Gleison Tibau

Janigleison Herculano Alves, better known as Gleison Tibau (born July 10, 1983) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, Professional Fighters League (PFL), DEEP, and Golden Boy Promotions.

Early life
Tibau began training for mixed martial arts at 13 and was fighting by 15. He was a state champion in Rio de Janeiro in both Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling. He was brought up as a fighter in Kimura team, from northern Brazil. Tibau trains at American Top Team.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Tibau made his UFC debut at welterweight against Nick Diaz. Tibau started strong and was taking Diaz down efficiently while avoiding submissions using Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In the second round he got tired and lost by TKO due to strikes. Tibau took on Jason Dent at UFC 68. Tibau won by unanimous decision. He then took a one fight hiatus from the company and returned to defeat Jeff Cox by submission due to an arm-triangle choke. Tibau then fought undefeated Brit Terry Etim, outwrestling his opponent for a unanimous decision.

Tibau then lost back to back fights to Tyson Griffin at UFC 81 and Joe Stevenson at UFC 86. He was on the verge of release from UFC by president Dana White. He rebounded with back to back wins over Rich Clementi and Jeremy Stephens.

At the TUF 9 Finale, Tibau fought Melvin Guillard. Tibau lost by split decision. Three media outlets scored the fight for Tibau.

Tibau's next fight was at UFC 104 where Tibau beat Josh Neer after landing 10 takedowns via unanimous decision (30-27, 30–27, 30–27).

Tibau won his second straight match with a first-round TKO over Caol Uno on March 31, 2010, at UFC Fight Night 21. Tibau faced Jim Miller on September 15, 2010, at UFC Fight Night 22. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Tibau beat Kurt Pellegrino on March 19, 2011, at UFC 128 via split decision.

Tibau then defeated veteran Rafaello Oliveira via second round rear naked choke, earning Submission of the Night honors.

Tibau won via split decision against Rafael dos Anjos on November 19, 2011, at UFC 139. Tibau next faced undefeated prospect Khabib Nurmagomedov on July 7, 2012, at UFC 148, losing via unanimous decision.

Tibau fought Francisco Trinaldo on October 13, 2012, at UFC 153 winning via unanimous decision.

He lost to Evan Dunham on February 2, 2013, at UFC 156 by split decision. Tibau then faced John Cholish on May 18, 2013, at UFC on FX 8, winning via second round submission.

Tibau beat Jamie Varner on August 31, 2013, at UFC 164 by split decision. With this fight, he became the youngest fighter in UFC history to record 20 bouts.

Tibau lost to Michael Johnson in the last fight of his contract on December 28, 2013, at UFC 168 via second-round knockout.

On January 16, 2014, Tibau signed a four-fight contract.

Tibau faced Pat Healy on July 16, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 45, winning by unanimous decision.

Tibau next faced Piotr Hallmann on September 13, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 51. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision. This fight earned Tibau his first Fight of the Night bonus award. Following the bout Hallmann failed his post fight drug test due to the presence of drostanolone in his system.

Tibau defeated Norman Parke on January 18, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 59, replacing Jorge Masvidal, winning via split decision.

Tibau replaced an injured Yancy Medeiros was against Tony Ferguson on February 28, 2015, at UFC 184, losing by submission in the first round, his first submission defeat since his 2008 loss to Joe Stevenson.

Tibau defeated Abel Trujillo at UFC Fight Night 77 on November 7, 2015 via a first round submission. Tibau took Trujillo's back, secured a body triangle from the bottom and grabbed a rear-naked choke grip with his arm underneath Trujillo's chin. After a few seconds in this position, referee Keith Peterson halted the contest as he believed that Trujillo was unconscious. Trujillo indicated that he planned to appeal the decision in hopes that the result may be changed to a No Contest.

On December 4, 2015, Tibau was suspended by USADA due to a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition test. On December 23, 2015, it was reported that he had also failed an in-competition test following his win over Trujillo. On February 18, 2016, Tibau was suspended for 2 years by USADA as well as having the result of his fight against Trujillo reversed to a loss.

