Cyrille Diabaté

Pride Fighting Championships

Diabaté then faced off against Maurício Rua at Pride Final Conflict Absolute. After 5:29 of the first round, Rua defeated Diabaté via TKO (stomps). This loss led to Diabaté heading for smaller organizations.

His first fight was in England, for the Cage Rage promotion. He defeated Ryan Robinson via armbar and followed this up with a blood-soaked decision victory in a ShoXC card, where he faced Jaime Fletcher.^[4]

Diabaté defeated Marcus Hicks via submission (armbar) after just 89 seconds. This win was his fourth in a row^[5] and was followed up by a win over Rob Smith via submission.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Cyrille appeared frequently as a striking coach for Team Henderson in season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter. It was announced in February 2010 that Diabaté had signed a four fight contract with the UFC.

In his debut at UFC 114 he defeated Luiz Cané via TKO in the first round. Diabaté later expressed disappointment in his own performance, having had to "survive a flash knockout" early in the first round.^[6]

In his second appearance, Diabaté lost to Alexander Gustafsson on October 16, 2010, at UFC 120.^[7] In the fight, he was dominated by the Swede for the entire first round standing, and in the second round he was taken down early and submitted with a rear naked choke. This was his first loss in four years.

For his third UFC fight, Diabaté faced Steve Cantwell on March 3, 2011, at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann.^[8] He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Diabaté fought Anthony Perosh on November 5, 2011, at UFC 138.^[9] He lost the bout against Perosh via submission due to a rear naked choke in the second round.

Diabaté was expected to face Jörgen Kruth on April 14, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 2.^[10] However, Kruth was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Tom DeBlass.^[11] Diabaté won the fight via majority decision.

Diabaté was briefly linked to a bout with Fabio Maldonado on November 17, 2012, at UFC 154.^[12] However, Maldonado was pulled from the bout and faced Glover Teixeira on October 13, 2012, at UFC 153, replacing an injured Quinton Jackson.^[13] Diabaté instead faced Chad Griggs at the event.^[14] Diabate defeated Griggs via first round rear naked choke submission.

Diabaté faced Jimi Manuwa on February 16, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald.^[15] Manuwa was declared the winner (TKO) after Diabaté was unable to continue after tearing a calf muscle near the end of the first round.^[16]

Diabaté faced Ilir Latifi at UFC Fight Night 37.^[17] Before the fight, Diabaté announced he will retire from MMA regardless of the bout's outcome.^[18] He lost the fight via submission in the first round.^[19] After his loss to Latifi, Diabaté made his retirement from combat sports official.^[20]