Portal:Martial arts/Selected biography

Selected biographies list

Selected biography 1

Portal:Martial arts/Selected biography/1

Miesha Theresa Tate (/ˈmiːʃə/ MEE-shə; born August 18, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of 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 August 13, 2024, she is #11 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings. (Full article...)

Selected biography 2

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Susianna Levonovna Kentikian (Armenian: Սյուզի Կենտիկյան; born Syuzanna Kentikyan on 11 September 1987) is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2016. She was born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, but left the country with her family at the age of five because of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Kentikian has lived in Hamburg since 1996 and began boxing at the age of twelve.

Kentikian is a two-time flyweight world champion, having held the unified World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) female titles between 2007 and 2012, and the WBA female title again from 2013 to 2017. Additionally, she held the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) title twice between 2007 and 2017. During the 2009 WBA convention in Colombia she was named the first ever female Super champion. It was announced that this belt would be called "Susi Kentikian belt" for all other future Super champions. (Full article...)

Selected biography 3

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Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded as the greatest boxer of all time, pound-for-pound.

Robinson was a dominant amateur, but his exact amateur record is not known. It is usually listed as 85–0 with 69 knockouts, 40 in the first round. However it has been reported he lost to Billy Graham and Patsy Pesca as a teenager under his given name, Walker Smith Jr. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 129–1–2 with 85 knockouts. From 1943 to 1951 Robinson went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak, the sixth-longest in professional boxing history behind Pedro Carrasco with 93, Jimmy Wilde with 95, Buck Smith with 102, Packey McFarland with 104, and Young Griffo with 107. Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year. He retired in 1952, only to come back two-and-a-half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955. (Full article...)

Selected biography 4

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Zhou Tong (Chinese: 周同 and 周侗; pinyin: Zhōu Tóng) (died late 1121 CE) was the archery teacher and second military arts tutor of famous Song dynasty general Yue Fei. Originally a local hero from Henan, he was hired to continue Yue Fei's military training in archery after the boy had rapidly mastered spearplay under his first teacher. In addition to the future general, Zhou accepted other children as archery pupils. During his tutelage, Zhou taught the children all of his skills and even rewarded Yue with his two favorite bows because he was his best pupil. After Zhou's death, Yue would regularly visit his tomb twice a month and perform unorthodox sacrifices that far surpassed that done for even beloved tutors. Yue later taught what he had learned from Zhou to his soldiers and they were successful in battle.

With the publishing of Yue Fei's 17th folklore biography, The Story of Yue Fei (1684), a new, fictional Zhou Tong emerged, who differed greatly from his historical persona. Not only was he now from Shaanxi, but he was Yue's adopted father, a learned scholar with knowledge of the eighteen weapons of war, and his personal name was spelled with a different, yet related, Chinese character. The novel's author portrayed him as an elderly widower and military arts tutor who counted Lin Chong and Lu Junyi, two of the fictional 108 outlaws on which the Water Margin is based, among his former pupils. A later republican era folktale by noted Yangzhou storyteller Wang Shaotang not only adds Wu Song to this list, but represents Zhou as a knight-errant with supreme swordsmanship. The tale also gives him the nickname "Iron Arm", which he shares with the executioner-turned-outlaw Cai Fu, and makes the outlaw Lu Zhishen his sworn brother. Because of his association with the outlaws, he is often confused with the similarly named outlaw Zhou Tong. (Full article...)

Selected biography 5

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Kanō Jigorō (嘉納 治五郎, 10 December 1860 – 4 May 1938) was a Japanese judoka, educator, politician, and the founder of judo. Judo was one of the first Japanese martial arts to gain widespread international recognition, and the first to become an official Olympic sport. Pedagogical innovations attributed to Kanō include the use of black and white belts, and the introduction of dan ranking to show the relative ranking among members of a martial art style. Well-known mottoes attributed to Kanō include "maximum efficiency minimal effort" (精力善用, seiryoku zen'yō) and "mutual welfare and benefit" (自他共栄, jita kyōei).

