51. Lyman Good
This Bellator WW Tournament Winner is also a sensei for Tiger Schulmann's Karate.
52. Uriah Hall
Another member of Team Schulmann with a 5-2 record.
53. Nick Pace
Also a member of Team Schulmann, Former Ring of Combat BW champion.
54. Jess Liaudin
10th Legion and ECC MW Champion, Knock Down Sport Budo International Champion.
55. Rodney Glunder
This Kyokushin blackbelt has fought for M-1, Cage Rage, K-1, PRIDE, RINGS, Showtime and AoW. He holds notable wins over Cheick Kongo, Melvin Manhoef and Cyrille Diabate.
56. Peter Graham
Kyokushin blackbelt, competing in K-1 and MMA with notable wins over Yusuke Kawaguchi and Alexander Emelianenko.
57. Glover Teixeira
Hawaiian Kempo trained fighter from The Pit with a 17-2 record.
58. Court McGee
Court started in Karate when he was 6 years old and fought in over 100 Karate bouts. Now a black stripe red belt in Shin-Toshi Karate, he is the Utah state LHW champion and UFC's TUF 11 winner.
59. Marius Zaromskis
Kyokushin expert, DREAM WW Champion. Holds notable victories over Hayato Sakurai and Kazushi Sakuraba.
60. Yuichiro Nagashima
2nd dan of Nippon Kempo, 2010 K-1 World MAX Tournament winner, competing both in K-1 and MMA.
61. Sam Hoger
This Karate black belt with a 10-4 record has fought in multiple promotions, including the UFC.
62. Travis Fulton
2nd degree black belt in American Kenpo. Travis has notched up over 300 Vale Tudo and MMA fights since 1996 and over 30 boxing matches since 1999. His record is an astounding 247-49-10!
63. Nick Diaz
The former Strikeforce WW Champion, WEC and IFC WW Champion. Currently ranked the #3 WW in the world, Nick has often spoken about the benefits of Karate training even though he holds no official rank in the art.
64. Rogent Lloret
This Spanish HW MMA fighter and Karate black belt has fought in M1 and Bellator. He holds a 11-2 record.
65. Michelle Waterson
American female mixed martial artist whose nickname is "The Karate Hottie". A Karate student since the age of 10, Waterson holds a black belt in American Free Style Karate and a 8-3 MMA record.
66. Saori Ishioka
"Shooting Star" Saori is a former 2-time All-Japan RF Karate Champion with a 11-7 record.
67. Mari Kaneko
Kaneko is a 3-time All-Japan RF Karate Champion and 5-time runner-up. She is also the former All-Japan Amateur Shooto Champion, the Smackgirl Japan Cup MW runner-up and the Strongest Queen Tournament runner-up.
68. Aisling Daly
Currently the #7-ranked 125-pound female fighter in the world according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings. Daly started out in Karate before doing more ground fighting encouraged by her Karate teacher.
69. Pat Miletich
The founder of Miletich Fighting Systems, which has trained over 90 televised fighters and no less than 11 MMA world champions, Miletich holds a 3rd degree black belt in Shuri-ryu Karate.
70. Stephen Thompson
Kenpo Karate expert Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson is unbeaten both in Kickboxing (56-0 with 40KOs) and MMA (6-0 with 4 finishes). Wonderboy debuted in the UFC with a KO of the night (UFC 143).
71. Rodney Glunder
Kyokushin Karate black belt, 1997 Full Contact Karate European Champion. He has fought for M-1 Global, Cage Rage, K-1, PRIDE, RINGS, Showtime and Art of War Fighting Championships. "The Silent Assassin" holds notable wins over top contenders Cheick Kongo, Melvin Manhoef and Cyrille Diabate.
72. Michael Page
Karate and kickboxing champion Page made his professional MMA debut at Ultimate Challenge MMA 26 with an amazing Anderson-Silva-like KO.
73. Kyoji Horiguchi
21-year-old traditional Karate prospect with 6 wins, 5 of them by KO. He is the 2010 Shooto rookie champion.
74. Lee Hasdell
Hasdell, who started out in Karate and TKD, is a black belt in Kudo (Daido Juku Karate) and has competed both in K-1 and MMA. He holds a number of kickboxing titles as well as the UTF RINGS Rules Superfight belt and TFF Vale Tudo Superfight belt.
75. Manvel Gamburyan
Though "The Anvil" is better known for his Judo, he is also a 2nd degree black belt in Kyokushin Karate. Manvel is currently ranked as the #10 FW in the world by Sherdog.
76. Karen Darabedyan
Darabedyan began studying Karate at the age of 5 and TKD at 9, earning his black belt in both by 18. Since then, he has compiled a 9-4 MMA record. Despite Karen’s strong Judo and grappling background, he tends to favor keeping the fight on his feet and striking.
