unanimous) UFC 134

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Loss

Erik Koch KO (punch) UFC 128

Newark, New Jersey, United States Win

LC Davis Decision (unanimous) WEC 52

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Diego Nunes Decision (split) WEC 49

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Loss

Urijah Faber Submission (rear-naked choke) WEC 46

Sacramento, California, United States Win

Yves Jabouin Decision (split) WEC 43

San Antonio, Texas, United States Win

Jameel Massouh Decision (unanimous) WEC 40

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Joe Pearson TKO (punches) Ironheart Crown 12

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Aaron Williams Submission (armbar) American Fight League: Eruption

Lexington, Kentucky, United States Win

Kevin Gittemeir Decision (unanimous) International Sport Combat Federation: Head-On Collision

Kennesaw, Georgia, United States Win

Tyler Grunwald Submission (triangle choke) International Sport Combat Federation: Battle of Rome 2

Rome, Georgia, United States Loss

Jeff Curran Decision (majority) XFO 13

Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States Win

James Birdsley Submission (rear-naked choke) Cage FC: Border Warz

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States Win

Nick Mamalis Submission (armbar) Ring of Fire 26

Castle Rock, Colorado, United States Win

Joe Lauzon Submission (armbar) Absolute FC 15

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States Win

William McGlothlin Submission (guillotine choke) Full Throttle 4

Duluth, Georgia, United States Win

Jorge Masvidal Decision (unanimous) Full Throttle 1

Duluth, Georgia, United States Win

Brandon Bledsoe Submission (armbar) International Sport Combat Federation: Compound Fracture 2

Atlanta, Georgia, United States Win

Chad Lawshe Submission (guillotine choke) International Sport Combat Federation: Compound Fracture

Atlanta, Georgia, United States Win

Scott Johnson Submission (armbar) International Sport Combat Federation: Anarchy in August 2

Atlanta, Georgia, United States Win

Chris Clark TKO (punches) International Sport Combat Federation: Friday Night Fight

Atlanta, Georgia, United States