Falaniko Vitale
Falaniko Vitale, is a mixed martial artist. He is currently associated with “Grappling Unlimited”. He was born on 14th July, 1974 in Waipahu, USA. Also called as “Niko” by his fans, he weighs 200 lbs and is 6 ft tall.
At present, being trained under “Kai Kamaka” and “Ron Jhun”, his style includes Jiu- Jitsu, Wrestling and Boxing. He started his MMA career in 1999, with his first win against “Phillip Ortiz” at the “Rage in the Cage 2- Double Impact”. He then moved on to the “SuperBrawl”, where he defeated “Ahmad Reese”. Falaniko’s first defeat was at the “King of Cage 4-Gladiators”, where he lost against “Yasuhito Namekawa”. It was at the “Rings USA” event, where he made his presence felt globally, with a dynamic win against “Ricardo Barros”. In 2000, he moved on to the “Warriors of the new millennium 2”, where he won against “Todd Medina”. Vitale made his debut at the “Superbrawl 21”, where he won against “John Renken”. He then made his entry at the “Superbrawl 22” where he lost against “Sean Andre Gray”, and the “Superbrawl 23” where he won against “Charlie West”.
Vitale, was further seen in various events including “Force Fighting Championship”, “Ultimate fighting championship 43- Meltdown”, “UFC-45”, “Icon sport-45”, “Extreme Wars-Battle grounds 5”, “International Fight League 2007”. His Martial arts records position him with 22 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws.
Vitale’s most famous wrestling match, had been with the Middleweight champion “Jason Miller”. For this match, Vitale had undergone a two-month training at the elite AMC Pankration academy in Kirkland, Washington. Here, the center’s owner “Matt Hume”, also known as “The Wizard”, trained him. Throughout the training, Vitale was away from home, family and friends. He lived in a studio apartment next to the AMC martial arts center. He had made his training sessions, his oxygen to live on. It was here, where Falaniko polished his skills physically, technically and tactically.
However, his training paid off only in the first round, where Vitale dominated the ground. In the second round, Miller allowed Vitale to land shots, but he did not fall too quickly. This is when Vitale had to face his critical defeat. This emotional match forced Vitale, to announce his retirement from mixed martial arts.
In his recent interview, Vitale mentioned his love for MMA. He also mentioned, of how he would miss being in the ring, and how he wanted to retire only when he was 35 years old. He has a dream to see all the other MMA artists to step forward and achieve great heights in this sport. Currently, he plans on returning to Washington to continue his training sessions.
By Sherdog.com Staff
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