In his professional life, Kanō was an educator. Important postings included serving as director of primary education for the Ministry of Education (文部省, Monbushō) from 1898 to 1901, and as president of Tokyo Higher Normal School from 1900 until 1920. He was the educational founder of Nada High School in Kobe, Japan. He played a key role in making judo and kendo part of the Japanese public school programs of the 1910s. (Full article...)

Selected biography 6

Portal:Martial arts/Selected biography/6

Mitsuyo Maeda (前田 光世, Maeda Mitsuyo, born November 18, 1878  – November 28, 1941) naturalized as Otávio Maeda (Portuguese pronunciation: [oˈtavju maˈedɐ]), was a Japanese-born Brazilian judōka and prizefighter in no holds barred competitions. He was known as Count Combat or Conde Koma in Spanish and Portuguese, a nickname he picked up in Spain in 1908. Along with Antônio Soshihiro Satake, he pioneered judo in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

Maeda was fundamental to the development of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, including through his teaching of Carlos Gracie and others of the Gracie family. He was also a promoter of Japanese emigration to Brazil. His accomplishments led to him being called the "toughest man who ever lived" and being referred to as the father of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. (Full article...)

Selected biography 7

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Asashōryū Akinori (Japanese: 朝青龍 明徳, born 27 September 1980, as Dolgorsürengiin Dagvadorj, Mongolian Cyrillic: Долгорсүрэнгийн Дагвадорж; [tɔɮgɔrsʊːrengiːn tagw̜atɔrt͡ʃ]) is a Mongolian former professional sumo wrestler (rikishi). He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan, and in January 2003 he became the first Mongolian to reach sumo's highest rank. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever. In 2005, he became the first wrestler to win all six official tournaments (honbasho) in a single year. Over his entire career, he won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list.

From 2004 until 2007, Asashōryū was sumo's sole yokozuna between the retirement of Musashimaru and the promotion of fellow Mongolian Hakuhō, and was criticized at times by the media and the Japan Sumo Association for not upholding the standards of behaviour expected of a holder of such a prestigious rank. He became the first yokozuna in history to be suspended from competition in August 2007 when he participated in a charity football match in his home country despite having withdrawn from a regional sumo tour claiming injury. After a career filled with a multitude of other controversies, both on and off the dohyō, his career was cut short when he retired from sumo in February 2010 after allegations that he assaulted a man outside a Tokyo nightclub. (Full article...)

Selected biography 8

Portal:Martial arts/Selected biography/8

Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former mixed martial artist. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, his 434-day WWE Championship reign stands recognized as the seventh longest in history.

Brooks began his professional wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1997 and he signed with Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2002, where he won the ROH World Championship once and was inducted into the ROH Hall of Fame in 2022. Brooks signed with WWE in 2005 and won the WWE Championship twice, the World Heavyweight Championship three times, the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once, the WWE Intercontinental Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship once. He also won both the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches, making him its only back-to-back winner. He was named Superstar of the Year at the 2011 Slammy Awards and was voted PWI Wrestler of the Year in 2011 and 2012. After becoming disillusioned with WWE, he acrimoniously departed the promotion in 2014 and largely retired from wrestling. From 2019 to 2020, he appeared as a pundit on WWE Backstage. He returned to competing in 2021 when he signed with AEW, where he won the AEW World Championship twice, but was fired in 2023 after multiple backstage controversies. He returned to WWE two months later.

Brooks has used the CM Punk moniker for his entire career. His character has been consistently portrayed as outspoken, confrontational, sharp-tongued, anti-establishment, straight edge, and iconoclastic, most of which are inspired by his real-life self. Depending on his alignment as a hero or villain, he has emphasized different aspects to garner heat and discourse.

Outside of wrestling, Brooks pursued a career in mixed martial arts and joined the welterweight division of the UFC, losing via submission to Mickey Gall in his professional debut at UFC 203 in 2016. He lost his second fight to Mike Jackson via unanimous decision at UFC 225 in 2018, which was later overturned to a no-contest, before he was released. He appears as a part-time color commentator for Cage Fury Fighting Championships and has starred in the horror films Girl on the Third Floor (2019), Rabid (2019), and Jakob's Wife (2021), as well as having a recurring role in the wrestling drama series Heels (2021–2023). (Full article...)

