| Sokoudjou | |
| Other Names: | The African Assassin |
| Birth Name: | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua |
| Birth Date: | 18 April 1984 |
| Birth Place: | Hom'la, Cameroon |
| Height: | [1] [2] [3] |
| Weight Lb: | 205 |
| Weight Class: | Super Heavyweight Heavyweight Light Heavyweight |
| Reach In: | 78 |
| Fighting Out Of: | Oceanside, California, United States |
| Team: | Team Quest[4] MMA Factory |
| Rank: | Second dan black belt in Judo Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Years Active: | 2006–present (MMA) |
| Mma Kowin: | 13 |
| Mma Subwin: | 1 |
| Mma Decwin: | 4 |
| Mma Dqwin: | 1 |
| Mma Koloss: | 13 |
| Mma Subloss: | 2 |
| Mma Decloss: | 3 |
| Kickbox Loss: | 2 |
| Am Label: | Amateur Muay Thai record |
| Am Win: | 4 |
| Am Loss: | 1 |
| Sherdog: | 17010 |
| Updated: | February 23, 2013 |
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua (in French pronounced as /ʁamo tjɛʁi sɔkudʒu/; born April 18, 1984), mostly billed simply as Sokoudjou, is a Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, Sokoudjou is the former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion, and has also competed for PRIDE, the UFC, WEC, Affliction, Strikeforce, K-1, DREAM and Bellator.
Born and raised in Cameroon, Sokoudjou began training in judo at the age of five and was talented, winning three consecutive junior national championships from 1997 to 1999 in his home country. Growing up, he had actually wanted to get involved with boxing or kickboxing but his parents would not allow it because they thought the competition was too violent.[5] Sokoudjou moved to the United States in 2001 to pursue his career in judo.[6]
In his PRIDE debut at PRIDE 33, Sokoudjou fought Brazilian fighter Antônio Rogério Nogueira, and the much-less experienced Sokoudjou was a 16-1 underdog. To start the match, the Cameroonian threw a series of high kicks before landing an excellent combination that knocked out "Lil Nog" at just 23 seconds into the first round in a shocking upset. This made Sokoudjou the first fighter to finish the younger Nogueira brother. Sokoudjou's victory is considered to be one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history, as well as arguably the biggest win of Sokoudjou's career to date.[7]
Sokoudjou was released from the UFC on November 28, 2008.[8]
Sokoudjou defeated the South-African kickboxer Jan Nortje at Dream 9 by TKO (strikes) in round 1 of the Dream Super Hulk Tournament. Sokoudjou was heavily criticized for his post-fight actions where he landed a barrage of extra punches after the referee had already stepped in to stop the fight. Sokoudjou did, however, express remorse for his actions, and apologized to Nortje for the incident.[9] Sokoudjou was slated to face Gegard Mousasi in the semifinals at Dream 11, however, due to an injury, Super heavyweight Bob Sapp stood in for Mousasi.[10]
Sokoudjou fought Ryan Jimmo for the MFC Light Heavyweight Championship at MFC 31 on October 7 at the Mayfield Conference Centre in Edmonton, Canada, losing by a controversial unanimous decision.[11]
Sokoudjou fought Heavyweight prospect Konstantin Erokhin at Fight Nights: Battle Of Moscow 14, on December 7, 2013. He lost via KO in the first round.[12]
Sokoudjou was defeated by former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi via second-round TKO due to ground and pound on November 7, 2009, at .[13]
Sokoudjou faced European prospect Jan Błachowicz at KSW XV for the KSW Light Heavyweight Championship, After two rounds Sokoudjou landed 12 leg kicks, making Błachowicz unable to continue the fight.[14]
In June 2015, it was revealed that Sokoudjou was released from the promotion.[15]
Sokoudjou faced Maxim Grishin in a kickboxing match on February 23, 2013, at Fight Nights 10 in Moscow, Russia. He lost via split decision(29–28, 28–29, 28–29).[16] [17]
Sokoudjou speaks French, as well as a few dialects in his home country of Cameroon. He currently lives in Southern California and has a brother. Before becoming a professional mixed martial arts fighter, Sokoudjou worked as a bouncer.[18]
| Win| align=center| 19–18| Jamie Abdullah| TKO (punches)| AFC / Kunlun Fight - Kunlun Fight MMA 16| | align=center|2| align=center|2:42| Melbourne, Australia|Won the AFC Light Heavyweight Championship.|-| Loss| align=center| 18–18| Sergei Kharitonov| KO (punch)| M-1 Challenge 80: Kharitonov vs. Sokoudjou| | align=center|1| align=center|0:40| Harbin, China|Heavyweight bout.|-|Loss|align=center|18–17|Łukasz Jurkowski|Decision (majority)|KSW 39: Colosseum||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Warsaw, Poland||-|Win|align=center|18–16|Marcelo Tenorio|TKO (punches and elbows)|Australian FC 18: Night 1||align=center|1|align=center|N/A|Shanghai, China||-|Loss|align=center|17–16| Thiago Silva|TKO (punches)|F2N: Fight2Night||align=center|3|align=center|2:37|Rio de Janeiro, Brazil||-|-|Loss| align=center| 17–15| Tomasz Narkun| TKO (punches)| KSW 36: Materla vs. Palhares| | align=center| 1| align=center| 4:38| Zielona Góra, Poland||-|Win| align=center| 17–14| Matt Hamill| KO (punches)| Venator FC 3: Palhares vs. Meek| | align=center| 1| align=center| 0:37| Milan, Italy||-|Loss|align=center| 16–14|Paul Buentello|KO (punch)|Abu Dhabi Warriors 3||align=center| 3|align=center| 3:12|Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates|Heavyweight bout.