Name Gabe Ruediger
Nickname Godzilla
Association Team Quest
Weight Class Lightweight (155 lbs.)
Height 5′ 10″ (178 cm.)
Style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Birth Date August 29, 1987
Fighting Out Of Rancho Cucamonga, California
Country USA
Gabe Ruediger Pictures [http://www.gabegodzilla.com/ Ruediger’s Official Site]

”’Gabe “Godzilla” Ruediger”’ is an American mixed martial artist who competes as a lightweight. He is the former WEC Lightweight Champion, defending his title twice before losing it to Hermes Franca. He is also known for his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter 5, where he failed to make weight.

== Professional Record ==

Record 17 – 8 – 0 (Win â€Â“ Loss â€Â“ Draw)
Wins 4 (T)KOs
12 Submissions
1 Decisions
Losses 5 (T)KOs
2 Submissions
1 Decisions
Result Opponent Method Event Title Date Round Time Notes
Loss Scott Catlin TKO (Punches) BAMMA USA: Badbeat 5 3/16/2012 2 0:36
Loss Paul Taylor KO (Head Kick) UFC 126 Silva vs Belfort 2/05/2011 2 1:42
Loss Joe Lauzon Submission (Armbar) UFC 118 Edgar vs Penn 2 8/28/2010 1 2:01 Bout featured live on SpikeTV
Win Lenny Lovato TKO (Punches) TPF 5 Stars and Strikes 6/09/2010 1 3:25 Won first-ever TPF Lightweight Championship
Win Dominique Robinson Submission (Rear Naked Choke) TPF 3 Champions Collide 2/04/2010 2 4:49
Win Wander Braga Submission (Guillotine Choke) Call to Arms: Called Out Fights 8/15/2009 2 0:58
Win Adam Lehman Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Fight Circuit MMA: Victorious 6/07/2009 1 2:19
Win Darren Crisp Submission (Guillotine Choke) PFC 13 Validation 5/08/2009 1 1:03
Win Max Son Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Gladiator Challenge: Warriors 2/04/2009 1 0:24 First fight since neck surgery
Loss Justin Wilcox Decision (Unanimous) JG and TKT Promotions: Fighting 4 Kidz 8/30/2008 3 5:00
Loss Akbarh Arreola Submission (Kimura) MMAX 15: MMA Xtreme 15 11/16/2007 1 2:03
Win George Kassimatis Submission (Guillotine Choke) RT: Ringside Ticket 8/30/2007 1 3:51
Loss Melvin Guillard KO (Punch to the Body) UFC 63 Hughes vs Penn 9/23/2006 2 1:01
Win Savant Young Submission (Armbar) PF 1: The Beginning 5/12/2006 3 1:29
Loss Hermes Franca KO (Punches) WEC 19 Undisputed 3/17/2006 1 0:36 Lost WEC Lightweight Championship
Win Sam Wells Decision (Unanimous) WEC 17 Halloween Fury 4 10/14/2005 3 5:00 Defended WEC Lightweight Championship; Avenged first career loss
Win Bobir Hasanov Submission (Armbar) KOTC Flash Point 9/23/2005 1 0:23
Win Jason Maxwell Submission (Rear Naked Choke) WEC 14 Vengeance 3/17/2005 1 3:28 Defended WEC Lightweight Championship
Win Olaf Alfonso Submission (Rear Naked Choke) WEC 12 Halloween Fury 3 10/21/2004 1 3:05 Won vacant WEC Lightweight Championship
Win Steve Rameriz Submission (Triangle Choke) WEC 11 Evolution 8/20/2004 1 1:24
Win Cory Reeves TKO IFC: Battleground Tahoe 1/31/2004 1 2:40
Win Carlos Cordero TKO (Punches) [[WEC 7 This Time It’s Personal]] 8/09/2003 1 2:57
Win Phat Houng Submission (Rear Naked Choke) PFC: Pit Fighting Championship 7/16/2003 1 1:10
Win Josh Gardner TKO (Punches) GC 14: Gladiator Challenge 14 2/16/2003 1 1:41
Loss Sam Wells KO (Punch) WEC 5 Halloween Fury 10/18/2002 1 4:22

== Mixed Martial Arts Career ==
Gabe Ruediger is a mixed martial arts fighter from Rancho Cucamonga. He started training in Karate when he was seven years old, and eventually moved on to Kung Fu. He was a student at Nevada Union High School and holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Ruediger is a former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) Lightweight Champion. In the WEC, he maintained a 9 fight winning streak before being defeated by Hermes Franca. Ruediger made his UFC debut at UFC 63, losing to The Ultimate Fighter 2 contestant Melvin Guillard via body punch in the second round.

