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Falaniko Vitale
Born	(1974-07-14)July 14, 1974 (age 50) Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Other names	Niko
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Division	Light Heavyweight Middleweight
Fighting out of	Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Team	Grappling Unlimited 808 Fight Team
Years active	1999–2014
Mixed martial arts record
Total	41
Wins	30
By knockout	14
By submission	12
By decision	4
Losses	11
By knockout	5
By submission	3
By decision	3
Other information
Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog

Falaniko "Niko" Vitale is a retired Americanmixed martial artist. He competed in theMiddleweight division and has fought in theUFC,Bellator,Strikeforce, theIFL, andKing of the Cage. He is a former SuperBrawl Middleweight Champion, and also won the X-1 Middleweight Tournament.

Vitale was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and is a native ofWaipahu, Hawaii. He is of mixedSamoan, Chinese, German, and Portuguese descent. He graduated fromWaipahu High School and was a stardefensive back in football, going on to play for theUniversity of Hawaii.^[1]

Vitale made his professional debut in 1999 against future UFC veteranAaron Riley and won viaTKO. Vitale would then go on to win his next three fights, his fourth career bout being hisKing of the Cage debut, before being handed his first professional loss by Japanese fighterYasuhito Namekawa by aguillotine choke submission in theRINGS organization. He compiled a career record of 13–2 with only one fight outside of his Hawaii (hisKing of the Cage debut in California) before making his UFC debut.

Vitale made his UFC debut atUFC 43 againstOlympicwrestlerMatt Lindland in Nevada and won in a spectacular and very unusual slam knockout in which Lindland attempted to slam Vitale but landed on his own head knocking himself out. Vitale then mounted Lindland and the referee stopped the match. Two fights later, the two would have a rematch atUFC 45, which would result in a loss for Vitale after he submitted due to strikes.

In his next fight Vitale bounced back with a win over formerUFC Middleweight ChampionDave Menne via unanimous decision. Two fights later, Vitale defeated future UFC veteranYushin Okami via split decision.

Vitale had a five-fight winning streak before losing three consecutive fights toRobbie Lawler,Jason "Mayhem" Miller, and then lost in the rematch with Lawler.

Vitale bounced back with a win but then lost again in hisIFL debut inOakland, California againstJeremy Horn via split decision.

Three fights after his loss to Horn, Vitale made his Strikeforce debut, winning after his opponent submitted due to strikes. In his next fight under the Strikeforce banner, Vitale lost toTrevor Prangley via referee decision. Three fights later, Vitale returned in a bout againstFrank Trigg which he lost via unanimous decision.

On January 28, 2011, Vitale signed a long-term deal withBellator. He lost his debut fight against formerMiddleweight ChampionHector Lombard in a non-title fight.^[2]

Vitale would return over a year later against Elmer Waterhen at KOTC - Ali'is on July 14, 2012. Vitale won via TKO in the first round.

Vitale faced Jaime Jara at X-1 - Jara vs. Vitale on September 26, 2014. He lost the bout via second-round submission and subsequently retired from mixed martial arts.^[3]

Vitale is married and has four children. He and his family are Christians.^[4]

• Professional MMA record for Falaniko Vitale fromSherdog
• Falaniko Vitale atUFC

• Samoan male mixed martial artists
• American male mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists from Hawaii
• Middleweight mixed martial artists
• Living people
• Martial artists from Honolulu
• 1974 births
• Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters
• American Christians
• 20th-century American sportsmen

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from December 2012
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