Ronaldo Candido

Ronaldo Candido is a native of São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil, born on 24 April 1989. His nationality is Brazilian. Coming from an economically poor family, he didn't have money to attend college. When he was 13 years old, he worked as a car washer. Later, he became a Brazilian Air Force Soldier for one year, at age 18. He made a big decision in his life when he quit his Air Force career to become a professional fighter in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He left his hometown of São José dos Campos and moved to Rio Claro to join Atos BJJ with two GIS (Kimonos) in his bag and no sponsorship to start his dream of becoming a World Champion. He eventually became a Multiple time National Champion, Pan-Pacific Champion, 2x Pan-American Champion and 3x World champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Also, he holds a black belt in BJJ from the world renowned Atos Brazilian jiu-jitsu team (One of the best BJJ academies of the world) and is a former Mixed Martial Arts South American Shooto Champion. As a result of his accomplishments, he was selected for The Ultimate Fighter 24 Tournament of Champions.

Ronaldo Candido de Oliveira (also known as Pacman), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist currently signed to Ultimate Fighting Championship under Flyweight division. A professional since 2013, he has 6-1-0 MMA record to date and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions.He holds a black belt in BJJ and is a former South American Shooto Champion.

On March 9th 2013, Candido made his professional debut at NCF – Nitrix Champion Fight 14 against Diogo José Bento. He won his first match via rear-naked choke submission in the first round. Following his first professional victory, he went on to give a series of wins against Fernando Guerra, John Lineker Coutinho da Silva, Felipe Estevão, Julio Cesar Moraes and Bruno Suema at Shooto – Brazil, 45, 47, 52, 53 and 57 respectively.

On July 18th 2016, Candido made his UFC debut at UFC – The Ultimate Fighter Season 24 Opening Round 3 against Jaime Alvarez. He was victorious in his debut fight via a rear-naked choke submission in round one after he took a knockdown which broke his nose (It was one of the best comebacks of the show). Next, he faced Eric Shelton at the UFC – The Ultimate Fighter Season 24 Quarterfinals, Day 2 on July 27th 2016, where he was defeated in round two by unanimous decision.

On August 1st 2017, Candido faced Carlos Candelario at Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series 4. He lost the fight by a controversial unanimous decision in the third round.

Ronaldo Candido's parents got divorced when he was 11 years old because of his father's alcoholism and aggressive nature against his mother. They moved to another neighborhood which was very close to a BJJ Academy. He started training BJJ because of his brother Ricardo (8 years older and only sibling). In the beginning the ‘gentle art’ was used to protect himself against bullies, but later aided him in the protection of his mother against his father. One day, his father came home very drunk to fight his mother. With the practice of Jiu Jitsu, Ronaldo was able to fight off his father and protect his mother from harm. Ronaldo is married and currently lives in Michigan, USA. He owns Ronaldo Candido Academy, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu school.