Kimo Leopoldo (born January 4, 1968), or simply Kimo, is a Hawaiian mixed martial artist. He made his MMA debut at UFC 3 in 1994 losing to Royce Gracie by submission. Kimo's fighting style has been described as freestyle, with a mixture of striking and grappling techniques.

He was credited with a black belt in Taekwondo in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 3. Kimo is well known for his Christian beliefs: he sports many religious tattoos, and entered the arena at UFC 3 carrying a large cross on his back.

Mixed martial arts career

At UFC 3, Kimo fought defending UFC 1 and UFC 2 champion Royce Gracie in the quarterfinals. Kimo gave Gracie his toughest fight to date but eventually lost the fight via submission. Gracie injured his shoulder during the fight and could not continue in the tournament, which subsequently made Kimo into an enormous star in the martial arts world. After three straight wins in Japan, including two wins over UFC 2 finalist Pat Smith, Kimo returned at UFC 8 and fought Ken Shamrock in a title match for the UFC Superfight Championship, but lost early in the fight via submission.

Kimo then fought at the UFC's Ultimate Ultimate 1996. He won his first fight against UFC 7 finalist Paul Varelans, but withdrew from the tournament after the win due exhaustion. He then traveled to Japan and fought to a 30 minute draw with 3 time UFC champion Dan Severn in the Pride Fighting Championships. Kimo returned to the UFC at UFC: Battle in the Bayou and fought top Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Kimo dominated the first portion of the fight but began to fatigue and eventually lost the fight by decision.

After a four year break from mixed martial arts, Kimo won a warm up fight against Tim Lajcik in the WFA in 2002. He then again returned to the UFC at UFC 43, where he quickly defeated David "Tank" Abbott by arm triangle choke. Kimo went on to fight in the main event of UFC 48, where he fought Ken Shamrock in a rematch. Kimo was knocked out in the first round from knees to the head.

In his two most recent fights, Kimo lost to Dave Legeno by submission. He then lost to Wes Sims by TKO in X-1.

Various media outlets reported that Leopoldo had died from complications from a heart attack at age 41. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports reported on his Twitter that Leopoldo's publicist refuted reports that Leopoldo was in Costa Rica and instead was seen alive in Orange County the night before.At a July 21, 2009 press conference Leopoldo denied anyone close to him created the rumor, he also expressed his desire to return to fight one last time.

MMA record

Professional record breakdown

18 matches 10 wins 7 losses

By knockout 2 2

By submission 8 4

By decision 0 1

By disqualification 0 0

Draws 1

No contests 0

2006-10-06 Loss 10–7–1 Wes Sims TKO (Referee Stoppage) Extreme Wars 5-Battlegrounds 1, 1:13

2006-09-30 Loss 10–6–1 Dave Legeno Submission (Guillotine Choke) Cage Rage 18: Battleground 1, 4:15

2005-07-17 Loss 10–5–1 Ikuhisa Minowa Submission (Achilles Lock) PRIDE Bushido 8 1, 3:11

2005-05-07 Win 10–4–1 Marcus Royster Submission (Forearm Choke) ROTR 7 1, 4:18

2004-06-19 Loss 9–4–1 Ken Shamrock KO (Knees) UFC 48: Payback 1, 1:26

2003-06-06 Win 9–3–1 Tank Abbott Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) UFC 43: Meltdown 1, 1:59

2002-07-05 Win 8–3–1 Tim Lajcik TKO (Broken Toe) WFA 2: Level 2 1, 1:55

1998-03-13 Loss 7–3–1 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Decision UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou 1, 15:00

1997-10-11 Draw 7–2–1 Dan Severn Draw PRIDE 1 1, 30:00

1997-04-16 Win 7–2 Brian Johnston Submission (Forearm Choke) Ultimate Explosion 1, 1:43

1996-12-07 Win 6–2 Paul Varelans TKO (Strikes) UFC: Ultimate Ultimate 1996 1, 9:08

1996-11-17 Win 5–2 Scott Bigelow Submission (Rear Naked Choke) U-Japan 1, 2:15

1996-07-14 Win 4–2 Kazushi Sakuraba Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) Shoot Boxing-S-Cup 1996 1, 4:20

1996-02-16 Loss 3–2 Ken Shamrock Submission (Kneebar) UFC 8: David vs. Goliath 1, 4:24 For UFC Superfight title

1995-09-08 Win 3–1 Patrick Smith Submission (Punches) United Full Contact Federation 1 1, 2:59

1995-09-08 Win 2–1 Fred Floyd Submission (Rear Naked Choke) United Full Contact Federation 1 1, 0:47

1994-12-10 Win 1–1 Patrick Smith Submission (Punches) K-1 Legend 1, 3:00

1994-09-09 Loss 0–1 Royce Gracie Submission (Armlock) UFC 3: The American Dream 1, 4:40

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record

3 Fights 0 wins 3 Losses 0 DrawDate Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time

2004-2-15 Loss Hiromi Amada K-1 Burning 2004 Okinawa, Japan KO (Left hook, 3 Knock Downs) 2 2:06

2003-8-15 Loss Bob Sapp K-1 WORLD GP 2003 IN LAS VEGAS Las Vegas, Nevada, US KO (2 Knock Downs) 2 1:11

1995-3-3 Loss Masaaki Satake K-1 Grand Prix '95 Opening Battle Tokyo, Japan TKO (3 Knock Downs, Left Middle Kick) 2 2:27

Fails to qualify for K-1 World Grand Prix 1995.