Carmelo Marrero

nationality= flagicon|USA American
birthdate=birth date and age|year=1981|month=1|day=26
fightingfrom= Douglassville, Pennsylvania
hometown=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
fightstyle=Greco-Roman Wrestling
wins=7
ko=2
submissions=2
losses=2
draws=0
nocontest=|

Carmelo "The Fury" Marrero (born January 26, 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American professional mixed martial artist with a record of 6 wins and 2 losses. Carmelo is currently fighting in the UFC although he started out in smaller fight promotions like Cage Fury Fighting Championships.

Early Life and Amateur Career

Carmelo is of Spanish descent. As a young child, he was diagnosed with cancer, however he eventually battled through and survived the illness. Carmelo began wrestling in high school where he competed for Daniel Boone High School in Berks County, PA. He would go on to place 6th in the state tournament at heavyweight. He then furthered his wrestling career at Rider University after he spent a few years wrestling at the junior college level. Carmelo would go on to become the team captain as well as a two time national tournament qualifier at heavyweight.

Professional

Upon finishing his final wrestling season at Rider University Carmelo still had a drive to compete so he naturally fell into MMA. His first five professional bouts were against meager opponents in small fight promotions along the New Jersey shore. Carmelo would go on to win and dominate all five bouts. Carmelo even overcame a horrific broken jaw in one of his early MMA fights and still go on to win. In only his sixth fight he got a chance to fight in the UFC against a much larger and more experienced opponent in Cheick Kongo who already had two wins inside the octagon. Carmelo would use his superior grappling skills to control Kongo the entire bout and go on to win via a split decision. In his next fight he would go against Gabriel Gonzaga with the winner to get a shot to fight Mirko Cro Cop for the #1 contender spot. Carmelo would lose this fight in the first round via submission. For Carmelo's next bout he dropped down to the light heavyweight division to face Wilson Gouveia at UFC 71. He was defeated at 3:06 into the first round by submission.

Personal Facts

Carmelo or carmy as his friends call him is known for his laid back demeanor and excellent interpersonal skills. Carmy is an amateur linguist as well and is currently studying several different languages including French, German, and the slavic languages of the east. He lists his favorite movie of all time the 1999 box office hit Arrmageddon. His favorite author is none other than R.L. Stine whose claim to fame was penning the goosebumps series of children's novels. Carmelo notes that his defeat at the hands of the Iranian Olympic bronze medalist was his most inspiring performance he had ever put on.

MMA Record

External links

* [http://www.carmelomarrero.com/ Carmelo's Official Website]
*sherdog|id=12855