=== The Ultimate Fighter 5 ===
Ruediger was one of three fighters on The Ultimate Fighter 5 who had previously fought inside the UFC‘s octagon; the others being Joe Lauzon and Matt Wiman. Only Lauzon, of the three, had a victory in the UFC.

In episode 5, Team Pulver selected Corey Hill to fight Ruediger. The episode showed Ruediger eating ice cream cake after learning of his upcoming fight, shortly before the weigh-ins. He was then shown struggling to make the weight requirement by getting a colonic, and finally giving up. The next day, Dana White dismissed Ruediger from the competition and he was ordered to leave the house, resulting in a tearful emotional breakdown. Ruediger’s other antics in TUF 5 included getting several enemas to “control his weight”, fighting with team mates, and saying loopy off-the-wall comments intended to inspire the team.

Ruediger states that he saw The Ultimate Fighter show as a “marketing tool” and that audience members should “take what you see on TV with a grain of salt.”

=== Post-TUF ===
In a recent interview Ruediger said that he will be fighting “very soon” in a “large organization”. In an article by Loretta Hunt at The Fight Network, it was revealed that FEG officials had a verbal commitment from Ruediger to fight Katsuhiko Nagata for their June 2nd K-1 Dynamite!! USA supercard in Los Angeles. Many unsubstantiated rumours had appeared on the Internet regarding his failure to obtain a license to fight in California, asserting that his failure to make weight on The Ultimate Fighter was the reason. These have been refuted in an interview with Armando Garcia, the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). According to Garcia, because Ruediger was a late replacement on the K-1 Dynamite card doctors with the CSAC did not have sufficient time to review his medical information, and could not issue him a license in time for the K-1 fight. He has since been cleared for a license, pending payment of the license fee and submission of a photograph.

He then competed on a Palace Fighting Championship card, PFC 13 Validation, against Darren Crisp on May 8, 2009, winning with a Guillotine Choke in the first round.

Ruediger was expected to return to action on February 4, 2010 to face off against Poppies Martinez for the first-ever TPF lightweight title, but when Martinez was forced off the card, Ruediger decided to stay on the card to face off against Dominique Robinson in a lightweight contest for Tachi Palace Fights (TPF), in an event titled TPF 3 Champions Collide. Robinson faced off for the vacant PFC lightweight title in his previous bout, losing to Carlo Prater. Ruediger knocked his opponent down with a Spinning Back Fist, and transitioned to a Rear Naked Choke, ending the fight at 0:58 of the second round.

He returned to compete in Tachi Palace Fights at TPF 5 Stars and Strikes, where he faced off against Lenny Lovato for the promotion’s vacant TPF Lightweight Championship. He won the fight and the title by TKO (Punches) mid-way through the first round.

=== Return to UFC ===
Ruediger made his return to the UFC as a replacement for Terry Etim, where he faced former The Ultimate Fighter 5 cast-mate Joe Lauzon, on August 27, 2010 at UFC 118 Edgar vs Penn 2. The fight was his first fight in the UFC, since losing to Melvin Guillard back in 2006. Lauzon dominated Ruediger from the opening bell. After rocking Ruediger standing, Lauzon took the fight to the mat and continued the abuse. With his opponent kneeling, Lauzon unloaded vicious punches from behind and ultimately settled for a fight-ending Armbar just two minutes into the fight.

: “Well, I fought Joe Lauzon and lost,” Ruediger wrote on his official website, www.gabegodzilla.com. “I didn’t just lose; I lost without even really getting to fight. Joe overwhelmed me, and I never was able to start. Congratulations to him.”

: “I took this fight with two weeks to prepare, and I truly felt that I would be ready.”

Though Ruediger was dominated by Lauzon, Joe Silva, the UFC match-maker, told him that he would have another chance to compete in the UFC.