Selected biography 9

Portal:Martial arts/Selected biography/9

Michael Gomez (born Michael Armstrong; 21 June 1977) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and later Manchester, England, with his family at the age of nine. In boxing he was affectionately known as "The Predator", "The Irish Mexican" and "The Mancunian Mexican".

Despite finishing his career fighting in the lightweight division, Gomez is more notable for his fights at featherweight and super-featherweight. During his career he amassed a number of regional championships, most significantly the British super-featherweight title twice, from 1999 to 2004. He also held the WBU super featherweight title from 2004 to 2005.

Gomez, who has been compared to Johnny Tapia, has lived a turbulent life and was often involved in controversial fights. In Gomez's initial matches he suffered a number of losses to journeyman opposition but then went on a run of victories which stretched for almost four years. Of his 17 fights between February 2001 and March 2008, 16 ended in knockouts. Concerns arose about his drinking and failure to adhere to his diet and training regimes after a loss to László Bognár in 2001. Gomez appeared to be "back on track" in 2003, with his high-profile fight against Edinburgh-based fighter Alex Arthur for the British and WBA Inter-Continental super-featherweight titles, which Gomez won by knocking out Arthur in the fifth round.

In 2006, Gomez suffered a controversial loss to Peter McDonagh when, in the middle of a round, he dropped his guard and walked out of the ring, later saying he had retired from boxing. He returned to the ring after a 15-month interval. On 21 June 2008, Gomez lost what was seen as possibly his last bout: a last chance saloon opportunity to resurrect his career against rising star and Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan. Although scoring a surprise knockdown against Khan early on, the fight ended with Gomez being stopped in five rounds.

Gomez took the surname Gomez after his childhood hero Wilfredo Gómez. (Full article...)

Selected biography 10

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Ernest R. Emerson (born March 7, 1955) is an American custom knifemaker, martial artist, and edged-weapons expert. Originally an engineer and machinist in the aerospace industry, Emerson became a knifemaker by producing knives for a martial arts class and making art knives early in his knifemaking career. In the 1980s he became better known for his combat knives and popularizing a style of knife known as the Tactical-folder.

In order to secure military contracts, Emerson eventually founded Emerson Knives, Inc a production company to mass-produce his designs in 1996. Emerson's knives have been displayed as museum pieces, designed for use by Navy SEALs and used by NASA in outer space.

Emerson's knives have been featured in films and novels, due to their association with military units. This has furthered their popularity with collectors.

Emerson is an accomplished martial artist who has developed a combatives system, Emerson Combat Systems, which has been taught to police officers, military units, and civilians. (Full article...)

Selected biography 11

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Sakakibara Kenkichi (Japanese: 榊原鍵吉, December 19, 1830 – September 11, 1894) was a Japanese samurai and martial artist. He was the fourteenth headmaster of the Jikishinkage school of sword fighting. Through his Jikishinkage contacts he rose to a position of some political influence; he taught swordsmanship at a government military academy and also served in the personal guard of Japan's last two shōguns.

After the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate Sakakibara was instrumental in preserving traditional Japanese sword techniques in the early Meiji Era. Despite his eventual opposition to the practice of sword fighting for sport, his work during this period laid the foundations for the modern sport of kendo. In his later years he taught a number of noted martial artists, and was honoured by the All Japan Kendo Federation after his death. (Full article...)

Selected biography 12

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Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner (/ˈriːnər/, French: [tedi pjɛʁ maʁi ʁinœʁ]; born 7 April 1989) is a French heavyweight judoka. An eleven-time world champion in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division, two-time openweight world champion and one-time world champion with the French men's team, he is the first and only judoka in history to win twelve gold medals at the World Judo Championships. He is also the only judoka to be a five-time Olympic champion; having won the gold medal in the Men's +100 kg event at the Summer Olympics three times (2012, 2016 and 2024) and, as a member of the French team, in the mixed team event twice (2020 and 2024). Additionally, he is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (2008 and 2020), a five-time European champion, a four-time World Masters gold medalist and eleven-time Grand Slam winner in his weight category.

