Heath Herring
| Heath Herring | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 2, 1978 Waco, Texas, United States |
| Other names | The Texas Crazy Horse |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 114 kg (251 lb; 17 st 13 lb) |
| Division | Heavyweight |
| Reach | 78 in (198 cm) |
| Style | Sambo, Kickboxing, , Muay Thai, Wrestling |
| Fighting out of | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Team | Golden Glory/Las Vegas Combat Club/Xtreme Couture[1] |
| Years active | 1997 - present (MMA) |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 43 |
| Wins | 28 |
| By knockout | 7 |
| By submission | 16 |
| By decision | 4 |
| Losses | 14 |
| By knockout | 4 |
| By submission | 2 |
| By decision | 8 |
| No contests | 1 |
Heath Herring (born March 2, 1978 in Waco, Texas, raised in Amarillo, Texas [2]) is an American Heavyweight professional mixed martial artist who attained popularity fighting for PRIDE FC and K1 in Japan and now fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is primarily known for fighting the world's top heavyweight talent, such as Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar.[3]
Career
Herring is an MMA fighter who practices sambo and muay Thai. He currently lives in Las Vegas.
Herring is known for unique hairstyles and colors as well as wearing a cowboy hat and duster coat to the ring. His appearance is very popular among the Japanese crowd. His entrances are widely regarded by most fight fans.
PRIDE Fighting Championship
Herring is a long time veteran in PRIDE, where he participated in 17 fights.[4] He took part in the first Heavyweight title fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira where he lost by unanimous decision. Despite his earlier championship loss to Rodrigo Nogueira he was widely considered the number one contender until his first round loss to Fedor Emelianenko. His most notable wins are over Evan Tanner, Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Kerr, and Cheick Kongo.
He parted ways with PRIDE in late 2004 because of management disputes.
New Year's Eve Kiss
Herring was involved in a memorable MMA moment on December 31, 2005 during K-1's Dynamite 2005 show. During the pre-fight staredown, his opponent, Yoshihiro Nakao, leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Herring reacted, delivering a right hook to the jaw of Nakao, knocking him out cold. Herring was immediately disqualified and Nakao was carried from the ring. Shortly thereafter, Nakao's cornermen attacked Herring and a brief fight ensued. Herring's trainers, Ricardo Pires and Sergio Penha [5] fought with Nakao's trainers until security stopped the fight. The fight result has since been changed by K-1 from a disqualification loss for Herring to a no contest, as K-1 judges ruled that Nakao's kiss and Herring's subsequent knockout punch were both fouls.[6] Some Japanese media assumed that Herring was a devout protestant, to bash Nakao, although Herring had never talked about his religion to the media, and after being bashed by the media Nakao nicknamed himself "Kiss" with the intention of an antipathy for the media.
Transition to the UFC
Herring was considered a hired gun to shake up the UFC's heavy weight division. He lost to Jake O'Brien via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 8 in his UFC debut due to a knee injury.
On Saturday, April 7, 2007, at UFC 69 Heath faced off against The Ultimate Fighter 2 heavyweight finalist Brad Imes. Herring won the match by unanimous decision after 3 rounds.
At UFC 73, Herring lost via unanimous decision to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but not before he landed a left high kick to Nogueira's head late in the first round. Nogueira was sent to the ground, visibly stunned, but Herring did not engage him and attempt to finish the fight, opting to stand up shortly after the kick and beckoned Nogueira to stand as well. The referee motioned Noguiera to stand up after the brief flurry on the ground, giving Herring the advantage but Herring was not able to finish the fight in the first round.
At UFC 82 Heath won a three round split-decision against rising contender Cheick Kongo. While both are considered strikers, much of the fight took place on the ground. After the fight Heath said he was not happy with the fight, he wanted to give the fans a stand-up fight and Kongo refused to stand with him. Herring also said after the fight that he did not even train at all for the ground game.
Herring fought Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 after Mark Coleman was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.[7] The fight went the full 3 rounds and Lesnar was declared winner by unanimous decision. Herring was knocked down early in the first round with a straight right. According to Heath Herring's official Facebook profile in a note titled "6 Months To Rest", Herring is said to have suffered a broken orbital bone from the first punch of the fight. Herring was scheduled to fight Cain Velasquez at UFC 99, but was forced to withdraw due to an undisclosed illness.
