Mike Pyle

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 WEC, IFL, EliteXC, Sengoku and Affliction
4 UFC
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Mike "Quicksand" Pyle (born September 18, 1976) is an American professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu jitsu brown belt training out of Xtreme Couture.

He stands 6 ft. 1 in. (186 cm) tall and fights in the welterweight division (170 lbs.).

Pyle is a former WEC welterweight champion as well as a veteran of the IFL, EliteXC, Sengoku and Affliction. He currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Mike Pyle made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on November 13, 1999 for the ISCF promotion. He was defated by Rampage via decision.

After having a couple of years off, Pyle returned in July of 2002 where he picked up his first professional victory with a rear naked choke submission win over Jon Fitch in the first round.

Pyle scored another quick submission win before fighting to a draw with Andrei Semenov at an M-1 event in April of 2003.

Following the draw, Pyle lost his second professional bout to Valdas Pocevicius via guillotine choke in the first round.

Pyle responded to the loss by forcing Arschak Dahabagian to submit to strikes three months later. Four more submission wins followed before Pyle was called up to fight for the World Extreme Cagefighting organization.

WEC, IFL, EliteXC, Sengoku and Affliction

In October of 2005, Pyle faced off against Bret Bergmark at WEC 17 in a bout for the welterweight championship which was vacated by Karo Parisyan. Pyle submitted Bergmark with a triangle choke in 3:36 of round 1 to capture the title.

Three months later, Pyle defended the title with another triangle choke submission win, this time over Shonie Carter in a little over two minutes.

Pyle left the WEC after the Carter victory and after stopping Gustavo Machado with punches in March, 2006 Pyle signed with the International Fight League.

In his IFL debut, Pyle was knocked cold by Rory Markham in just 44 seconds.

Pyle bounced back from his disappointing IFL debut with a 17 second guillotine choke submission win over John Cole a little over four months later.

In November of 2006, Pyle suffered defeat again this time by rear naked choke submission to talented grappler, Matt Horwich.

The Horwich loss marked Pyle's last fight for the IFL as he signed with upstart promotion, EliteXC. At EliteXC: Destiny, Pyle submitted future DREAM competitor, Ross Ebanez with a rear naked choke.

On the undercard of the Strikeforce/EliteXC co-promotion, Shamrock vs. Baroni, Pyle defeated Aaron Wetherspoon via unanimous decision.

Frustrated with having been given little promotion by EliteXC, Pyle signed to fight Jake Shields at EliteXC: Renegade while making it clear it would be his last fight for the promotion. EliteXC tried to sweeten the deal by offering to make it a title fight but Pyle refused. Shields would go on to submit Pyle with a rear naked choke in 3:39 of round 1.

True to his word the Shields fight was Pyle's last for EliteXC as he left the organization to pursue notable fights elsewhere. Three months after the Shields fight, Pyle stepped in to fight Damir Mirenic at an HCF event in Canada. Pyle submitted Mirenic with a kimura in the second round.

Three months later, Pyle travelled to Japan to face Dan Hornbuckle at Sengoku: Second Battle. Pyle submitted Hornbuckle with a triangle choke in the first round.

Two months later, Pyle appeared on the main card of Affliction Entertainment's first mixed martial arts offering, Affliction: Banned. Pyle dominated and submitted opponent, JJ Ambrose, with a rear naked choke in quick time.

Pyle next fought on a card put together by Kim Couture entitled, Superfights MMA: Night of Combat 2. The event featured a number of Xtreme Couture fighters and saw Pyle nab his fourth successive victory when he submitted UFC veteran, Brian Gassaway with an armbar in 4:21 of round 1.

UFC

In May, 2009, it was announced that Pyle had signed a contract with the UFC. The announcement also stated that Pyle would be acting as a standby opponent if any welterweight were to drop out of May 23's UFC 98. Sure enough, Chris Wilson was pulled due to an unresolved medical issue and Pyle was brought in to face former WEC welterweight title challenger, Brock Larson. Pyle looked good early as his active guard appeared to be giving Larson trouble, however Larson eventually waded through and latched onto an arm triangle choke that forced the tap at 3:06 of round 1.