Dean Lister

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2 King of the Cage
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4 UFC
5 Mixed martial arts record
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Profile

Dean "The Boogeyman" Lister (born February 13, 1976) is an American professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Jeffrey Higgs.

He stands 6 ft. 1 in. (185 cm) tall and fights in the middleweight division (185 lbs.).

Lister is a former King of the Cage middleweight champion and was the 2003 Absolute Division Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Champion.

King of the Cage

Dean Lister made his professional mixed martial arts debut on September 16, 2000 as a part of King of the Cage 5. He submitted his opponent, John Jensen, with a kneebar in the first round to cap off a successful debut.

Five months later, Lister suffered his first professional defeat when he was controlled by Jacen Flynn for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision loss.

Lister got back on track in his next bout as he closed out 2001 with a heel hook submission victory over Jerry Jenkins.

To open 2002, Lister avenged his lone loss as he submitted Flynn this time around with a kimura in the second round. The win earned Lister the honor of facing Brendan Seguin in his next bout for the King of the Cage middleweight title. Lister earned the middleweight title as he submitted Seguin with an armbar in the third round.

In 2003, Lister scored two successful defenses of his title as he used his trusty armbar to submit Brian Sleeman and James Lee.

At King of the Cage 31 in December, Lister jumped up to the light heavyweight division to face 205 lbs. champion, Jeremy Horn for his title. After four, five minute rounds, Horn was adjudged the majority decision victor. Following the bout, Lister was stipped of his middleweight title for unknown reasons.

PRIDE

A seven month hiatus from fighting culminated in Lister signing with the premiere Japanese promotion, the PRIDE Fighting Championships. Lister made his PRIDE debut at PRIDE: Bushido 4 where he faced UFC veteran, Amar Suloev. The bout lasted the 15 minute duration and featured little to no action with Lister unwisely choosing to strike with Suloev. He paid for that mistake and dropped a split decision.

In April, 2005, Lister met the quintessential Japanese gatekeeper in Akira Shoji at PRIDE: Bushido 6. Just 3:13 into the first round, Lister caught and tapped the durable Shoji with a triangle choke to earn his first PRIDE victory.

The win earned Lister a spot in the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight (205 lbs.) Grand Prix. He faced fellow highly decorated grappler, Ricardo Arona and after twenty minutes of fighting Lister found himself on the losing end of a unanimous decision.

UFC

The Arona bout would be Lister's last for PRIDE as he headed over to the UFC a year later where he made his debut at UFC 60 against Italian boxer, Alessio Sakara at light heavyweight. Lister got the fight to the floor where he quickly outclassed Sakara, submitting him with a triangle choke at 2:20 of round 1.

At UFC Fight Night 6 three months later, Lister dropped down to the better suited middleweight division and faced off against Japanese export, Yuki Sasaki. After three round of mediocre action, Lister earned himself a unanimous decision win.

In January, 2007, Lister faced Nate Marquardt in what was considered by many to be a potential No.1 contenders match-up at UFC Fight Night 8. Lister had submitted Marquardt previously at an ADCC event in 2003 but he was unable to replicate that feat in MMA as he was picked apart and pounded on by Marquardt in a dominant unanimous decision victory.

Rebounding from his first UFC defeat, Lister faced Jordan Radev on the undercard of UFC 79 in December. Radev clearly wanted to avoid and ground work and instead chose to keep his distance and throw sparse strikes. Lister was forced to rely on his developing striking game to make anything happen in what turned into a very dull bout. Lister landed the only offense in the bout and was thus judged the unanimous victor.

A rematch from 2003 was in store for Lister on The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in June, 2008. He met Jeremy Horn on the show's undercard and avenged the KOTC defeat as he capitalized on a mistake by Horn to latch onto a guillotine choke and finish the bout at 3:52 of round 1.

Six months later, Lister was given another chance to push his name to the top of the UFC's middleweight division as he met suffocating Japanese fighter, Yushin Okami on the undercard of UFC 92. The bout was a tedious one with Lister unable to get off any offense on the methodical Okami. After three extremely dull rounds, Okami earned himself a unanimous decision victory.

Following the bout, Lister was released from his UFC contract.