Herring stated in November 2010 that he wants to fight as soon as possible. He was still under contract with the UFC and was expected to make his return.[8]
Film career
Heath Herring starred in Never Surrender, that was released by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2009 as well as Circle of Pain. According to an October 6 comment on Herring's Facebook page, he has completed work in several other recent or upcoming films, including Hell's Chain, Devil Dogs, Unrivaled, Breakdown, Henry's Crime and Salt (which stars Angelina Jolie). And is slated to star in several upcoming films including "Havanna Heat" with Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme. He is also in pre-production on several TV shows and co-hosts a weekly radio show with radio vet Jay Pagliaro.
Championships and Accomplishments
Mixed martial arts record
| 43 matches | 28 wins | 14 losses |
| By knockout | 7 | 4 |
| By submission | 16 | 2 |
| By decision | 4 | 8 |
| By disqualification | 1 | 0 |
| Draws | 0 | |
| No contests | 1 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 28–14 (1) |  Brock Lesnar
|
Decision (unanimous) | UFC 87 | August 9, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Win | 28–13 (1) |  Cheick Kongo
|
Decision (split) | UFC 82 | March 1, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Loss | 27–13 (1) |  Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
|
Decision (unanimous) | UFC 73 | July 7, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Win | 27–12 (1) | Brad Imes
|
Decision (unanimous) | UFC 69 | April 7, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Loss | 26–12 (1) | Jake O'Brien
|
Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night 8 | January 25, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Win | 26–11 (1) |  Gary Goodridge
|
TKO (punches) | Hero's 4 | March 15, 2006 | 2 | 1:55 | ||
| NC | 25–11 (1) |  Yoshihiro Nakao
|
No Contest (both committed fouls) | K-1 Dynamite!!! 2005 | December 31, 2005 | 1 | 0:00 | Yoshihiro kissed Herring in the pre-match staredown, which Herring responded by punching him | |
| Loss | 25–11 |  Sam Greco
|
TKO (knee injury) | Hero's 1 | March 26, 2005 | 1 | 2:24 | ||
| Win | 25–10 | Hirotaka Yokoi
|
KO (knees) | Pride 28 | October 31, 2004 | 1 | 1:55 | ||
| Loss | 24–10 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
|
Submission (anaconda choke) | Pride Critical Countdown 2004 | June 20, 2004 | 2 | 0:30 | ||
| Win | 24–9 | Yoshiki Takahashi
|
KO (punches) | Pride Total Elimination 2004 | April 25, 2004 | 1 | 4:53 | ||
| Win | 23–9 | Gan McGee
|
Decision (split) | Pride 27 | February 1, 2004 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Win | 22–9 | Giant Silva
|
Submission (rear naked choke) | Pride Shockwave 2003 | December 31, 2003 | 3 | 0:35 | ||
| Win | 21–9 | Yoshihisa Yamamoto
|
Submission (choke) | Pride Final Conflict 2003 | November 9, 2003 | 3 | 2:29 | ||
| Loss | 20–9 |  Mirko Filipović
|
TKO (strikes) | Pride 26 | June 8, 2003 | 1 | 3:17 | ||
| Loss | 20–8 |  Fedor Emelianenko
|
TKO (doctor stoppage) | Pride 23 | November 24, 2002 | 1 | 10:00 | ||
| Win | 20–7 | Iouri Kotchkine
|
TKO (knees) | Pride 22 | September 29, 2002 | 1 | 7:31 | ||
| Win | 19–7 |  Igor Vovchanchyn
|
Decision (unanimous) | Pride 19 | February 24, 2002 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Loss | 18–7 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
|
