Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. The first documented use of the term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993.
Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and other combat sports. A member of the UFC Hall of Fame, Shamrock is widely regarded as an icon and pioneer of the sport. He has headlined over 15 main events and co-main events in the UFC and Pride FC and set numerous MMA pay-per-view records. In the early part of his UFC career, Shamrock was named "The World's Most Dangerous Man" by ABC News in a special called "The World's Most Dangerous Things". The moniker has stuck as his nickname.
Mark Daniel Coleman is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first UFC Heavyweight Champion, and the Pride Fighting Championships 2000 Open Weight Grand Prix champion. At UFC 82 Coleman was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Real Pro Wrestling was a professional sports league of wrestling, similar to the amateur wrestling found in the Olympic Games and at the college and high school level. The term "real" was meant to emphasize that it was professional and it was wrestling, but that it was not professional wrestling in the traditional sense; modern professional wrestling features predetermined outcomes and operates under a very different set of rules from amateur wrestling.
Daniel DeWayne Severn, nicknamed "The Beast", is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. A UFC Hall of Fame member, Severn is considered one of the leading pioneers of mixed martial arts and the first true world-class wrestler to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is best known for his success in the early years of the UFC where he became the first UFC Triple Crown champion in history by winning the UFC 5 tournament, Ultimate Ultimate 1995, and UFC Superfight Championship. Severn has also competed in King of the Cage, PRIDE FC, Cage Rage, WEC, RINGS and MFC, and holds a professional MMA Record of 101–19–7.
Kimo Leopoldo, or simply Kimo, is an American retired mixed martial artist and actor. He made his MMA debut at UFC 3 in 1994 losing to Royce Gracie by submission. A professional from 1994 until 2011, he also competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, and the World Fighting Alliance.
Richard Jay Franklin II is an American businessman and retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame and a former UFC Middleweight Champion. Franklin has been the Vice President of Singaporean combat sports promotion ONE Championship since May 2014. Rich attended William Henry Harrison High School in the city of Harrison, Ohio and was a mathematics teacher at Oak Hills High School in Bridgetown, Ohio before turning professional in MMA.
Kevin Christopher Randleman was an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Randleman's background was in collegiate wrestling, in which he became a two-time NCAA Division I and a three-time Big Ten wrestling champion out of Ohio State University. Randleman competed in the heavyweight and light heavyweight classes in MMA. In addition to competing in the UFC, Randleman also fought for other organizations such as PRIDE, WVR, and Strikeforce. He was previously associated with Mark Coleman's Team Hammer House, before training at Randy Couture's gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. On May 16, 2020, the UFC announced that Randleman would be inducted into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. Randleman is the first fighter to be posthumously inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Daniel Jeffery Henderson is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight and Middleweight champion of Pride Fighting Championships. Henderson was the Brazil Open '97 Tournament Champion, the UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Champion, the Rings: King of Kings 1999 Tournament Champion and the Pride Welterweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion. Henderson also challenged for the UFC Middleweight Championship (2x), the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Henderson was the first mixed martial artist to hold two titles in two different weight classes concurrently in a major MMA promotion. At the time of his retirement after UFC 204, he was the oldest fighter on the UFC roster.
Aaron Dewain "Pete" Spratt is a former American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, Spratt has formerly competed for the UFC, the MFC, Legacy FC, Strikeforce, HDNet Fights, and Shark Fights.
Travis Lutter is a retired American mixed martial artist who won The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show. He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Machado.
Team Hammer House is a mixed martial arts team operating out of Columbus, Ohio, made up of mostly former NCAA wrestlers. While Hammer House focuses on amateur wrestling they do have cross training deals with notable fighters and camps such as Matt Serra, Pat Miletich and Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts. Founded by former UFC champion Mark Coleman, Team Hammer House has attracted such mixed martial arts fighters as Kevin Randleman and Phil Baroni.
Travis Jon Fulton was an American mixed martial artist and a professional boxer in the heavyweight division of both sports. Known as a longtime veteran in mixed martial arts, he competed in over 300 sanctioned bouts and while he was perhaps best known for competing in smaller US-based promotions, he also competed in the UFC, the USWF, the WEC, Pancrase, M-1 Global, the Chicago Red Bears of the IFL, King of the Cage, RINGS, and Oktagon MMA. He also holds the record for the most sanctioned mixed martial arts bouts, with 320 bouts; in addition to that, he also holds the most wins in mixed martial arts history (255).
UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 17, 2009 at The O2, Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.
Khalil "Tiki" Ghosn is a retired Lebanese-American mixed martial artist, competing from 1998 to 2009 in the Welterweight division.
Daniel Emerson Bobish is a retired American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He was competing in the Super Heavyweight division. He is a former King of the Cage Super Heavyweight Champion. Bobish has fought in many MMA organizations including PRIDE Fighting Championships, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage. His fights typically did not go past the first round with the average length of his fights being 2:43.
Daniel Brian Spohn is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, and was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn.
Clifford Bernard Starks is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division for the World Series of Fighting. A professional competitor since 2009, he has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, and Shark Fights.
Andrew Brandon Craig is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2010, he has also competed for Bellator.
Kūdō is a Japanese hybrid martial art. It is a full-contact combat sport that aims to achieve both safety and practicality, a style of mixed martial arts practised with headgear and gloves. It features stand-up striking, with throwing and grappling techniques being also allowed in the competition, including restraint, locks and chokeholds.
