BIO

ENGLISH

Oriol was born april 1st, 1979 in Barcelona, Spain. At 19 he became interested in the martial arts and began to study a traditional Kung Fu style. From then on, he tried out various martial arts disciplines. In 2002, while practising Jeet Kune Do, he was introduced to the world of ground fighting and began training BJJ instensely. 2003 marked his 1st competition as a white belt in the Gracie Cup, and he was named champion in the middleweight division.
It was this that awakened his passion for competition and he continued to compete in various BJJ and grappling competitions. By the end of 2003 he made a trip to Brazil to polish his jiu jitsu game. Shortly after his return, in february of 2004, he made his amateur MMA debut and won by submission. Through out 2004/05 he had 7 amateur MMA fights in Spain and Switzerland, where he won 6…4 by submission and one declared draw.

December 10th, 2005, with an amateur record of 6-0-1, Uri made his pro debut in Zurich, Switzerland. It was the third edition of SHOOTO SWITZERLAND where he landed a TKO victory in the second round against Igor Dimoski. In february 2006, Uri faced the much more experienced Juan Carlos Portillo and won by TKO, defining his ground and pound style. In november of 2006 he had his first cage fight in the english event UKMMAC-CageFighters, and he beat Mark Harrisson in his first decision win. The coming december he moved to Valencia to train with Alianza MMA. The first loss of his career came in the KO Arena 6 against Chedey Jimenez. In april he fought against Azz Eddie in the HMF, whom he had beat once before by submission in the amateur circuit. This time he won by TKO. A month later he fought Che Mills which would be Oriol’s second loss. In february of the following year, Oriol faced the experienced Paul Jenkins which was Paul’s 101st fight. Oriol won by TKO in a dominating performance. Only 3 weeks later he fought Driss Elbakara, and won by KO in the first round. Afterwards he traveled to San Jose (California), where he stayed for 3 months training with AKA (American Kickboxing Academy). Here he trained alongside some of the greatest names in the sport, those who also renamed him ‘The Cookie Monster’. During the trip, he made the decision to drop down a weight category to lightweight. Upon his return from California, he returned to his native city of Barcelona, where he joined forces with MMA BCN TEAM. Oriol’s following fight was agreed at 73 kg versus Andre Mineus, whom he beat by unanimous decision at the Swedish event Superior Challenge. His next fight was again at 73 kg versus Reza Madadi. This time he lost which was the third of his career. A month later he made his lightweight debut at 70 kg to face Pasi Maliniemi who was the champion of Botnia Punishment. Oriol beat him by TKO in the first round to become the new lightweight belt holder of the finnish event. Two months later he returned to fight in the Superior Challenge versus Thomas Hytten, who would turn out to be one of Uri’s toughest opponents to date. He went on to win by TKO in the second round.

ESPAÑOL

Oriol nació el 1 de abril de 1979 en Barcelona, España. A los 19 años se interesa por las artes marciales y comienza con un estilo tradicional de Kung Fu. Desde ese momento prueba varios sistemas de artes marciales . Es en 2002, en su paso por el Jeet Kune Do donde conoce la lucha de suelo y empieza a practicar BJJ intensamente. En 2003 participa en su primera competición como cinturon blanco en la Copa Gracie donde se proclamó campeón en la categoria de peso medio. Es entonces cuando despierta su pasión por la competición y participa en varias competiciones de BJJ y grappling. A finales de ese año realiza un viaje a Brasil para entrenar BJJ. Poco despues de su vuelta, en Febrero de 2004 hace su debut en MMA amateur donde vence por sumisión. Durante el 2004 y 2005 realiza un total de 7 luchas de MMA amateur en España y en Suiza, de las que vence seis, cuatro de ellas por sumisión y solo una es declarada empate.

El 10 de diciembre de 2005, con un record amateur invicto de 6-0-1, realiza su debut profesional en Zurich (Suiza) en la tercera edición de SHOOTO SWITZERLAND donde vence en el segundo asalto por KO Técnico a Igor Dimoski. En febrero de 2006 se enfrenta con mucha menos experiencia Juan Carlos Portillo al que vence por KO Técnico, definiendo su estilo como Ground and Pound. En noviembre de 2006 hace su primer combate dentro de una jaula en el evento ingles UKMMAC-CageFighters donde vence a Mark Harrission en la que seria su primera victoria por decision. En diciembre de 2006 se muda a Valencia para entrenar con Alianza MMA. Su primera derrota fue en el KO Arena 6 frente a Chedey Jimenez. En abril de ese mismo año 2006 lucha en el HMF con Azz Eddie, a quien ya vencio por sumision en una lucha amteur, en esta ocasion vence por KO Tecnico. Un mes mas tarde lucha con Che Mills en la que seria la segunda derrota de Oriol. El febrero del siguiente año se enfrenta a Paul Jenkins en el que seria el combate 101 de este experimentado luchador y al que vence por KO Tecnico dominando la totalidad de la lucha. Apenas 3 semanas despues lucha con Driss Elbakara al que vence por KO en el primer asalto. Despues de esa pelea viaja a San Jose (California) para estar 3 meses entrenando en la AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) con grandes nombres del deporte, los cuales de dieron el apodo de lucha de Cookie Monster, es en ese viaje que decide bajar de categoria de peso. A su vuelta de California vuelve a afincarse en su ciudad nata, Barcelona, donde pasa a formar parte de MMA BCN TEAM. Su siguiente lucha la hace en un peso pactado de 73 Kg. contra Andre Mineus en el Superior Challenge al que vence por decision unanime. Su siguiente lucha tambien seria en 73 Kg con Reza Madadi, en esta ocasion pierde en el que seria su tercera derrota. Un mes mas tarde debutaria en la categoria de los ligeros en 70 Kg. para luchar con Pasi Maliniemi que era campeon del Botnia Punishment, al que vence por KO Tecnico en el primer asalto y se proclama campeon de los ligeros de ese evento. Dos meses despues vuelve a luchar en el Superior Challenge con el que seria uno de los oponentes mas duros hasta la fecha, Thomas Hytten, al que vence por KO Tecnico en el segundo asalto.