How do you topped the much-loathed exploits of David Lang to become to the most loathed fraud in the history of BJJ and MMA? You throw a fight. And then you murder someone.
Rafiel Torre, a fighter-turned reporter, was a fairly beloved figure in the formative years of MMA and, at first, no one disputed his claims that he was a BJJ expert from Brazil. Things started to fall apart when he decided to “come out of retirement” for a fight at King of the Cage 7 on February 24, 2001. He won the fight with a poorly-executed kneebar and county fair pro-wrestling-level theatrics which immediately made his friends and supporters suspect that fight was a work. As it turns out, his background and accomplishments in the sport were as fictional as his fight. In a tragic bit of irony, the only legitimate combat move he ever executed was the rear naked choke that he used to murder his lover’s husband, Bryan Richards in December of 2001. Torre was convicted of first-degree murder in 2011 and is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole.