Heath Herring

Heath Herring (born March 2, 1978 ) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division. While perhaps best known for competing in PRIDE, he also competed for the UFC, K-1 and Rizin.

Background Herring was born in Waco, Texas and was raised in Amarillo, Texas. His mother is a psychologist working for the Texas prison system and his father is an attorney who owns two different law firms. Herring attended Amarillo High School and played competitive football while being pursued by the school's Wrestling coach to join the team. Herring initially resisted, but in his senior year Herring began training and qualified as one of the top ten competitors in the state for the state championships. Soon after, he began practicing Sambo. Herring began training to fight in mixed martial arts when he graduated high school at the age of 18, but also continued his football career as a defensive end for West Texas A&M University's Division II program, although he did not finish his college education.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career Herring made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 1997 and compiled a record of 13-5 before being signed by PRIDE. After reaching the final of the World Vale Tudo Championship 8 tournament held in Aruba in July 1999, Herring was invited to learn kickboxing in the Netherlands by the show's Dutch promoter Bas Boone and he trained under Cor Hemmers at Golden Glory for a number of years.

PRIDE Fighting Championships Herring is a longtime veteran in PRIDE, where he participated in 17 fights. Herring was very popular with the Japanese crowd for his unique hairstyles and colors, as well as sporting a duster coat and cowboy hat to the ring during his entrances. fought with Nakao's trainers until security stopped the fight. The fight result has since been changed by K-1 from a disqualification loss for Herring to a no contest, as K-1 judges ruled that Nakao's kiss and Herring's subsequent knockout punch were both fouls.

Transition to the UFC Heath Herring debuted in the UFC for UFC Fight Night 8 and lost on decision against Jake O'Brien after deciding to fight after being injured.

On Saturday, April 7, 2007, at UFC 69 Heath faced off against The Ultimate Fighter 2 Heavyweight finalist Brad Imes. Herring won the match by unanimous decision after 3 rounds.

At UFC 73, Herring lost via unanimous decision to Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, but not before he landed a left high kick to Nogueira's head late in the first round. Nogueira was sent to the ground, visibly stunned, but Herring did not engage him and attempt to finish the fight, opting to stand up shortly after the kick and beckoned Nogueira to stand as well. The referee motioned Noguiera to stand up after the brief flurry on the ground, giving Herring the advantage but Herring was not able to finish the fight in the first round.

At UFC 82 Heath won a three-round split-decision against rising contender Cheick Kongo. While both are considered strikers, much of the fight took place on the ground. After the fight Heath said he was not happy with the fight, he wanted to give the fans a stand-up fight and Kongo refused to stand with him. Herring also said after the fight that he did not even train at all for the ground game.

Herring fought Brock Lesnar at UFC 87 after Mark Coleman was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury. The fight went the full 3 rounds and Lesnar was declared winner by unanimous decision. Herring was knocked down early in the first round with a straight right. According to Heath Herring's official Facebook profile in a note titled "6 Months To Rest", Herring is said to have suffered a broken orbital bone from the first punch of the fight. Herring was scheduled to fight Cain Velasquez at UFC 99, but was forced to withdraw due to an undisclosed illness.

Herring stated in November 2010 that he wants to fight as soon as possible. He was still under contract with the UFC and was expected to make his return.

In September 2011, responding to a question asked via Twitter, UFC President Dana White commented that Herring "...retired after the Lesnar fight".

Herring has taken up the hobby of playing poker since his retirement from MMA and is also a commentator for Rizin Fighting Federation.

Joining Rizin FF Openweight tournament After eight years away from the sport, the 38-year-old Herring ended his retirement and signed with the Japanese promotion Rizin Fighting Federation. He faced Amir Aliakbari, an Iranian wrestling standout, in the quarter-final round of the openweight grand prix, replacing fellow former UFC fighter Shane Carwin. Herring lost the bout by unanimous decision. Herring than stepped into the ring again to fight a second bout against former kickboxer and judoka Satoshi Ishii. The bout went the distance, and though Herring was praised for his retained competitive sport, he again lost by unanimous decision. Going 0-2 in his attempted comeback, though he never formally retired, Herring returned to inactivity and has not fought since 2017.

Film career Heath Herring starred in Never Surrender, released by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2009 as well as Circle of Pain. He has also appeared in Hell's Chain, Unrivaled, Beatdown, and Division III: Football's Finest.

