Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Lyman began his fighting career in 2005, at the Ring of Combat promotion. In his second fight, against John Zecchino, he fractured his hand in the beginning of the match. [4] [5] Despite that fact, he won the match by TKO in the second round. Lyman continued to fight in the Ring of Combat promotion, as well as in the IFL and other minor promotions.
In the IFL 2007 semi-finals he was matched against TUF 7 participant Mike Dolce in one of the preliminary bouts. Good controlled the fight on the ground in the second round, gained an edge in the stand-up in the third, and won via unanimous decision. [6] [7]
In his last appearance at the Ring of Combat promotion, at ROC XVII, he fought Alexis Aquino. Good dominated the first round with his striking, and while Aquino took control in the second round, Lyman recovered his dominance in the third, winning via unanimous 29-28 decision on the three scoreboards. [8] [9] [10] ROC XVII, including the Good vs. Aquino match, was televised live by HDNet Fights. [11]
In addition to MMA bouts, Good participated in three kickboxing matches in Chuck Norris's World Combat League, winning all three. [12]
Bellator Fighting Championships
Prior to signing a deal with Bellator, [13] Lyman was to sign with EliteXC, before the promotion folded. [14] His first fight with EliteXC was scheduled to be against Paul Daley. Two weeks before his first bout in the Bellator welterweight tournament, he has been featured on ESPN, doing a segment for the ESPN Rise program. [15] As part of the preparation to the tournament, Lyman spent several weeks sleeping in a MMA cage at the Tiger Schulmann headquarters facility in Elmwood Park, NJ, in order to prepare mentally for the fight. [16]
His first fight in tournament fight took place at Bellator II, against Héctor Urbina, Good dominated the first round with his powerful strikes and in the second round Urbina was able to gain mount momentarily, but Good quickly reversed and defeated Urbina using a rear naked choke. [17] In the tournament's semi-finals at Bellator VII, he defeated Jorge Ortiz and advanced to the finals. His opponent in the tournament's finals, Omar De La Cruz, defeated Dave Menne in the same event. [18]
The finals of the Bellator Fighting Championships welterweight tournament took place at Bellator XI. Lyman scored a takedown early in the first round, trapped De La Cruz against the cage, and pounded his way to a TKO victory. [19] After the fight, Lyman was crowned the first Bellator Welterweight Champion. In his first title defense on October 21, 2010 Good fought rising star Ben Askren, Askren was able to take him down and control him despite being hit with a huge upkick and almost being caught in a triangle choke at the last minute of the fight. Good went on to lose a Unanimous Decision losing his Bellator Welterweight Title.
On March 5, 2011, Good debuted in Bellator's fourth season welterweight tournament quarterfinals against prospect Chris Lozano, He won the fight via unanimous decision.
On April 2, 2011, In the Semifinals, Good faced Judo specialist Rick Hawn at Bellator 39, losing a controversial split decision and exiting the tournament.
Good was scheduled to fight Dan Hornbuckle at Bellator 44 in a bout that was to serve as a qualifier to gain entry into the promotion's Season Five Welterweight tournament, but Good suffered a hamstring injury that forced him out of the fight. [20]
On April 13, 2012, Good faced LeVon Maynard in a qualifying bout at Bellator 65 for Season Seven's Welterweight tournament winning via KO in just 13 seconds of round one.
On September 28, 2012, Good faced UK fighter Jim Wallhead at Bellator 74 in a Quarterfinal bout of Season Seven winning via unanimous decision.
On October 26, 2012, Good faced Michail Tsarev at Bellator 78 in the Semifinals winning via TKO due to punches in the second round.
On November 30, 2012, Good faced Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 82 in the Finals of Bellator's Season Seven Welterweight tournament losing via unanimous decision.
On April 4, 2013, Good faced Dante Rivera at Bellator 95, winning via unanimous decision.
Cage Fury Fighting Championships
Good faced Matt Secor at CFFC 36: Secor vs. Good on June 21, 2014. Good defeated Secor via KO in the first round. [22]
Good faced Jonavin Webb at CFFC 43: Webb vs. Good on November 1, 2014. [23] The fight ended in a no contest due to an accidental eye poke.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Good made his promotional debut as a short notice replacement against Andrew Craig on July 15, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 71, filling in for an injured Edgar Garcia. [24] He won the fight by TKO in the second round. [25]
Good was expected to face Omari Akhmedov on December 10, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 80. [26] However, Good was pulled from the bout in late October and was replaced by Sérgio Moraes. [27]
Good was expected to face Belal Muhammad on November 12, 2016 at UFC 205. [28] However, on October 24, Good was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA due to a potential anti-doping violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected ten days earlier. [29] He was replaced by Vicente Luque. [30] Subsequently, USADA released a statement that Good ingested the drug 1-androstenedione as part of a tainted product and Good was given a six-month ban retroactive to the date of his initial suspension in October 2016. [31]
After over two years away from the sport, Good returned to face Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos on July 22, 2017 at UFC on Fox 25. [32] He lost the back-and-forth fight by split decision. [33] The fight earned Good his first Fight of the Night bonus award. [34]
Good was expected to face Sultan Aliev on November 3, 2018 at UFC 230. [35] However, it was reported on October 19, 2018 that Aliev pulled out from the event citing injury and he was replaced by Ben Saunders. [36] He won the fight via knockout in round one. [37]
Good faced Demian Maia on February 2, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 144. [38] He lost the fight via standing rear-naked choke submission in the first round, the first time he had been stopped in his MMA career. [39]
Good faced Chance Rencountre on November 2, 2019 at UFC 244. [40] He won the fight via TKO in the third round. [41]
Good was expected to face Belal Muhammad on April 18, 2020 at UFC 249. [42] However on April 4, Good pulled out due to COVID-19 infection. [43] The bout was rebooked and eventually took place on June 20, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov. [44] He lost the fight via unanimous decision. [45]