Riner went undefeated between October 2010 and February 2020 before his winning streak was finally ended by Japanese judoka Kokoro Kageura in the third round of the 2020 Grand Slam Paris, marking Riner's first defeat in nearly a decade after 152 consecutive victories. (Full article...)

Selected biography 13

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Yamashita Yoshitsugu (山下 義韶, February 16, 1865 – October 26, 1935), also known as Yamashita Yoshiaki, was a Japanese judoka. He was the first person to have been awarded 10th degree red belt (jūdan) rank in Kodokan judo, although posthumously. He was also one of the Four Guardians of the Kodokan, and a pioneer of judo in the United States. (Full article...)

Selected biography 14

Portal:Martial arts/Selected biography/14

Takanohana Kōji (Japanese: 貴乃花 光司, Hepburn: Takanohana Kōji, born August 12, 1972, as Kōji Hanada (花田 光司, Hanada Kōji)) is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler and coach. He was the 65th man in history to reach sumo's highest rank of yokozuna, and he won 22 tournament championships between 1992 and 2001, the sixth highest total ever. The son of a popular ōzeki ranked wrestler from the 1970s, Takanohana's rise through the ranks alongside his elder brother Wakanohana and his rivalry with the foreign born yokozuna Akebono saw interest in sumo and attendance at tournaments soar during the early 1990s.

Takanohana was the youngest ever to reach the top division at just 17, and he set a number of other age-related records. He had a solid but aggressive style, looking to get a right hand grip on his opponents' mawashi and move them quickly out of the ring. He won over half his bouts by a straightforward yorikiri, or force out. In his later career he suffered increasingly from injuries, and he retired in January 2003 at the age of 30. He became the head coach of Takanohana stable in 2004 and was on the board of directors of the Japan Sumo Association from 2010 until January 2018, when he was removed and demoted in the Sumo Association's hierarchy. He resigned from the Sumo Association in September 2018. (Full article...)

Selected biography 15

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Morihei Ueshiba (植芝 盛平, Ueshiba Morihei, December 14, 1883 – April 26, 1969) was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" Kaiso (開祖) or Ōsensei (大先生/翁先生), "Great Teacher".

The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba studied a number of martial arts in his youth, and served in the Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War. After being discharged in 1907, he moved to Hokkaidō as the head of a pioneer settlement; here he met and studied with Takeda Sōkaku, the headmaster of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu. On leaving Hokkaido in 1919, Ueshiba joined the Ōmoto-kyō movement, a Shinto sect, in Ayabe, where he served as a martial arts instructor and opened his first dojo. He accompanied the head of the Ōmoto-kyō group, Onisaburo Deguchi, on an expedition to Mongolia in 1924, where they were captured by Chinese troops and returned to Japan. The following year, he had a profound spiritual experience, stating that, "a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one." After this experience, his martial arts technique became gentler, with a greater emphasis on the control of ki.

Ueshiba moved to Tokyo in 1926, where he set up what would become the Aikikai Hombu Dojo. By this point he was comparatively famous in martial arts circles, and taught at this dojo and others around Japan, including in several military academies. In the aftermath of World War II the Hombu dojo was temporarily closed, but Ueshiba had by this point left Tokyo and retired to Iwama, and he continued training at the dojo he had set up there. From the end of the war until the 1960s, he worked to promote aikido throughout Japan and abroad. He died from liver cancer in 1969.

After Ueshiba's death, aikido continued to be promulgated by his students (many of whom became noted martial artists in their own right). It is now practiced around the world. (Full article...)