Decision (unanimous) | Pride 17 | November 3, 2001 | 3 | 5:00 | For PRIDE Heavyweight Championship | |
| Win | 18–6 | Mark Kerr
|
TKO (knees) | Pride 15 | July 29, 2001 | 2 | 4:56 | ||
| Loss | 17–6 | Vitor Belfort
|
Decision | Pride 14 | May 27, 2001 | 3 | 5:00 | ||
| Win | 17–5 | Denis Sobolev
|
Submission (keylock) | Pride 13 | March 25, 2001 | 1 | 0:22 | ||
| Win | 16–5 | Enson Inoue
|
TKO (strikes) | Pride 12 | December 9, 2000 | 1 | 4:52 | ||
| Win | 15–5 | Tom Erikson
|
Submission (rear naked choke) | Pride 11 | October 31, 2000 | 1 | 6:17 | ||
| Win | 14–5 |  Willie Peeters
|
Submission (rear naked choke) | Pride 9 | June 4, 2000 | 1 | 0:48 | ||
| Loss | 13–5 | Ramazan Mezhidov
|
TKO (cut) | IAFC: Pankration World Championship 2000 Day 2 | April 29, 2000 | 1 | 4:55 | ||
| Win | 13–4 | Rene Rooze
|
DQ (excessive fouling) | 2 Hot 2 Handle 1 | March 5, 2000 | 1 | 3:20 | ||
| Win | 12–4 | Bob Schrijber
|
TKO (punches) | World Vale Tudo Championship 9 | September 27, 1999 | 1 | 2:19 | ||
| Win | 11–4 | Sean McCully
|
Submission (kimura) | World Vale Tudo Championship 9 | September 27, 1999 | 1 | 0:43 | ||
| Win | 10–4 | Michael Tielrooy
|
Submission (keylock) | World Vale Tudo Championship 9 | September 27, 1999 | 1 | 1:14 | ||
| Loss | 9–4 | Bobby Hoffman
|
Decision (unanimous) | SuperBrawl 13 | September 7, 1999 | 2 | 5:00 | ||
| Win | 9–3 | Rocky Batastini
|
Submission (rear naked choke) | SuperBrawl 13 | September 7, 1999 | 1 | 1:00 | ||
| Loss | 8–3 | Alexandre Ferreira
|
Decision | World Vale Tudo Championship 8 | July 1, 1999 | 1 | 30:00 | ||
| Win | 8–2 | Kavkaz Soultanmagomedov
|
Submission (punches) | World Vale Tudo Championship 8 | July 1, 1999 | 1 | 1:18 | ||
| Win | 7–2 | Erwin van den Steen
|
Submission (punches) | World Vale Tudo Championship 8 | July 1, 1999 | 1 | 4:33 | ||
| Win | 6–2 | Gabe Beauperthy
|
Submission (armlock) | Bas Rutten Invitational 3 | June 1, 1999 | 1 | 4:43 | ||
| Win | 5–2 | Hoss Carter
|
Submission (keylock) | Bas Rutten Invitational 3 | June 1, 1999 | 1 | 1:07 | ||
| Loss | 4–2 | Travis Fulton
|
Decision | Extreme Challenge 24 | May 15, 1999 | 1 | 12:00 | ||
| Win | 4–1 | Phil Deason
|
Submission (keylock) | WVF: Durango | April 17, 1999 | 1 | 0:13 | ||
| Win | 3–1 | Nik Bickle
|
Submission (strikes) | WVF: Durango | April 17, 1999 | 1 | 0:32 | ||
| Win | 2–1 | Evan Tanner
|
Submission (rear naked choke) | PSDA: PSDA | November 22, 1997 | 1 | 8:20 | ||
| Loss | 1–1 | Evan Tanner
|
Verbal submission (exhaustion) | Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 7 | October 18, 1997 | 1 | 6:19 | ||
| Win | 1–0 | Chris Guillen
|
Submission (rear naked choke) | Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 4 | April 12, 1997 | 1 | 6:19 |
References
- ^ "Fight Finder: Heath Herring". Sherdog. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
- ^ http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/custom/mma/bal-herringqa401,0,5969742.story?coll=bal-sports-more
- ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/14136/for-heath-herring-bout-with-cain-velasquez-just-another-day-at-the-office.mma
- ^ http://sherdog.com/fighter/Heath-Herring-13
- ^ http://www.ricardopiresbjj.com
- ^ Herring-Nakao Result Changed to No Contest
- ^ "Heath Herring To Face Brock Lesnar At UFC 87". MMAweekly.com. 2008-05-24.
- ^ http://www.mmaresolutions.com/heath-herring-i-definitely-miss-fighting-looks-to-fight-as-soon-as-possible