Personal life Herring was married when he was 18 years old and has a daughter, but the marriage ended in divorce. In August 2014 he remarried, to TV presenter Sarah Grant. They had a daughter in 2019. Herring's brother also competed in MMA, holding an undefeated 5-0 record before attending Baylor University to play football as an offensive tackle. Herring currently lives in Las Vegas. Before becoming a professional fighter, he worked as a computer programmer.

In the last eight years, all through his thirties, Herring has worked as a stunt man in Hollywood, worked as a professional poker player and launched a mixed martial arts promotion in Argentina. World Vale Tudo Championship WVC 9 Heavyweight Tournament Winner WVC 8 Heavyweight Tournament Runner Up Superbrawl Superbrawl 13 Heavyweight Tournament Semifinalist Bas Rutten Invitational Bas Rutten Invitational 3 Tournament Winner

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Satoshi Ishii Decision (unanimous) Rizin 2017 in Yokohama: Sakura

Yokohama, Japan Loss

Amir Aliakbari Decision (unanimous) Rizin World Grand Prix 2016: 2nd Round

Saitama, Japan Loss

Brock Lesnar Decision (unanimous) UFC 87

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Win

Cheick Kongo Decision (split) UFC 82

Columbus, Ohio, United States Loss

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Decision (unanimous) UFC 73

Sacramento, California, United States Win

Brad Imes Decision (unanimous) UFC 69

Houston, Texas, United States Loss

Jake O'Brien Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Evans vs Salmon

Hollywood, Florida, United States Win

Gary Goodridge TKO (punches) Hero's 4

Tokyo, Japan NC

Yoshihiro Nakao No Contest K-1 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!!

Osaka, Japan Loss

Sam Greco TKO (knee injury) HERO'S 1

Saitama, Japan Win

Hirotaka Yokoi TKO (knees) PRIDE 28

Saitama, Japan Loss

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Submission (anaconda choke) PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004

Saitama, Japan Win

Kazuo Takahashi TKO (punches) PRIDE Total Elimination 2004

Saitama, Japan Win

Gan McGee Decision (split) PRIDE 27

Osaka, Japan Win

Paulo Cesar Silva Submission (rear-naked choke) PRIDE Shockwave 2003

Saitama, Japan Win

Yoshihisa Yamamoto Submission (rear-naked choke) PRIDE Final Conflict 2003

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Mirko Cro Cop TKO (body kick and punches) PRIDE 26

Yokohama, Japan Loss

Fedor Emelianenko TKO (doctor stoppage) PRIDE 23

Tokyo, Japan Win

Yuriy Kochkine TKO (knees) PRIDE 22

Nagoya, Japan Win

Igor Vovchanchyn Decision (unanimous) PRIDE 19

Saitama, Japan Loss

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Decision (unanimous) PRIDE 17

Tokyo, Japan Win

Mark Kerr TKO (knees) PRIDE 15

Saitama, Japan Loss

Vitor Belfort Decision (unanimous) PRIDE 14

Yokohama, Japan Win

Denis Sobolev Submission (americana) PRIDE 13

Saitama, Japan Win

Enson Inoue TKO (knees) PRIDE 12

Saitama, Japan Win

Tom Erikson Submission (rear-naked choke) PRIDE 11

Osaka, Japan Win

Willie Peeters Submission (rear-naked choke) PRIDE 9

Nagoya, Japan Loss

Ramazan Mezhidov TKO (doctor stoppage) IAFC: Pankration World Championship 2000 Day 2

Moscow, Russia Win

Rene Rooze DQ (excessive fouling) 2 Hot 2 Handle 1

Rotterdam, The Netherlands Win

Bob Schrijber TKO (punches)

Win

Sean McCully Submission (kimura)

Win

Michael Tielrooy Submission (americana)

Loss

Bobby Hoffman Decision (unanimous)

Win

Rocky Batastini Submission (rear-naked choke)

Loss

Alexandre Ferreira Decision (split)

Win

Kavkaz Soultanmagomedov TKO (submission to punches)

Win

Erwin van den Steen TKO (submission to punches)

Win

Gabe Beauperthy Submission (armlock)

Win

Hoss Carter Submission (americana)

Loss

Travis Fulton Decision (unanimous) Extreme Challenge 24

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Win

Phil Deason Submission (americana)

Win

Nik Bickle TKO (submission to punches)

Win

Evan Tanner Submission (rear-naked choke) PSDA

Texas, United States Loss

Evan Tanner TKO (exhaustion) Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 7

Amarillo, Texas, United States Win

Chris Guillen Submission (rear-naked choke) Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation 4

Amarillo, Texas, United States