Tibau faced Islam Makhachev on January 20, 2018, at UFC 220. He lost the fight by knockout in the first round.

Tibau faced Desmond Green on June 1, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 131. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Tibau's bout with Green marked the last fight of his contract and after more than a decade in the UFC, Tibau chose not to renew the contract, becoming a free agent.

Post-UFC career
After the long career in the UFC, Tibau revealed he will be moving up to welterweight division. On September 4, 2018, it was revealed that Tibau would fight Golden Boy Promotions' inaugural MMA event, headlined by the third encounter of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. Despite the announcement on going up a weight class, Tibau faced fellow UFC veteran Efrain Escudero in a 160lbs catchweight bout. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Tibau replaced Abel Trujillo on short notice against Will Brooks at Battlefield FC 2 on July 27, 2019, winning by Round 1 Submission.

Tibau was next expected to face Chris Cisneros at Taura MMA 11 on October 30, 2020. However, the bout was moved to Taura MMA 12 on November 22, 2020, which in turn was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic related issues.

2021 season
On February 25, 2021, news surfaced that Tibau had signed with Professional Fighters League and is expected to compete in the welterweight tournament of season 2021.

Tibau was set to face fellow UFC vet Alexey Kunchenko on April 29, 2021, at PFL 2 as the start of the 2021 PFL Welterweight tournament. On March 25, it was announced that Kunchenko pulled out of the bout and due to this Tibau was set to face João Zeferino. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Tibau faced Rory MacDonald at PFL 5 on June 17, 2021. He won the fight by a controversial split decision, with the vast majority of media scores and other professional MMA fighters scoring the bout as a win for MacDonald. Despite the victory over MacDonald, Tibau did not advance to the playoffs.

Tibau was scheduled to face Sadibou Sy on August 13, 2021, at PFL 7. However on August 4, it was announced that Sy replaced João Zeferino in the playoffs, and therefore Tibau's new opponent would be Curtis Millender. On August 12, Millender was announced to have pulled out of the bout, so Tibau instead faced Micah Terrill. Tibau won the bout via technical submission, choking Terrill unconscious in the first round via arm-triangle choke.

2022 season
Tibau faced Jarrah Al-Silawi on May 6, 2022, at PFL 3. He lost the bout via controversial split decision.

Tibau was scheduled to face Nikolai Aleksakhin on July 1, 2022, at PFL 6. However, Tibau pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Carlos Leal.

Tibau faced Magomed Magomedkerimov on November 25, 2022, at PFL 10. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Post PFL
Tibau faced Alexey Kunchenko on February 11, 2023, at RCC 14, losing the bout via unanimous decision.

Tibau returned to RCC at RCC 16, facing Boris Medvedev on July 28, 2023, losing the bout via TKO stoppage at the end of the first round.

Tibau faced Burenzorig Batmunkh on January 21, 2024 at Top Brights 1, winning the bout via split decision.

Mixed Martial Arts

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Piotr Hallmann
 * Submission of the Night (One time) vs. Rafaello Oliveira
 * Tied (Beneil Dariush) for third most wins in UFC Lightweight division history (16)
 * Most takedowns landed in the UFC Lightweight division (84)
 * Second most takedowns landed in UFC history (84) (behind Georges St-Pierre)
 * Most split decision wins in UFC history (5)
 * Second most split decision bouts in UFC history (7)
 * Most decision wins in UFC Lightweight division history (11)
 * Tied (Joe Lauzon) for third most bouts in UFC Lightweight division history (27)
 * Third most total fight time in UFC Lightweight division history (5:01:30)
 * Second most control time in UFC Lightweight division history (1:39:57)
 * Second most top control time in UFC Lightweight division history (1:11:30)
 * Highest takedown defense percentage in UFC Lightweight division history (92.0%)