Don Frye

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1 Profile
2 UFC
3 PRIDE
4 K-1
5 Recent Years
6 Mixed martial arts record
7 Gallery
8 External links

Profile

Don "The Predator" Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American professional mixed martial artist and UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 1996 tournament champion.

He stands 6 ft. 1 in. (185cm) tall and fights in the heavyweight division at approximately 219 lbs..

Frye has fought for the UFC, PRIDE, K-1 and DEEP. He is currently a free agent.

While fighting in Japan, Frye went under the nicknames, "The Soulful Fist" and "The Men's Boss".

UFC

Don Frye made his professional mixed martial arts debut at UFC 8's one night 8-man tournament on February 16, 1996 after being encouraged by wrestling teammate, Dan Severn. He faced Thomas Ramirez in his debut and opening round match and picked up the fastest knockout in UFC history when he knocked Ramirez cold with a punch in just eight seconds.

In the semi finals later that night, Frye stopped Sam Adkins on cuts in 48 seconds to earn a spot in the night's final.

He faced Gary Goodridge in the final and after scoring a takedown and working to mount, Goodridge submitted to the position before he would incur any more damage, thus awarding Frye the tournament.

At UFC 9 on May 17, 1996, Frye was scheduled to face another UFC tournament champion in Marco Ruas but an injury to Ruas forced his replacement in the form of Brazilian, Amaury Bitetti. Frye stopped Bitetti on strikes at 9:30 of round 1.

On July 12, Frye entered UFC 10's open-weight tournament and made it to the final after having stopped Mark Hall and Brian Johnston with strikes in the first two rounds. In the final he faced highly accomplished wrestler, Mark Coleman. In a brutal bout, Frye was battered by Coleman but refused to give in. Referee, John McCarthy stepped in at the 11:34 mark of round 1 giving Coleman the victory and the tournament.

Frye travelled to Japan a few months later to be a part of Ultimate Japan, the UFC's first event in Japan. Frye defeated Mark Hall via forearm choke submission in a rematch from their UFC 10 tournament bout.

In December of 1996, Frye was selected as one of eight participants for Ultimate Ultimate 1996, the UFC's second ever "best of the best" tournament. In the opening round Frye defeated Gary Goodridge in a rematch of their UFC 8 tournament final bout. Goodridge submitted to fatigue after 11:19 of the fight.

Scheduled to face Kimo Leopoldo in the semi-finals later that night, Leopoldo had to withdraw due to an injury sustained in his bout with Paul Varelans. Kimo was replaced by Mark Hall. Frye defeated Hall for the third time by achilles hold submission after just twenty seconds.

In the final, Frye faced brawler, Tank Abbott. Tank rocked Frye hard to start the bout but in his eagerness slipped. With some assistance from the cage, Frye secured Tank's back and secured a rear naked choke which forced the tap at 1:22 of the fight. The win marked Frye's last ever fight for the UFC.

PRIDE

After picking up a submission win over Eric Valdez in June of 1997, Frye had over a four year break from mixed martial arts competition. In that period he spent a lot of time performing as a professional wrestler in Japan, which raised his popularity with Japanese fans.

Frye's popularity in Japan played a major role in his return to fighting. He was signed to fight with Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships and made his PRIDE debut on September 24, 2001 at PRIDE 16 against Dutch wildman, Gilbert Yvel. An emotional Frye entered the ring sporting an American flag in memorium of the lives lost in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11. The fight was a dirty one, as Frye continously pressed for the takedown while Yvel would grab the ring ropes. Yvel was eventually disqualified for eye gouging at 7:27 of round 1.

On New Year's Eve, 2001, Frye submitted Cyril Abidi with a rear naked choke at an Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event.

At PRIDE 19, Frye headlined the show against UFC pioneer, Ken Shamrock in a heated grudge match. In an exciting fight that saw Frye nearly submitted by relentless leg attacks by Shamrock and Shamrock nearly being KO'd by Frye, Frye was awarded the split decision victory. After the bout both fighters hugged and squashed their grudge.

Four months later, Frye faced Yoshihiro Takayama at PRIDE 21 in one of the most memorable bouts in PRIDE history. As soon as the opening bell rang both fighters charged at each other with both fighters using one hand to hold their opponents head and the other hand to relentlessly smash that head. This continued for a good five minutes before Frye executed a takedown on Takayama and finished him on the ground with punches.

In November, at PRIDE 23, Frye faced Olympic Judo Gold Medalist, Hidehiko Yoshida. When the fight hit the mat, Yoshida locked up an armbar which he straightened. Frye refused to tap so the referee halted the bout so he would not incur any further damage. This marked Frye's second professional defeat in 17 fights and his first since 1996.

At PRIDE 26 on June 8, 2003, Frye squared off against Mark Coleman in a rematch from their UFC 10 tournament final. Coleman once again prevailed, this time by unanimous decision after three rounds.

Six months later, Frye met Gary Goodridge for the third time in his career at PRIDE: Shockwave 2003. The fight marked Goodridge's last fight for the PRIDE organization and he went out a winner as he knocked Frye out with a head kick in just 39 seconds.

K-1

Frye left PRIDE after Goodridge defeat and signed with rival Japanese promotion, K-1. He made his K-1 debut against Yoshihiro Nakao in May of 2004. The fight ended in a No Contest in round 1 due to an accidental headbutt.

The fight was set up again for K-1's New Year's Eve show, K-1: Premium 2004 Dynamite!!. Frye went on to lose the bout via unanimous decision after three rounds to make it four losses in a row in completed bouts.

The loss prompted Frye to take a year off from competing. He made his return at K-1: Hero's 5 against Hawaiian Sumo, Akebono. Frye defeated Akebono via guillotine choke in the second round to halt his losing slide. Frye fought to a draw with Ruben Villareal at a King of the Cage event ten days later.

At K-1: Hero's 6 in August, 2006, Frye submitted Japanese fighter, Yoshihisa Yamamoto with a rear naked choke in the first round. That win was followed with a knockout victory of Korean, Min Soo Kim at K-1: Hero's 7.

On April 8, 2007, Frye returned to PRIDE to face Brit, James Thompson at PRIDE 34. Frye was knocked out with punches at just over six minutes of round 1. The loss marked Frye's last performance in PRIDE due to PRIDE 34 being the last ever PRIDE event held.

Recent Years

Following the demise of PRIDE, Frye has remained relatively active. On January 26, 2008, Frye knocked out Bryan Pardoe in just 47 seconds at an event held in Dallas, Texas.

Frye was expected to face Oleg Taktarov at the inaugural YAMMA Pit Fighting event three months later but had to pull out due to injury. He would instead return to MMA competition in August for the DEEP promotion against Ikuhisa Minowa. He was defeated by Minowa via kneebar in just 3:56 of round 1.

On May 2, 2009, Frye defeated rival Judoka, Ritch Moss with a rear naked choke at a Shark Fight event.