|-|Loss|align=center| 16–13|Linton Vassell|TKO (punches)|Bellator 134||align=center| 2|align=center| 3:18|Uncasville, Connecticut, United States||-| Win| align=center| 16–12| Malik Merad| TKO (elbows)| Bellator 127| | align=center| 2| align=center| 4:04| Temecula, California, United States||-| Win| align=center| 15–12| Terry Davinney| Submission (rear-naked choke)| Bellator 121| | align=center| 1| align=center| 4:16| Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States||-| Loss| align=center| 14–12| Konstantin Erokhin| KO (punches)| Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 14| | align=center| 1| align=center| 2:28| Moscow, Russia| |-| Loss| align=center| 14–11| Evgeny Erokhin| TKO (punches and elbows)| Pankration: Mayor Cup 2013| | align=center| 3| align=center| 4:40| Khabarovsk, Russia| |-| Win| align=center| 14–10| Seung Bae Whi| Decision (unanimous)| Road FC 011| | align=center| 3| align=center| 5:00| Seoul, South Korea||-| Win| align=center| 13–10| Denis Komkin| KO (head kick)| Pankration: Battle Of Empires 2| | align=center| 1| align=center| 1:00| Khabarovsk, Russia| |-| Loss| align=center| 12–10| Jan Błachowicz| Decision (unanimous)| KSW 17: Revenge| | align=center| 3| align=center| 5:00| Łódź, Poland| |-| Loss| align=center| 12–9| Ryan Jimmo| Decision (unanimous)| MFC 31| | align=center| 5| align=center| 5:00| Edmonton, Alberta, Canada| |-| Win| align=center| 12–8| Roy Boughton| Decision (unanimous)| Score Fighting Series 1| | align=center| 3| align=center| 5:00| Mississauga, Ontario, Canada||-| Win| align=center| 11–8| Jan Błachowicz| TKO (leg injury)| KSW 15: Contemporary Gladiators| | align=center| 2| align=center| 5:00| Warsaw, Poland| |-| Win| align=center| 10–8| Valdas Pocevicius| Decision (unanimous)| | | align=center| 3| align=center| 5:00| Tel Aviv, Israel||-| Loss| align=center| 9–8| Shamil Abdurakhimov| TKO (punches)| ADFC: Round 2| | align=center| 3| align=center| 2:17| Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates| |-| Loss| align=center| 9–7| Houston Alexander| TKO (punches)| Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs Prangley| | align=center| 2| align=center| 1:31| Amarillo, Texas, United States| |-| Win| align=center| 9–6| Joaquim Ferreira| TKO (punches)| Impact FC 1| | align=center| 1| align=center| 1:20| Brisbane, Australia|Return to Light Heavyweight.|-| Win| align=center| 8–6| Dave Herman| DQ (illegal knees)| ADFC: Round 1| | align=center| 2| align=center| N/A| Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates| |-| Loss| align=center| 7–6| Ikuhisa Minowa| TKO (punches)| Dynamite!! 2009| | align=center| 3| align=center| 3:29| Saitama, Japan| |-| Loss| align=center| 7–5| Gegard Mousasi| TKO (punches)| | | align=center| 2| align=center| 3:43| Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States|Light Heavyweight bout.|-| Win| align=center| 7–4| Bob Sapp| TKO (punches)| DREAM 11| | align=center| 1| align=center| 1:31| Yokohama, Japan| |-| Win| align=center| 6–4| Jan Nortje| TKO (punches)| DREAM 9| | align=center| 1| align=center| 2:30| Yokohama, Japan| |-| Loss| align=center| 5–4| Renato Sobral| Submission (brabo choke)| | | align=center| 2| align=center| 2:38| Anaheim, California, United States||-| Loss| align=center| 5–3| Luiz Cané| TKO (punches)| UFC 89| | align=center| 2| align=center| 4:15| Birmingham, England||-| Win| align=center| 5–2| Kazuhiro Nakamura| TKO (leg injury)| UFC 84| | align=center| 1| align=center| 5:00| Las Vegas, Nevada, United States||-| Loss| align=center| 4–2| Lyoto Machida| Submission (arm-triangle choke)| UFC 79| | align=center| 2| align=center| 4:20| Las Vegas, Nevada, United States||-| Win| align=center| 4–1| Ricardo Arona| KO (punches)| PRIDE 34| | align=center| 1| align=center| 1:59| Saitama, Japan||-| Win| align=center| 3–1| Antônio Rogério Nogueira| KO (punch)| PRIDE 33| | align=center| 1| align=center| 0:23| Las Vegas, Nevada, United States||-| Loss| align=center| 2–1| Glover Teixeira| KO (punches)| WEC 24: Full Force| | align=center| 1| align=center| 1:41| Lemoore, California, United States||-| Win| align=center| 2–0| Paul Weremecki| TKO (head kick and punches)| SF 17: Hot Zone| | align=center| 1| align=center| 2:11| Portland, Oregon, United States||-| Win| align=center| 1–0| Gary Padilla| Decision (split)| Total Combat 15| | align=center| 3| align=center| 5:00| San Diego, California, United States|
| 0 wins, 2 losses | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record |
| Loss | Maxim Grishin | Decision (split) | Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 10 | 3 | 3:00 | Moscow, Russia | ||
| Loss | Maxim Osipov | Decision (majority) | UWC 20 | 3 | 3:00 | Southend-on-Sea, England | ||
Legend:
|-|Loss|align=center|0–1|Mighty Mo|TKO (punches)|VKB-Valor Bare Knuckle 1 ||align=center|3|align=center|1:26|New Town, ND, USA, 4 Bears Casino and Lodge|Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Finals[20]