Verissimo played water polo as a boy and his coach gave him the nickname "Charuto" (which means "cigar" in Portuguese). At ROTR 4, Verissimo battled Gil Castillo and to the surprise of many in attendance, the highly accomplished jiu-jitsu player opted to stand and trade with the UFC veteran and Cesar Gracie disciple. Over the course of the first two rounds Verissimo opened Gil up and had him bleeding profusely throughout. Gil couldn't come out for the third round and Renato had instantly earned himself a debut in the octagon.
Renato made his debut at UFC 46 against former welterweight champion Carlos Newton and from the beginning it was "Charuto" who looked like the veteran. Verissimo worked submissions from his back and struck from the top giving the recovering Newton, who had the flu, all he could handle for three rounds. He easily won the decision by manhandling the former champion. Verissimo returned to UFC 48 for tough contest against Matt Hughes, and though he lost a decision, the message had been sent that "Charuto" was definitely for real.
TRIGG: Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg is an American Freestyle wrestler and a 2nd Degree Black Belt Judo. The four-time USA Wrestling All-American and 2000 Olympic Trials finalist was a Phoenix College wrestler with 53-1 record. Trigg (34-2) trains with Tom Erikson, Vladimir Matyushenko, Ricco Chiaparelli and the rest of the RAW Team.
Frank began fighting in the bull fighting rings and small bars in Texas where they fought Pancrase style matches (open-hand strikes). He fought in Shooto in 1998 in a bout with UFC veteran Marcelo Aguiar. Trigg escaped an armbar by pounding Aguiar on the mat and punished Marcelo in the corner of the ring prompting a referee stoppage.
Trigg fought at the Vale Tudo Japan '98 show against Jean Jaques Machado. They clashed for 20 minutes and in the third round Trigg caught Machado coming in with a lazy shoot. Frank answered it with a knee to the head, opening up Machado and causing a stoppage of the bout. At Pride 8, Trigg worked over the significantly smaller Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter and UFC veteran Fabiano Iha and crumbled him in the corner, scoring a TKO victory. Again in Shooto, Frank battled the event's top competitor at the time: Hayato Sakurai. Trigg dominated the first round, even pounding Sakurai through the ropes. Minutes into the second round, Sakurai connected with a left to the head that sent Trigg to the mat. He got up but Sakurai followed with a knee that sent him back down. A second decisive knee forced the referee to step in to stop the contest.
Frank met Dennis Hallman twice. The controversial WFA 3 welterweight title bout saw Hallman controlling the stand-up game until Trigg threw an apparent groin strike that momentarily crippled Dennis. Hallman was unable to continue and Trigg was crowned WFA champion due to "fighter abandonment." Their UFC rematch last June saw a decisive win for Trigg via strikes in the first round. Frank got a welterweight title shot against Matt Hughes at UFC 45. Trigg got the early takedown and even worked for submissions on a few occasions, but late in the round Hughes seized his back. Frank stood to try and defend but Hughes sunk the choke and Trigg tapped crashing to the floor.
MY PICK: Verissimo. As strange as it sounds, Hughes got lucky in UFC 48. "Charuto" dominated the first two rounds. Trigg is not as good a wrestler as Hughes and Verissimo is a more dominant submission fighter then Hallman. Verissimo by submission in round one.