Chris Lytle
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Chris "Lights Out" Lytle (born August 18, 1974) is an American professional mixed martial artist.
He stands 5 ft. 11 in. (180cm) and currently fights as a welterweight (170 lbs.).
He is a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback and currently fights as a welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Pancrase Career
Chris Lytle made his professional mixed martial arts debut on February 13, 2003 at the Neutral Grounds 10 event. He defeated Bo Hershberger via submission (strikes) at 11.33 of the first round.
After his debut, Lytle fought almost primarily for the Japanese, Pancrase organisation up until November of 2000. He went 4-5-3 in that time with notable bouts including a loss to future UFC middleweight champion, Dave Menne via decision, a draw with future Japanese superhero, Ikuhisa Minowa and a unanimous decision loss to future TUF 4 team mate, Shonie Carter.
UFC Debut and Smaller Promotions
Lytle made his UFC debut at UFC 28 in November of 2000. He lost a decision to Ben Earwood after two rounds.
He wouldn't return to the UFC for another three years, but stayed far from inactive in that timespan fighting constantly against prominent MMA names in smaller organizations.
He fought 14 times between his first and second UFC appearances going 9-3-2. Lytle had varying degrees of success against the fighters he faced. He scored victories over the likes of Kazuo Misaki (decision), Aaron Riley (KO), LaVerne Clark (decision) and Derrick Noble (submission) while suffering decision defeats at the experienced hands of such fighters as Nick Diaz, and Koji Oishi.
UFC Return
Chris Lytle returned to the UFC against Robbie Lawler at UFC 45. He dropped an entertaining unanimous decision to Lawler that put his UFC record at 0-2. After returning to a smaller promotion and defeating Pete Spratt via rear naked choke submission, Lytle was granted another fight in the UFC. This time he proved victorious, submitting Tiki Ghosn with a bulldog choke in the second round.
With a UFC win under his belt, Lytle returned at UFC 49, submitting Ronald Jhun with a guillotine choke in the second round to square his UFC ledger at 2-2.
After another smaller promotion victory, Lytle faced Karo Parisyan at UFC 51 and dropped a unanimous decision victory to the talented judoka.
Lytle kept busy on some smaller shows with a split decision victory over Pat Healy and a TKO over Brian Dunn before taking on Joe Riggs at UFC 55. Lytle was stopped for the first time by Riggs, after an elbow from the bottom by Riggs caused a large gash above Lytle's eye that caused the ring side doctor to halt the bout.
The Ultimate Fighter
After the Riggs loss, Lytle went back to the smaller shows and picked up two submission victories over Savant Young and Ross Mason respectively.
At this time the UFC had just announced a new concept for TUF 4. The new format would look to target UFC fighters who had underperformed or not fulfilled their potential within the octagon. These fighters would then get the oppurtunity to square off in an 8-man tournament in their division with the tournament winner getting a title shot.
Lytle accepted his UFC invite and competed as a welterweight on the show. He became a part of "Team Mojo" and successfully navigated his way to the final with a submission victory over Pete Spratt in the quarter finals and a decision victory over Din Thomas in the semis.
In the final, Lytle faced off against Matt Serra for a shot at the welterweight title. In an extremely close fight, Serra edged out Lytle with a split decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 27-30). Lytle was devastated by his performance in the Serra fight.
Post-TUF UFC Career
In Lytle's first fight after the loss to Serra, he faced former UFC welterweight champion, Matt Hughes, who was coming off his title loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 65.
The bout took place at UFC 68 and was a pretty mediocre fight, with Hughes controlling the fight from top position for three rounds. Lytle lost a unanimous decision and was once again frustrated with his attitude in the fight.
A self-proclaimed more aggressive Chris Lytle showed up at UFC 73 to face Jason Gilliam. Lytle kept true to his word as he pulled off a reverse triangle and kimura submission over his opponent at 2.15 of round 1 which earned him "submission of the night" honours.
With permission from the UFC, Lytle was allowed to fight on a smaller promotion against future TUF 7 contestant, Matt Brown at a United Fight League event. Lytle defeated Brown via guillotine choke in the second round.
At UFC 78, Lytle faced off against Thiago Alves. In an entertaining fight with a disappointing ending, Lytle gave Alves all he could handle before the fight was stopped due to a cut above Lytle's eye that didn't look to be that serious.
Lytle rebounded from the disappointment of UFC 78 with a 33 second demolition of Kyle Bradley at UFC 81, which pushed his UFC record to 4-7.
At UFC 86, Lytle faced off against TUF 1 veteran and highly ranked welterweight, Josh Koscheck. Lytle was battered from half guard by Koscheck for the majority of the fight with pools of blood soaking both fighters after a number of gashes were opened on Lytle's head. The result was never in doubt as Koscheck earned the decision victory.
Lytle made his return at UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben against home favorite, Paul Taylor. In a bout that earned "Fight Of The Night" honors, Lytle earned the close but unanimous decision.
At UFC 93, Lytle faced the 'Irish Hand Grenade' Marcus Davis and lost by split decision, but once again earned Fight of the Night honors.
At The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, Lytle faced Kevin Burns and won by unanimous decision, earning Fight of the Night for the third time in a row.
Mixed Martial Arts Record
| 49 matches | 27 wins | 17 losses |
| By knockout | 4 | 2 |
| By submission | 17 | 0 |
| By decision | 5 | 15 |
| Draws | 5 | |
*The wins don't add up because nobody knows how he beat some dude named Beaver Beaver in 2000
Gallery
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External links
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Chris-Lytle-267 - Professional MMA Record from Sherdog
--Sam Cupitt 15:07, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
