Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz is an American mixed martial artist and politician. He is currently signed to the Combate Americas promotion. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000, to September 26, 2003. Later competing for Bellator MMA. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars. Ortiz ultimately became the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock.
Randall Duane Couture is an American actor, former U.S. Army sergeant, former mixed martial artist and former collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he became a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light heavyweight Champion, an interim UFC Light heavyweight Champion, making him a six-time UFC Champion and the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament winner. He is the first of seven fighters to hold two UFC championship titles in two different divisions.
Frank Shamrock is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship and retired a four-time defending undefeated champion. Shamrock was the No. 1 ranked pound for pound UFC fighter in the world during his reign as the UFC Middleweight Champion. Shamrock has won numerous titles in other martial arts organizations, including the interim King of Pancrase title, the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. Shamrock is regarded as one of the first complete mixed martial artists, having adapted his game from a ground-focused style of fighting to a more well-rounded and versatile style.
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen seasons on Spike TV. The show features professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as they train and compete against each other for a prized six-figure contract with the UFC. The series debuted on January 17, 2005, with its first episode, "The Quest Begins". To date, there have been thirty seasons of the show, two per calendar year. Each season features either one or two weight classes in the tournament.
Forrest Griffin is an American retired mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013 and currently serves as the Vice President of Athlete Development at the UFC Performance Institute. Griffin, a former Georgia police officer, first rose to prominence after winning the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. In the tournament finals, he defeated Stephan Bonnar, which is widely credited as sparking the success of the UFC.
Yuki Kondo is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. He has officially 111 professional fights, making him one of the most experienced mixed martial artists ever. He has also competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Sengoku, Palace Fighting Championships, BodogFIGHT, and DEEP. He has competed overseas only four times, and holds a record of 2–2. He is the former Pancrase Light Heavyweight Champion as well as the former Pancrase Middleweight Champion.
Stephan Patrick Bonnar was an American mixed martial artist. Bonnar competed as a Light Heavyweight in the UFC for most of his career. Bonnar was the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 1, his TUF Ultimate Finale loss to Forrest Griffin is widely considered to be the most important fight in the history of the UFC.
Joseph Christopher Stevenson is a retired American mixed martial artist fighting out of Hesperia, California. Coached by Matt Hughes, Stevenson rose to prominence by becoming The Ultimate Fighter 2 Welterweight Tournament Winner. Following a drop in weight class and two-year undefeated streak, he was ranked among the top UFC Lightweight competitors, culminating into a title shot for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship against B.J. Penn at UFC 80: Rapid Fire. Stevenson fought most of his career as a Lightweight and made his Featherweight debut at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry. He is the former King of the Cage Lightweight Champion.
Guy Mezger is an American martial artist, who competed in professional combat sports including full contact karate, kickboxing, and boxing, but is most recognized as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. Mezger retired from professional competition on January 25, 2005. He is associated with Lion's Den and runs their school in Dallas. Mezger was a champion in mixed martial arts in two different promotions, the UFC and Pancrase. He holds wins over Tito Ortiz, Masakatsu Funaki, Yuki Kondo, Semmy Schilt, and Minoru Suzuki.
Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar is a duo of fights starting in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 1 contest which received national acclaim, and was highly regarded among fans as one of the most exciting, greatest and memorable fights in the history of not only the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) but of mixed martial arts (MMA) in general. The bout was voted fight of the year by a poll of over 19,000 readers of the website MMAWeekly.com, and was recognized as the 2005 Shoot Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The fight was credited by Dana White as the "most important fight in UFC history". The fight was also voted the greatest fight in UFC history in 2009.
The debut season of The Ultimate Fighter premiered on January 17, 2005. Sixteen mixed martial arts fighters were invited to participate in the show where they resided together and trained in two separate teams coached by UFC light heavyweight fighters Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. The teams competed in physical challenges, segments hosted by singer Willa Ford, to determine which had the right to pair one of their fighters against an opponent of their choice in the same weight class, with the loser being eliminated.
The Lion's Den is an American mixed martial arts team and training facility that was based out of Lodi, California and San Diego, California. The team was founded in the early 1990s by UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock, and was the most dominant fight camp in the early UFC. It featured fighters such as Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Vernon "Tiger" White, Jerry Bohlander, Tra Telligman, Pete Williams, and Mikey Burnett.
Gabriel Gonzaga Santos Nogueira is a Brazilian former professional mixed martial artist, submission grappler and 5th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt.
UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 31, 2009. The card featured five televised MMA bouts, as well as five un-aired preliminary bouts. It was the second UFC event of 2009 and took place on the weekend of Super Bowl XLIII.
David John Herman is a retired American mixed martial artist, who competed in the Heavyweight division of Titan FC, UFC, Bellator, EliteXC, World Victory Road, ShoXC, and Shark Fights. His nickname "Pee-Wee" is a reference of the character Pee-Wee Herman, created and portrayed by American comedian Paul Reubens.
Randy "The Natural" Couture vs. Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is a mixed martial arts trilogy. All three fights took place under Ultimate Fighting Championship in the United States. All three fights have ended in knockout and have been for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. At the first meeting at UFC 43, Couture won by technical knockout at 2:40 in the third round. By this victory he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. The second time, after The Ultimate Fighter 1, at UFC 52, Liddell won by knockout at 2:06 in the very first round. At the third and final match-up Liddell once again won, making it 2–1 for himself, by KO at 1:28 in the second round.
Michael Earl Russow is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division. Having made his professional debut in 1998, Russow has formerly competed for the UFC, Adrenaline MMA, PRIDE FC, and also participated in the Yarennoka! event in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. He is perhaps best known for his upset victory over Todd Duffee.
Phil Kwabina Davis is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes as a Light Heavyweight for Bellator MMA, where he is the former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Davis competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he achieved success as a top 5 Light Heavyweight contender and held a UFC record of 9–3 (1). He is currently ranked as the #5 Light Heavyweight fighter in the world by ranking site Fight Matrix. Davis first gained athletic notoriety in college as a wrestler for Penn State University, where he became an NCAA Division I champion in 2008. As of October 19, 2021, #2 in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Rankings.
Karel "Karlos" Vémola is a Czech-British professional mixed martial artist, former bodybuilder, wrestler and member of Sokol. A professional competitor since 2008, he became historically the first UFC fighter from the Czech Republic, and has also competed for UCMMA.
Shawn Martin Jordan is an American professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Professional Fighters League's Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, Jordan has also formerly competed for Strikeforce, Bellator MMA and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
