This page lists notable students, alumni, and faculty members of Central Washington University.
Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts is an American mixed martial arts training organization headed by former UFC Champion and former co-founder of Team Quest, Randy Couture. Xtreme Couture was founded with the flagship gym in Las Vegas. Since then, the franchise has spread to other cities in the United States and Canada. Xtreme Couture Las Vegas is one of the largest gyms and most recognized brands and MMA gyms in the world, where many past and current top MMA fighters train.
Miesha Tate is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Tate formerly competed for Strikeforce, in which she is a former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. She was also the vice president of ONE Championship. As of January 23, 2024, she is #8 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.
Bryan Caraway is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in Battlefield Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Caraway has fought in the UFC, Strikeforce, EliteXC, and the WEC. He was a competitor on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller.
Amanda Nunes is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist. She competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion and two-time UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. She was ranked #1 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings at the time of her retirement.
Liz Carmouche is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently signed to Bellator MMA, where she is the current Bellator Women's Flyweight World Champion. Carmouche competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Women's Flyweight and Women's Bantamweight divisions. At the time of her UFC departure, she was #4 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings.
Cat Zingano is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on April 13, 2013, she became the first woman to win a UFC fight by technical knockout (TKO). At the time of her departure from the UFC, she was No. 7 in the official UFC bantamweight rankings. As of October 10, 2023, she is #4 in the Bellator Women's pound-for-pound Rankings and #2 in the Bellator Women's Featherweight Rankings.
Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey was a series of mixed martial arts bouts booked by Strikeforce and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In 2011, the fighters began a rivalry via social media and a series of interviews, with Rousey expressing an interest in fighting Tate for Tate's Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship. As the feud garnered increased attention from fans and the press, Tate and Rousey were ultimately chosen to headline a Strikeforce show on March 3, 2012. This marked a rare occurrence of women being placed in the main event of a mixed martial arts (MMA) card.
UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 was a mixed martial arts event held on December 28, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate is the eighteenth U.S.-based installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter.
Raquel Pennington is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the women's bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she is the current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. As of January 23, 2024, she is #7 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.
UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz was a mixed martial arts event held on March 5, 2016 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ketlen Vieira is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of January 23, 2024, she is #3 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings and #13 in the UFC women's pound-for-pound rankings.
Julia Avila is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Previously she has competed in Invicta FC, HD MMA, XKO MMA, Total Warrior Combat and King of the Cage (KOTC). As of January 23, 2024, she is #12 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.
UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs. Tate was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 20, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC Fight Night: Ladd vs. Dumont was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 16, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 14, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 2, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States.
UFC on ABC: Ortega vs. Rodríguez was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 16, 2022, at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York in the United States.
Eric Nicksick is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) coach and former college football player who is currently the general manager and head coach at Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts. Three MMA fighters have become UFC champions under his guidance: Francis Ngannou, Aljamain Sterling and Sean Strickland. He was also part of the team that helped Miesha Tate become the UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion.