Matt Lindland
From OTMWiki
| Matt Lindland | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | The Law |
| Height | 6 ft (183 cm) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Born | 17 May 1970 |
| Fighting out of | Portland, Oregon |
| Town of birth | Oregon City, Oregon |
| Fighting style | Wrestling |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 18 |
| By knockout | 5 |
| By submission | 7 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Matthew James Lindland (born 17 May 1970), commonly known as Matt Lindland and nicknamed "The Law" is a high-ranking American professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter and Olympic wrestler.
Contents |
Amateur wrestling
Lindland started wrestling at age 15. He represented the United States in Greco-Roman Wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 69-76 kg weight category, winning the silver medal.
In the finals of the United States Olympic trials, Lindland wrestled Keith Sieracki. Lindland accused Sieracki of tripping him.(Under the rules of Greco-Roman wrestling, athletes are not permitted the use of their legs for advantage or defense of offensive moves).
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) eventually took the case as far as the Supreme Court, attempting to keep Keith Sieracki on the team. An arbitrator has previously ordered a rematch, which Lindland won, but the USOC still did not want to put Lindland on the team in place of Sieracki.[2] First a district judge, then a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, decided in Lindland's favour. As a result of this process Lindland earned the nickname "the Law".
Mixed martial arts
Lindland readily adapted his wrestling skills to Mixed martial arts fighting, with the aid of his friends Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and others at Team Quest, to create an effective and dominant Clinch-and-pound and Ground-and-pound attacking style. He progressed rapidly through the ranks of the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship until losing to Murilo Bustamente in a championship match.
After continuing to maintain a mostly-winning record in the UFC, Lindland was dropped from the UFC roster for breaking one of the sponsorship and advertising-related terms of his contract, and has continued his professional MMA career with 3 straight wins in high-level international competition. Lindland is consistently ranked as being in the Top 10, and usually the Top 5 in his weight category in international Mixed martial arts[1].
Lindland has a professional MMA record of 18 wins and 3 losses, and despite having a reputation with some fans of winning mostly by decision, actually has a remarkably high finishing percentage against high-level opponents, with 12 of his 18 wins coming by TKO, KO or submission.
References
- ↑ Insidefighting.com Middleweight Mixed Martial Arts Top 10 rankings. URL checked 2006-05-25
