Mike Kyle

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 UFC and WEC
4 Strikeforce
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Mike "MAK" Kyle (born March 31, 1980) is an American professional mixed martial artist training out of the American Kickboxing Academy.

He stands 6 ft. 4 in. (194 cm) tall and fights in the light heavyweight (205 lbs.) and heavyweight (206+ lbs.) divisions.

Kyle is a UFC and WEC veteran and currently fights for Strikeforce.

Early Career

Mike Kyle made his professional mixed martial arts debut on June 9, 2001 for the Night of the Knockout promotion. He stopped his opponent, Kauai Kupihea, with strikes in the second round to successfully kick off his career.

After forcing Nate Russak to submit to strikes in his next bout, Kyle was given a shot at the King of the Cage heavyweight title. He faced UFC and PRIDE veteran, Dan Bobish and submitted to punches after 3:25 of round 1.

His next bout made it two losses in a row as he was knocked cold by Paul Buentello in the second round at a KOTC event.

Kyle got his career back on track almost a year later when he made his WEC debut and knocked out Jerry Vrbanovic.

By the end of January, 2004, Kyle had picked up three more victories to up his record to 6-2.

UFC and WEC

In April, 2004, Kyle made his UFC debut at UFC 47. He faced "The Project" Wes Simms and in a controversial bout, knocked out Simms with just one second left in the first round. The bout was controversial due to allegations from Simms that Kyle bit him on the chest when he had him in a guillotine choke.

Four months later at UFC 49, Kyle met his good friend, Justin Eilers in the octagon. After an unintentional groin shot by Kyle early, Eilers recovered and ended Kyle's night with some brutal punches that forced the stop at 1:14 of round 1.

At UFC 51, Kyle upped his UFC record to 2-1 as he knocked out the much smaller, James Irvin just 1:55 into the first frame.

After the Irvin victory, Kyle left the UFC and headed over to Japan where he faced Japanese legend, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in Pancrase. The fight was called to a premature stop in the third round, with Kyle being awarded the technical decision victory.

He returned to the WEC to begin 2006, losing via TKO to Devin Cole midway through the second round.

A technical draw ensued in his next bout as he made his Strikeforce debut against Krzysztof Soszynski. Kyle accidentally thumbed Soszynski in the eye two minutes in and the fight was brought to a premature stop.

Two months later, Kyle infamously stepped into the WEC cage against Brian Olsen. Into the first round, Kyle landed an illegal kick to the face of Olsen that knocked him cold. As the referee dove in to stop the fight, Kyle continued to attack unleashing a vicious attack on the prone Olsen. Olsen suffered severe facial injuries and Kyle was disqualfied and banned from competition for 18 months.

Strikeforce

With his suspension up, Kyle returned to action at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le in a heavyweight bout against Wayne Cole. Cole scored an early takedown and easily submitted Kyle with an armbar to take the bout in just 45 seconds.

Kyle picked up his first victory since 2005 in his next outing as he stopped Rudy Martin in 41 seconds at an IFC event.

After another victory, Kyle was back in the Strikeforce cage as a light heavyweight. He replaced Renato "Babalu" Sobral against top prospect, Rafael Cavalcante. Kyle surprised many by taking "Feijao" into the second round and stopping him with punches.

Two months later, Kyle returned to heavyweight to replace Alistair Overeem against UFC and PRIDE veteran, Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg. Kyle damaged Werdum on the feet early but was soon caught in a guillotine choke and submitted.

Mixed martial arts record

**Professional Breakdown**
20 matches	12 wins	7 losses
By knockout	4	0
By submission	9	5
By decision	1	2
Draws	1

*Kyle has a disqualification loss against Brian Olsen in 2006.

Record

Result	Opponent	Method	Event Title	Date	Round	Time	Notes

Loss	Fabricio Werdum	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg	8/15/2009	1	1:24	Replaced Alistair Overeem
Win	Rafael Cavalcante	TKO (Punches)	Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields	6/06/2009	2	4:05	Replaced Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Win	Mychal Clark	Decision (Unanimous)	JG and TKT Promotions: Fighting 4 Kidz	8/30/2008	3	5:00	-
Win	Rudy Martin	TKO	IFC: Caged Combat	4/26/2008	1	0:41	-
Loss	Wayne Cole	Submission (Armbar)	Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le	3/29/2008	1	0:45	-
Loss	Brian Olsen	DQ	WEC 20: Cinco de Mayhem	5/05/2006	1	N/A	-
Draw	Krzysztof Soszynski	Technical Draw (Thumb in Krysztof's eye)	Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie	3/10/2006	1	2:02	-
Loss	Devin Cole	TKO (Punches)	WEC 18: Unfinished Business	1/13/2006	2	2:56	-
Win	Tsuyoshi Kohsaka	Technical Decision (Unanimous)	Pancrase: Spiral 8	10/02/2005	3	1:17	-
Win	James Irvin	KO (Punch)	UFC 51: Super Saturday	2/05/2005	1	1:55	-
Loss	Justin Eilers	KO (Punch)	UFC 49: Unfinished Business	8/21/2004	1	1:14	-
Win	Wes Sims	KO (Punch)	UFC 47: It's On	4/02/2004	1	4:59	-
Win	Jade Hargett	TKO (Punches)	WEC 9: Cold Blooded	1/16/2004	1	4:09	-
Win	Dan Chase	TKO (Injury)	KOTR: King of the Rockies	1/03/2004	1	0:12	-
Win	Jason Reed	Submission (Punches)	IFC: Battleground Boise	10/25/2003	1	1:52	-
Win	Jerry Vrbanovic	KO (Punches)	WEC 8: Halloween Fury 2	10/17/2003	1	0:12	-
Loss	Paul Buentello	KO	KOTC 18: Sudden Impact	11/01/2002	2	1:24	-
Loss	Dan Bobish	Submission (Punches)	KOTC 13: Revolution	5/17/2002	1	3:25	For KOTC Heavyweight Championship
Win	Nate Russak	Submission (Strikes)	GC 9: Gladiator Challenge 9	2/10/2002	1	2:39	-
Win	Kauai Kupihea	TKO	NOTK: Night of the Knockout	6/09/2001	2	N/A	-