77. Yuriy Kochkine
4th degree black belt in Kyokushin Karate, multiple time Russian, Ukrainian and European Kyokushin champion, RINGS tournament winner. Yuriy was the first person to ever defeat Alistair Overeem in MMA - and TWICE!
78. Artur Sowinski
One of the best Polish LW fighters, currently representing Poland's biggest MMA promotion KSW, this fighter lists Kyokushin Karate as his base style.
79. Daron Cruickshank
Coming from a family of martial artists, his mother a kickboxer and his father a Karateka, Daron has only lost twice and finished all but 1 of his 10 vanquished opponents.
80. Caleb Grummet
Hailing from the San Do Jutsu Karate team and the Kaminari Dojo, Caleb is the Xtreme Cagefighting MW champion.
81. Gustavo Sampaio
Gustavo is a 3rd Dan in Uechi-ryu and a multiple-time champion in Full-contact Karate. None of his 5 MMA wins have gone the distance and the only loss came via decision. Gustavo teaches Karate and kickboxing in his own Karate academy.
82. Tim Sylvia
Tim is a former two-time UFC HW Champion, a Powerhouse World Promotions HW Champion, the Superbrawl Return of the Heavyweights Tournament Winner and the Extreme Challenge HW Tournament Winner with a combined record of 30-7. Sylvia joined a Karate school as a kid and spent 8 years studying the art before going on to wrestling, grappling and finally MMA.
83. Tony Fryklund
Tony is a WW from Miletich Fighting Systems who fought for the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Cage Rage and other promotions. He started Karate in his late teens and earned black belts in both Shotokan and Joe Louis American Karate.
84. Xavier Foupa-Pokam
Foupa-Pokam is best known for his brief stint in the UFC and his long career in British MMA. Xavier is a WAFC 2008 World tournament winner, a XFC European Champion and a Karate brown belt.
85. Denis Stojnic
Denis started his career with Sambo and Karate because his Father was a dedicated athlete - a black belt in Karate and four-time Olympic team member. He currently trains with the Golden Glory fight team alongside notable MMA fighters and kickboxers.
86. Kristof Midoux
Kristof started training in Kyokushin Karate when he was 4 years old. Now a black belt, "The French Hurricane" has fought for the UFC, bodogFIGHT, K-1, IFC and Rumble on the Rock promotions. Kristof is also recognized as Georges St. Pierre's first trainer and inspired GSP to start a career in MMA.
87. Yves Jabouin
Jabouin is known as a hard-hitting striker and has earned 11 of his 17 career wins by KO or TKO. "The martial art that I started with was Karate and it is a striking-based martial art. I think the art you start in really gets into your sub-conscious and that remains the base foundation of whatever you put on top of it" - says Yves.
88. James Lee
James holds a black belt in Karate-based kickboxing and is a former full-contact Karate champion. Lee already has two MMA titles under his belt - King of The Cage LHW champion and Gladiator Challenge MW champion.
89. Jesse Bongfeldt
Amateur Canadian WW Champion, Amateur Western Canadian LHW Champion, 2x TKO WW Champion, RITC WW and MW Champion. A brown belt in Isshin-ryu Karate, Jesse said in an interview: "I started training young, as all of my family was in Judo and I loved Karate!"
90. Martijn de Jong
Martijn de Jong is the MMA head coach of Team Golden Glory and the Tatsujin Dojo. The Kyokushin Budokai black belt and former Dutch Champion in Karate and MMA has many famous students now, such as Alistair and Valentijn Overeem, Siyar Bahadurzada, Marloes Coenen, Dion Staring, Dave Dalgliesh and others.
91. Cole Escovedo
Cole has been involved in martial arts since age 6 when he started Karate. He got into BJJ in '96, received his Karate black belt by 16 and started MMA at 19. Cole was the first ever WEC FW champ, PFC BW champ and IFC FW champ.
92. Yoislandy Izquierdo
Yoislandy started training Karate at the age of 12 for health reasons and took 6 gold medals in Karate youth nationals. Now a brown belt in Wado-ryu, Izquierdo is a CFA and ISKA LW champion.
93. Cyrille Diabate
Cyrille is a Shidokan Karate black belt, French national champion and world champion in Shidokan. "The Snake" has fought in Palace FC, PRIDE, ShoXC, Deep, Cage Rage and UFC.
94. Matt Mitrione
As a teenager in Illinois, Matt practiced Shotokan Karate and other martial arts but was prohibited from them in college due to his football scholarship. He returned to combat sport training and took up MMA in 2009 to take part in the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter.
95. Brian Rogers
Brian is a brown belt in Isshin-ryu Karate who currently fights for Bellator Fighting Championships. 8 of his 9 wins have come by a way of knockout.
96. Brent Weedman
Brent is a lifelong practitioner of martial arts, having competed in full-contact Karate and Judo before taking up MMA. Weedman has competed all over the United States and is currently signed with Bellator FC. 18 of his 20 MMA wins are knockouts and submissions.
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30 successful Karate fighters in MMA
