Murilo Bustamante (Portuguese pronunciation: [muˈɾilu bustɐˈmɐ̃tʃi]; born 30 July 1966) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion.

Bustamante was born in coastal Rio de Janeiro and originally had dreams of professional surfing, but began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu soon after having his first fight when he was 10 years old.

Kano Jigoro → Tomita Tsunejiro → Mitsuyo "Count Koma" Maeda → Carlos Gracie, Sr. → Carlson Gracie → Murilo Bustamante[1] Murilo's grappling accomplishments include Championships at the World Class level, as well as appearances at the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships.

He then moved up to light heavyweight to face future champion Chuck Liddell at UFC 33 on 28 September 2001.

[1] After the controversial loss, Bustamante decided to move back to middleweight division, receiving an immediate title shot against reigning champion Dave Menne at UFC 35 on 11 January 2002.

After two impressive victories via an armbar and a TKO, defeating Ikuhisa Minowa and Masanori Suda respectively, Bustamante entered the finals against Dan Henderson.

[2] Bustamante was scheduled to face Yuya Shirai at Clube da Luta on 20 July 2011 but had to pull out of the fight due to an unspecified injury.