Selected biography 16

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Brock Edward Lesnar (/ˈlɛznər/ LEZ-nər; born July 12, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and professional American football player. As a professional wrestler, he is signed to WWE; however, he is currently on hiatus from active competition. Often regarded as one of the most prolific combat sport athletes in the world, Lesnar is the only person to have won the primary heavyweight championships of WWE, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Lesnar competed in collegiate wrestling for the University of Minnesota, winning the NCAA Division I national championship in 2000. He soon signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002), rising to industry prominence in mid-2002 by winning the WWE Championship at age 25, setting the record for the youngest performer to win the championship. In 2004, Lesnar departed WWE to join the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL), but was cut from the team during pre-season. He returned to wrestling and signed with NJPW in 2005 where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Lesnar later departed NJPW and continued to be promoted as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in the IGF before taking a hiatus from wrestling to pursue a career in mixed martial arts (MMA). Years later in 2012, he re-signed with WWE; his 504-day first reign with the WWE Universal Championship is the seventh-longest world championship reign in the promotion's history and he holds the record for most reigns as Universal Champion at three. He also won the Royal Rumble match twice (2003 and 2022), the Money in the Bank ladder match (2019), the King of the Ring tournament (2002), and has headlined several pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania five times (19, 31, 34, 36, and 38), nine SummerSlams (2002, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022); in addition, he also ended The Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak in 2014.

Lesnar began his MMA career for Hero's in 2007, and signed with the UFC in 2008. He quickly won the UFC Heavyweight Championship, but was sidelined with diverticulitis in 2009. On his return in 2010, Lesnar defeated Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin to unify the heavyweight championships and become the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion. After a couple of losses and further struggles with diverticulitis, Lesnar retired from MMA in 2011. He returned at UFC 200 in 2016 to defeat Mark Hunt, but his victory was overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for a banned substance on UFC's anti-doping policy. He then retired from MMA for the second time in 2017. A box office sensation, he competed in some of the bestselling pay-per-view events in promotion history, including headlining UFC 91, UFC 100, UFC 116, and UFC 121. He also co-headlined UFC 200, briefly being the main headliner before that spot was given to Amanda Nunes vs. Miesha Tate. (Full article...)

Selected biography 17

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Ronda Jean Rousey (/ˈraʊzi/ ROW-zee; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, and former judoka and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her tenure in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE.

She was the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo by winning bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Rousey began her mixed martial arts (MMA) career with King of the Cage in 2011. She soon joined Strikeforce, becoming their last Women's Bantamweight Champion until its acquisition by UFC. Rousey was part of the company's first female fight at UFC 157, was their inaugural and first Women's Bantamweight Champion, and held the record for most UFC title defenses (6) by a female, until being surpassed by Valentina Shevchenko in 2022. Rousey retired from MMA in 2016 and was the first female fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018.

Rousey began a career in professional wrestling in 2018, signing with WWE, and debuted at WrestleMania 34. She won the Raw Women's Championship at that year's SummerSlam, and headlined WWE's only all-women's pay-per-view Evolution, in which she defended the title. Rousey lost the title in the first women's WrestleMania main event at WrestleMania 35. Rousey returned at the 2022 Royal Rumble, winning the women's Royal Rumble match. That year, she would win the SmackDown Women's Championship twice, making her an overall three-time women's world champion in WWE. She became the eighth Women's Triple Crown Champion when she won the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with Shayna Baszler. Rousey and Baszler also unified the WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Championships. After leaving WWE in October 2023, she began wrestling on the independent circuit.

Rousey is the only woman to be the champion in both the UFC and WWE as well as the only woman to headline a pay-per-view event in both companies. She was voted the best female athlete of all time in a 2015 ESPN fan poll, and Fox Sports described her as "one of the defining athletes of the 21st century." Rousey has also appeared in films, including The Expendables 3 (2014), Furious 7 (2015), and Mile 22 (2018), and published her autobiography My Fight / Your Fight in 2015. (Full article...)

Selected biography 18

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Jonathan Dwight Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2008, Jones was previously the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion from 2011 to 2015 and from 2018 to 2020, as well as the interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in 2016. As of July 2, 2024, he is #3 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings. He is regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.

