Remco Pardoel

Remco Pardoel (born May 23, 1969) is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division. He has fought in promotions such as the UFC, Shooto and Pancrase. He was a junior national champion in Judo in 1988, and a competitive BJJ grappler. He made his MMA debut at UFC 2, eventually losing to Royce Gracie. Over the course of his career he fought Vernon White, Minoru Suzuki, and Marco Ruas.

Early career
Pardoel began his martial arts career at age 4 when he first began training in Judo. At age 7, he began training in Taekwondo and took up traditional Jiu-Jitsu at age 11. He won gold at the 1988 Junior National Judo Championships in the Netherlands, followed by a number of Ju Jitsu titles across Europe. He became Ju Jitsu world champion in 1993 when the sport's first World Championship was held in Denmark. There, he met Fabio Gurgel, Romero Cavalcanti, Sylvio Behring and other fighters, who taught him some of the sport's techniques. He would invite the Brazilian team to the Netherlands, and so Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was introduced in Europe, in his hometown of Oss, starting in November 1993.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
In 1994, Pardoel was invited to Ultimate Fighting Championship at its event UFC 2 in United States. Cornered by UFC 1 finalist Gerard Gordeau, Remco was billed as a Jiu-Jitsu fighter, and was pitted in the first round of the tournament against Alberto Cerro León, a Spanish Pencak Silat practitioner. The bout was long and violent, as although Pardoel threw León to the ground early, the Spaniard resisted his armlock attempts and even tried an illegal fish hook in repeated occasions. At the end, Pardoel submitted him with a sode guruma jime. The Dutch fighter was later quoted as: "Alberto was the reason to enter the UFC for me... In Europe, the guys from Pencak Silat and Wing Chun are badmouthing all other styles by saying and writing that they are invincible, which [they're] not. So the best way to prove that they are wrong is to challenge them."

Pardoel advanced to the next round and fought Muay Thai fighter Orlando Wiet in a memorable match. The heavier Pardoel executed a hip throw and pinned Wiet on the mat with ura gatame. After some hesitation, the Jiu-Jitsu champion then proceeded to land seven brutal elbow strikes on Wiet's temple, resulting in a knockout. Wiet was actually rendered unconscious after the second blow, and Pardoel himself had to speak to the referee in order to get the match stopped. The Dutch contender went to the semi-finals to face UFC 1 winner Royce Gracie, another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu exponent. Seconds into the match, Royce captured Pardoel's back while standing, tripped him down and performed a gi choke, making Remco tap out.

He returned to UFC in September 1995 at the event UFC 7. His first opponent would be Karateka Ryan Parker, whom he defeated in swift fashion by throwing him down, pinning him with kesa gatame and locking a mounted Ezekiel choke. The Dutchman advanced to meet Luta Livre legend Marco Ruas, also the eventual winner. Pardoel got a guillotine choke early, but Ruas escaped via foot stomps and they both met on the ground, where the Brazilian tried a straight-ankle lock to no avail. After some minutes of struggle, Ruas mounted Pardoel, and the latter opted to tap out. Pardoel would later claim that Ruas was using some sort of body oil or lubricant to hinder his hold. It would be Pardoel's last appearance in UFC.

BJJ black belt controversy
In 2023, Remco made false claims about receiving a record fast black belt and being the first European promoted to black belt in 1996.

Remco was awarded his black belt in 2007 by Vinicius Magalhães (Draculino), which today would make him a 4th degree black belt. He wore stripes on his belt according to Draculino's promotion up to 2023, when he suddenly claimed he was promoted to black belt already in 1996 by Fernando Yamasaki and Carlos Gracie Jr. This would had made him the first European born BJJ black belt as well as the fastest ever to receive a BJJ black belt, in only 2 years and 2 months from getting his first BJJ lesson, from visiting Brazilians.

The claim seems to stem from the early days of international CBJJ competitions, when lower belts on several occasions were allowed to compete together with black belts (first BJJ World championship, first BJJ European championship etc.) and Remco was allowed to compete in the black belt division of the World championship in Rio 1996. Over the years, Remco has been very clear on that he had no belt in BJJ at the time and really did not belong in the top 8 bracket in the sport. He also competed as a BJJ purple belt in Budweiser Cup in the US in 2005. Remco himself has also confirmed that he was only the second person in Holland to receive a BJJ black belt. An investigation on Beltchecker (readable only after logging in) has provided further evidence against Remco's new claims as well as word from Fernando Yamasaki that he has never promoted Remco to black belt.

In conclusion, the available evidence points to Remco's claims of being a BJJ 6th degree black belt, record fast black belt and first European black belt, being false, while he is still a legit 4th degree black belt.

Submission grappling record
KO PUNCHES
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 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Result
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 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Method
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Event
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 * Loss||🇺🇸 Pete Williams   || Decision ||ADCC world championship 2000|| 2000||  || ||
 * Loss||🇧🇷 Ricardo Liborio || Submission (armbar) || World Jiu-jitsu Championship|| 1996|| || ||
 * Loss||🇧🇷 Ricardo Liborio || Submission (armbar) || World Jiu-jitsu Championship|| 1996|| || ||
 * Loss||🇧🇷 Ricardo Liborio || Submission (armbar) || World Jiu-jitsu Championship|| 1996|| || ||