War Machine

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 The Ultimate Fighter and UFC Career
4 Post-UFC Career
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

War Machine (born November 30, 1981) - aka Jon Koppenhaver - is an American professional mixed martial artist and a former castmember of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra.

He stands 5 ft. 11 in. (180 cm) tall and fights in the welterweight division (170 lbs.).

War Machine is a former competitor in the UFC and last fought as a welterweight for the XMMA promotion.

In August, 2008, Jon Koppenhaver legally changed his name to War Machine after he was no longer allowed to use his nickname because of the copyrighted TNA wrestling name, The War Machine Rhino.

Early Career

Koppenhaver began his professional mixed martial arts career on February 29, 2004 at a Total Combat event against Angel Santibanez. He defeated his opponent via TKO at 1:00 of round 1.

He picked up two wins in his next two fights, again fighting for the Total Combat organization, defeating Frank Duffy (rear naked choke) and Andrew Ramirez (TKO).

Koppenhaver suffered his first professional defeat in March of 2006 when he was submitted by Mike O'Donnell with an armbar at 4:02 of round 2.

Six months later, he rebounded from the loss with a TKO over RJ Gamez in the first round.

The Ultimate Fighter and UFC Career

In early 2007, Koppenhaver tried unsuccessfully to gain a spot as one of the 16 welterweights on the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra. However, Koppenhaver got lucky and was brought into the show as an alternate after Roman Mitichyan was forced out of the show with a broken elbow.

Koppenhaver's volatile attitude and strange persona caught the attention of his coach, Matt Serra and the other contestants. On Episode 8, he faced Tommy Speer in the final bout of the round of 16. Koppenhaver threatened in the first round, but was ultimately worn down and outpointed for the rest of the fight, losing a unanimous decision.

At The Ultimate Fighter 6 Finale, Koppenhaver faced Jared Rollins on the main card in what was billed as a grudge match after the two had an altercation on the show. In an excellent back and forth fight, Koppenhaver looked to be done in the third round but sprang to life with a sweep from guard into mount, which he followed up with punches to earn the stoppage victory and "Fight of the Night" honors.

In his first post-TUF UFC bout, Koppenhaver faced Japanese fighter, Yoshiyuki Yoshida on the undercard of UFC 84. The fight was a quick one as Yoshida choked him unconscious with an anaconda choke at 56 seconds of round 1.

Koppenhaver ran into trouble following that fight as he had some outspoken comments surrounding the death of Evan Tanner and then refused a fight with Brandon Wolff on the basis of wanting a better, more well-known opponent. The UFC, apparently fed up with his behaviour, cut his contract.

Post-UFC Career

Six months after the loss to Yoshida, War Machine was out of the UFC and fighting for the Desert Range organization. He defeated his first post-UFC opponent, David Anderson via KO in the first round.

War Machine had signed with the Bellator Fighting Championships but after he made disparaging comments about US president, Barack Obama on his MySpace page, he was cut from the contract.

In February, 2009, War Machine submitted Guillaume Delorenzi with a rear naked choke at an XMMA event. War Machine was a late replacement for Phil Baroni.

His next fight will take place at the MMA Big Show on June 20, 2009. He will face the undefeated, Roger Bowling.