Falaniko Vitale

Falaniko Vitale
Born	July 14, 1974 Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Other names	Niko
Nationality	American
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Division	Middleweight
Fighting out of	Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Team	Grappling Unlimited
Mixed martial arts record
Total	41
Wins	30
By knockout	10
By submission	16
By decision	4
Losses	11
By knockout	5
By submission	3
By decision	3
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Falaniko "Niko" Vitale is an American mixed martial artist. He competes in the Middleweight division and has fought in the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, the IFL, and King of the Cage. He is the former SuperBrawl Middleweight Champion, and also won the X-1 Middleweight Tournament.

Vitale was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and is a native of Waipahu, Hawaii. He is of mixed Samoan, Chinese, German, and Portuguese descent. He graduated from Waipahu High School and was a star defensive back in football, going on to play for the University of Hawaii.

Vitale made his professional debut in 1999 against future UFC veteran Aaron Riley and won via TKO. Vitale would then go on to win his next three fights, his fourth career bout being his King of the Cage debut, before being handed his first professional loss by Japanese fighter Yasuhito Namekawa by a guillotine choke submission in the RINGS organization. He compiled a career record of 13-2 with only one fight outside of his Hawaii (his King of the Cage debut in California) before making his UFC debut.

Vitale made his UFC debut at UFC 43 against Olympic wrestler Matt Lindland in Nevada and won in a spectacular and very unusual slam knockout in which Lindland attempted to slam Vitale but landed on his own head knocking himself out. Vitale then mounted Lindland and the referree stopped the match. Two fights later, the two would have a rematch at UFC 45, which would result in a loss for Vitale after he submitted due to strikes.

...
Wikipedia