Dante Rivera is a professional fighter with a standing record of 15-7 with 11 finishes. Rivera is disciplined in boxing, wrestling and Muay Thai; as well as Jiu-Jitsu holding a black belt under Ricardo Almeida.

 

Rivera’s debut as a professional fighter was for Bragging Rights MMA on November 9, 2002 in Bayonne, NJ. Rivera defeated Chris Scanlon in a three round unanimous decision. Rivera racked up two more wins in the next two years before being offered his first title shot against Jose Rodriguez under Ring of Combat. Rivera defeated in Rodriguez by TKO in the second round to earn his first Championship belt.

 

Rivera suffered his first loss less than a year later at the hands of Lance Everson in a unanimous decision. Rivera then went on to win 7 of his next 9 bouts including two championship fights earning the Middleweight Championship Belt under Reality Fighting and the Light Heavyweight belt under Combat in the Cage.

 

Rivera’s reputation earned a spot in the 7th season of the Ultimate Fighter in 2008. Rivera earned his spot in the house with a 1st round win in the preliminaries. Rivera continued on to the Quarter finals before losing by unanimous decision to now UFC veteran Matt Riddle.

Since then Rivera has won 4 out of 7, finishing 3 out of the 4. Rivera has wins over Ring of Combat, Bellator, and Strikeforce veterans such as Ronald Stalling, Lance Everson and Dan Cramer. Rivera is also a two time Champion in both Middleweight and Lightheavy Weight division.

 

Rivera continues to train Jui-Jitsu under black belt and UFC veteran Ricardo Almeida while preparing to fight again here in the near future. Rivera has also opened his own school in Howell, NJ simply named Jiu-Jitsu where he hopes to develop his own future fighters.