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Jean Rivière (born July 2, 1971) is a Canadian former Kyokushin karateka, kickboxer and mixed martial artist. A heavyweight competitor fighting out of Montreal, Rivière reached the semi-finals at the 5th Kyokushin World Open in 1991 and later embarked on a career in the K-1 kickboxing promotion and the burgeoning MMA scene of the mid-1990s.
| Jean Rivière | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 2, 1971 |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 130.0 kg (286.6 lb; 20.47 st) |
| Division | Heavyweight |
| Style | Kyokushin |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Fighting out of | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Rank | Black belt in Kyokushin Black belt in Judo |
| Years active | 1995–1999, 2007 (MMA) 1996–1998 (Kickboxing) |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 5 |
| Wins | 1 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| Losses | 4 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 4 |
| Wins | 3 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| By submission | 1 |
| Unknown | 1 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Unknown | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
The Montreal-based Jean Rivière came to prominence as a Kyokushin fighter, with the most notable achievement of his karate career coming in November 1991 at the 5th Kyokushin World Open in Tokyo where he finished fourth in a tournament of 250 competitors.[1] He defeated Tatsuya Iwasaki (with an ushiro mawashi geri) in the round of thirty-two, Lars Bjorstrup in the round of sixteen and Johnny Kleyn in the quarter-finals before losing to Akira Masuda in the semi-finals.[2]
Rivière would later transition to mixed martial arts, making his debut in Brazil on December 1, 1995 where he knocked out capoeira stylist Mestre Hulk in nineteen seconds.[3] He then faced a nineteen-year-old Carlos Newton at Battlecade Extreme Fighting's second event in Montreal on April 26, 1996. Rivière had a large size advantage, reportedly outweighing Newton by 34 kg / 75 lb, but Newton dominated much of the fight with headbutts and superior grappling transitions before submitting due to exhaustion just over seven minutes into the fight.[4][5]
Later that year, Rivière joined the ranks of the Japanese kickboxing promotion K-1. In his first outing, he recorded a second round low kick stoppage win over Fred Floyd at K-1 Revenge '96 on September 1, 1996 before losing a five-round unanimous decision to Musashi at K-1 Star Wars '96 the following month. Rivière was invited to compete in the 1997 K-1 World Grand Prix, losing to fellow karateka Masaaki Satake in the tournament's opening round on September 7, 1997. The bout was scored a draw following the regulation three rounds and went into an extension round to decide the winner, after which Satake was ruled the victor by all three judges.
Rivière faced reigning K-1 World Grand Prix champion Ernesto Hoost at K-1 Braves '98 on May 24, 1998, losing by head kick knockout in the first round. In his final appearance in the kickboxing ring, Rivière competed at the K-1 USA Grand Prix '98 in Las Vegas, K-1's first event in the United States,[6] on August 7, 1998. He suffered a second-round knockout loss to Curtis Schuster at the quarter-final stage, bringing his K-1 career to a close on a 1–4 record.[7]
With his stint in K-1 at an end, Rivière returned to MMA on January 9, 1999 with a loss to John Dixson in Montreal. After an eight-year absence from the sport, he defeated Shaun Fukuhara in Hawaii on August 4, 2007.
| 1 win (1 KO), 4 losses, 0 draws | ||||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-08-07 | Loss |  Curtis Schuster | K-1 USA Grand Prix '98, Quarter-finals | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA | KO (punch) | 2 | 2:52 | 1–4 |
| 1998-05-24 | Loss |  Ernesto Hoost | K-1 Braves '98 | Fukuoka, Japan | KO (right high kick) | 1 | 2:17 | 1–3 |
| 1997-09-07 | Loss |  Masaaki Satake | K-1 Grand Prix '97 1st round | Osaka, Japan | Extension round decision (unanimous) | 4 | 3:00 | 1–2 |
| 1996-10-18 | Loss | Musashi | K-1 Star Wars '96 | Yokohama, Japan | Decision (unanimous) | 5 | 3:00 | 1–1 |
| 1996-09-01 | Win | Fred Floyd | K-1 Revenge '96 | Osaka, Japan | KO (left low kick) | 2 | 1:29 | 1–0 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes | ||||||||
| 4 matches | 3 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 1 | 0 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| Unknown | 1 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 3-1 | Shaun Fukuhara |
N/A | Island Warriors Fighting Championships | August 4, 2007 | N/A | N/A | Wailuku, Hawaii, United States | |
| Loss | 2-1 | John Dixson |
N/A | IFC: Extreme Combat | January 9, 1999 | 1 | 5:13 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
| Win | 2-0 |  Carlos Newton |
Submission (exhaustion) | Extreme Fighting 2 | April 26, 1996 | 1 | 7:22 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
| Win | 1-0 |  Mestre Hulk |
KO (punch) | Brazil Open '95 | December 1, 1995 | 1 | 0:19 | Brazil |
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