{"id":105381,"date":"2026-06-04T06:59:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grizzliz.com\/media\/fighter\/rafael-cerqueira\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T11:42:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T11:42:26","slug":"rafael-cerqueira","status":"publish","type":"fighter_profile","link":"https:\/\/www.grizzliz.com\/media\/fighter\/rafael-cerqueira\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Cerqueira"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Raffael \u00ab\u00a0The Lion\u00a0\u00bb Cerqueira : le lion de Salvador face au mur UFC<\/h2>\n<h3>De Bahia \u00e0 l&rsquo;octogone<\/h3>\n<p>Raffael Cerqueira a grandi \u00e0 Salvador, capitale de l&rsquo;\u00c9tat de Bahia au nord-est du Br\u00e9sil, une ville qui produit des combattants depuis des d\u00e9cennies. C&rsquo;est l\u00e0 qu&rsquo;il a pos\u00e9 ses premi\u00e8res bases martiales : karat\u00e9, capoeira, taekwondo, avant de trouver sa maison dans les salles de jiu-jitsu et de Muay Thai. Il devient multi-champion de JJB \u00e0 Bahia, et c&rsquo;est au Galp\u00e3o da Luta \u2014 sa salle d&rsquo;entra\u00eenement \u00e0 Salvador \u2014 qu&rsquo;il construit un MMA complet et explosif. \u00c0 35 ans, il mesure 1m91 pour 93 kg avec 1m93 de reach, soit un gabarit s\u00e9rieux pour les mi-lourds.<\/p>\n<h3>Une machine \u00e0 finishes sur le circuit br\u00e9silien<\/h3>\n<p>Cerqueira d\u00e9barque en professionnel en 2019 avec un TKO en 35 secondes sur Gustavo dos Santos Tosta. Le ton est donn\u00e9. Pendant cinq ans sur le circuit r\u00e9gional br\u00e9silien \u2014 principalement les organisations Demo Fight et Qualify Combat \u2014 il encha\u00eene onze victoires sans conc\u00e9der la moindre d\u00e9faite. Huit de ces victoires sont des KO ou TKO, deux se terminent par soumission (\u00e9tranglement bras-nuque \u00e0 deux reprises). Huit de ces onze finishes arrivent au premier round. Il d\u00e9croche le titre mi-lourd de la Demo Fight et le d\u00e9fend plusieurs fois. Le surnom \u00ab\u00a0The Lion\u00a0\u00bb colle bien : il attaque, d\u00e9boule en avant, plie rarement. L&rsquo;UFC le signe directement en 2024, sans passage par le Contender Series, sur la foi d&rsquo;un record parfait \u00e0 onze combats.<\/p>\n<h3>Un style spectaculaire, des lacunes expos\u00e9es<\/h3>\n<p>Ce qui attire l&rsquo;\u0153il chez Cerqueira, c&rsquo;est la vari\u00e9t\u00e9 et le courage de son striking : kicks au foie, retourn\u00e9s, techniques de rotation \u2014 il ne fait pas dans le conventionnel. Son jiu-jitsu et son fond athl\u00e9tique lui donnent aussi une pr\u00e9sence au sol solide. Mais les observateurs avant son entr\u00e9e \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC notaient d\u00e9j\u00e0 un d\u00e9faut r\u00e9current : les mains qui descendent dans les \u00e9changes. Sur le circuit r\u00e9gional, \u00e7a passe. Face aux mi-lourds de l&rsquo;UFC, \u00e7a se paie cash.<\/p>\n<h3>Quatre combats \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC, quatre d\u00e9faites<\/h3>\n<p>Son bapt\u00eame du feu arrive le 26 octobre 2024 \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC 308 \u00e0 Abu Dhabi. Face au Turc Ibo Aslan, Cerqueira est stopp\u00e9 par TKO en seulement 51 secondes au premier round. Quatre mois plus tard, le 22 f\u00e9vrier 2025 \u00e0 Seattle, l&rsquo;ancien champion Cage Warriors Modestas Bukauskas l&rsquo;exp\u00e9die au tapis avec des poings \u00e0 2:12 du premier round \u2014 un KO propre, sans discussion. Le 9 ao\u00fbt 2025 \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC Vegas 109, Cerqueira tient trois rounds face \u00e0 Julius Walker mais conc\u00e8de une d\u00e9cision unanimit\u00e9 s\u00e8che (30-27, 30-27, 30-26), contr\u00f4l\u00e9 au sol sur l&rsquo;ensemble du combat. Enfin, le 22 novembre 2025 \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC Fight Night de Doha (Qatar), Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev le soumet par \u00e9tranglement dorsal en 33 secondes. Quatre d\u00e9faites en quatre sorties \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC : un bilan difficile pour quelqu&rsquo;un qui n&rsquo;avait jamais perdu avant d&rsquo;y mettre les pieds.<\/p>\n<h3>Statut actuel<\/h3>\n<p>Raffael Cerqueira affiche un record de 11 victoires et 4 d\u00e9faites (11-4-0). Sa place \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC d\u00e9pend clairement de sa capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 corriger les failles expos\u00e9es lors de ces quatre sorties \u2014 la gestion des distances, les mains hautes, la r\u00e9sistance aux grappleurs. Le talent de finisseur est r\u00e9el et document\u00e9 sur onze combats. La question est de savoir si \u00ab\u00a0The Lion\u00a0\u00bb peut adapter son jeu \u00e0 ce niveau d&rsquo;opposition.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sources-article\"><strong>Sources :<\/strong> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ufc.com\/athlete\/rafael-cerqueira\">UFC.com<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/combatreg.com\/fighters\/Rafael-Cerqueira:195B5DC2FCD0E219\">CombatReg<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/cagesidepress.com\/2024\/10\/25\/welcome-to-the-ufc-raffael-cerqueira\/\">CageSidePress<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raffael \u00ab\u00a0The Lion\u00a0\u00bb Cerqueira, mi-lourd br\u00e9silien de Salvador (11-4), arrive \u00e0 l&rsquo;UFC apr\u00e8s 11 victoires cons\u00e9cutives \u2014 toutes les 4 d\u00e9faites sont survenues dans l&rsquo;octogone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":102566,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"fighter_category":[69983],"fighter_tag":[],"class_list":["post-105381","fighter_profile","type-fighter_profile","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","fighter_category-light-heavyweight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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