Gianpiero Villante (born August 18, 1985) is a retired American[6] mixed martial artist who previously fought in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Villante attended MacArthur High School (Levittown, New York) and was part of the Class of 2003.
Villante also earned all-American honors following a 5th-place finish in the 215 lbs weight class at the 2003 NHSCA senior national wrestling tournament.
[7] Villante was equally accomplished in football, in which he received the 2002 Thorpe Award winner as the top football player in Nassau County, also the Bill Piner Award as the top linebacker in Nassau County and was named to the High School Heisman All-Star team.
[5] Villante attended Hofstra University from 2003 to 2007 where he continued his highly successful football and wrestling careers.
[9][10] Villante wrestled for Hofstra where he became close with NCAA All-American wrestler and future UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman.
He defeated MMA veteran Randy Durant by quickly drawing a TKO due to a nasty cut.
He got his shot and after defeating Strikeforce veteran Mike Cook for the vacant Ring of Combat Heavyweight title, Villante was touted as a legit MMA prospect.
Villante made his Light Heavyweight debut at Ring of Combat XXIX with aspirations on becoming a champion in two weight classes.
After an extended recovery from his wrist injury, Villante had a highlight reel KO win over Joseph Reyes.
Villante was quickly thrown into a Heavyweight Grand Prix Reserve bout on short notice.
His opponent would be Chad Griggs in one of three heavyweight grand prix reserve bouts at Strikeforce: Fedor vs.
In his next bout, Villante would take on undefeated prospect Lorenz Larkin on June 24, 2011, at Strikeforce Challengers: Fodor vs. Terry.
In his next fight, Villante took on Keith Berry in the Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Duarte preliminary card.
Despite the crowd's jeers, and multiple stand ups, Gian continually took down Berry and went on to win the fight unanimously on the judges scorecards.
Villante's next fight was against Trevor Smith on the preliminary card of Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine on January 7, 2012.
Villante held onto the leg and began landing numerous unanswered right hands, prompting referee Kim Winslow to stop the fight at 1:05 of the first round.
Gian was scheduled to fight undefeated Guto Inocente on the Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy main card.
As a result of the injury, the fight went to the judges' scorecards and St. Preux won a majority technical decision (30–28, 30–29, and 29–29).
[16] Villante took a short notice bout, replacing Robert Drysdale against Cody Donovan on November 16, 2014, at UFC 167.
[33] Villante was briefly linked to a bout with Marcos Rogério de Lima on November 12, 2016, at UFC 205.
[35] In turn, Villante is expected to face Patrick Cummins the following month on December 9, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 102.