Jones became the youngest champion in UFC history with his title victory over Maurício Rua at age 23. He holds many UFC records in the light heavyweight division, including the most title defenses, most wins, and longest win streak. During much of his championship reign, Jones has been widely considered to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Never stopped nor outscored during his career, Jones's only professional loss is a controversial disqualification against Matt Hamill; a result disputed by Hamill and UFC president Dana White.

Between 2015 and 2017, Jones was involved in several controversies and lost his title three times as a result of disciplinary action. He was first stripped of his title and removed from the official rankings by the UFC in 2015 after he was arrested on felony hit-and-run charges. His subsequent returns to the UFC in 2016 and 2017 saw him emerge victorious in title bouts against Ovince Saint Preux and Daniel Cormier, but were both cut short by Jones testing positive for banned substances and receiving further suspensions, with the latter reversed to a no contest. After his 2017 suspension was lifted, Jones reclaimed the championship in 2018 by defeating Alexander Gustafsson. He voluntarily vacated the title in 2020 and spent three years away from MMA before returning in 2023 to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Ciryl Gane. (Full article...)

Selected biography 19

Portal:Martial arts/Selected biography/19

Donald Jacob Hager Jr. (born March 24, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his tenures in WWE as Jack Swagger and in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as Jake Hager. As a mixed martial artist, he was signed to Bellator MMA and competed in the heavyweight division.

Hager attended the University of Oklahoma as a two-sport athlete, participating in both football and wrestling. He switched to wrestling full-time in his sophomore year, and in 2006, set the record for most pins in a season with 30 as an All-American. Following a try-out, Hager signed a WWE contract in mid 2006 where he performed as Jack Swagger. During his time with WWE, he became a two-time world champion, having held the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship and the ECW Championship once each and a one-time United States Champion. He left the company in 2017 after he decided to pursue a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

In 2017, Hager signed with Bellator MMA. He had his first professional fight on January 26, 2019, against J.W. Kiser at Bellator 214, where he won via arm-triangle choke in the first round. In his second fight with the promotion, he faced T.J. Jones on May 11, 2019, at Bellator 221, where he again won via arm-triangle choke in the first round. Hager announced his retirement from MMA in September 2023. He was undefeated with a record of 3–0 (1). As a wrestler, he kept working with various promotions before signing with AEW in 2019, including in Lucha Underground as Jake Strong, where he was the final Lucha Underground Champion. (Full article...)

Selected biography 20

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Félix Juan Trinidad García (born January 10, 1973), popularly known as "Tito" Trinidad, is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes and is considered to be one of the greatest Puerto Rican boxers of all time.

After winning five national amateur championships in Puerto Rico, Trinidad debuted as a professional when he was seventeen, and won his first world championship by defeating Maurice Blocker to win the IBF welterweight title in 1993, a title he would hold for almost seven years with fifteen defenses. As his career continued, he defeated Oscar De La Hoya to win the WBC and lineal welterweight titles in 1999; Fernando Vargas to win the unified WBA and IBF light middleweight titles in 2000; and William Joppy for the WBA middleweight title in 2001.

Trinidad's first professional loss was against Bernard Hopkins later in 2001, and following this, he retired from boxing for the first time. Trinidad made his ring return by defeating Ricardo Mayorga in 2004. After a losing effort against Winky Wright in 2005, he retired for a second time. In 2008 he returned once more and lost to Roy Jones Jr. Subsequently, Trinidad entered a hiatus without clarifying the status of his career.

Trinidad is frequently mentioned among the best Puerto Rican boxers of all time by sports journalists and analysts, along with Juan Laporte, Esteban De Jesús, Wilfredo Vázquez, Miguel Cotto, Wilfred Benítez, Wilfredo Gómez, Héctor Camacho, Edwin Rosario and Carlos Ortíz. In 2000, Trinidad was voted Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He is ranked number 30 on The Rings list of 100 greatest punchers of all time and in 2002 named him the 51st greatest fighter of the past 80 years. In 2013, Trinidad became eligible and was voted into the 2014 Class of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was officially inducted into the hall during a ceremony held on June 4, 2014, becoming the tenth Puerto Rican to receive such an honor. ('Full article...)

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