Rich Clementi
Rich Clementi
Main page
1693948

Rich Clementi

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Rich Clementi

Richard Thomas Clementi (born March 31, 1977) is a former American mixed martial artist. Clementi has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championships, Bellator, K-1 Hero's DREAM, King of the Cage, and Titan FC.

Clementi was born in Edison, New Jersey but moved frequently during his childhood along with his mother, as a result of her divorcing Clementi's stepfather. His passion from an early age was in wrestling but most of the schools that he attended did not have programs for the sport. Clementi enjoyed watching the UFC, which was in its early stages while he was growing up. He moved out of the house at age 15 and eventually settled back in New Jersey for his senior year of high school where he began wrestling again, going 15–2 in his senior year, but admits that he "wasn't very technical." Though he was a standout prep wrestler, Clementi joined the military out of high school and served in the United States Navy's Construction Battalion. He served in the military for eight years.

Clementi began his professional career in 1999 and amassed a 13–6 record before making his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut at UFC 41, where he lost by submission to Yves Edwards. Clementi continued to fight in smaller promotions before appearing as a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show, which focused on promising fighters that had not succeeded in their UFC careers. With the namesake of "Team No Love" Clementi lost his preliminary bout against Shonie Carter by unanimous decision. He appeared on the undercard of the season finale as a lightweight, but lost by rear naked choke submission to Din Thomas.

Despite his losses, Clementi continued to appear in the UFC. He secured his first victory in the promotion via rear naked choke submission against Ross Pointon at UFC Fight Night 8, although the fight was not aired during the broadcast. After losing to Roan Carneiro at UFC Fight Night 9, Clementi alternated between appearing in the UFC and smaller promotions. He took a fight with Anthony Johnson at UFC 76 on two weeks' notice and won by rear naked choke submission. With the win, Clementi improved his official UFC record to 2–3.

Clementi followed up with a win at UFC 79 against Melvin Guillard. Guillard tapped from a rear naked choke. Prior to the match, Clementi and Guillard engaged in a war of words.

In the span of a month, Clementi racked up two more victories against Sam Stout and Terry Etim at UFC 83 and UFC 84 respectively. By this time, Clementi was riding a four-win streak in the UFC and a six-win streak in his career. The streak ended at UFC 90, where he lost to Gray Maynard by unanimous decision. Clementi followed up with an appearance at UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens, where he lost to Gleison Tibau by guillotine choke. With his second consecutive loss in the UFC, Clementi was cut from the promotion's roster.

On June 27, 2009, Clementi was in the main event for the first ever MMA fight in Pennsylvania. The promotion company UCFC held its "Rumble on the Rivers" event in Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena. Clementi was unable to continue the fight after only 40 seconds into the first round because of a broken collar bone after a takedown and the ringside doctor stopped the fight.

On November 29, 2009, Clementi headlined the event "Cage Wars: Nightmare" in Belfast, Northern Ireland and fought local prospect Chris Stringer, defeating him by triangle choke in the second round, after dominating the fight. Clementi followed that win by headlining the Team 3:16 – Season's Beatings Event in Shreveport, Louisiana, defeating Derrick Krantz in the first round via armbar.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.