Heath Herring Youtube Videos
Heath Herring Bio
Heath Herring (born March 2, 1978 in Waco, Texas, raised in Amarillo, Texas) is a retired American Heavyweight professional mixed martial artist who attained popularity fighting for PRIDE FC in Japan and most recently fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is primarily known for fighting the world's top heavyweight talent, such as Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Filipović, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Brock Lesnar.
Career
Herring was an MMA fighter who practices sambo and Muay Thai. He currently lives in Las Vegas.
Herring was known for unique hairstyles and colors as well as wearing a cowboy hat and duster coat to the ring. His appearance was very popular among the Japanese crowd.
PRIDE Fighting Championship
Herring is a long time veteran in PRIDE, where he participated in 17 fights. He took part in the first Heavyweight title fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira where he lost by unanimous decision. Despite his earlier championship loss to Rodrigo Nogueira he was widely considered the number one contender until his first round loss to Fedor Emelianenko. His most notable wins are over Evan Tanner, Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Kerr, and Cheick Kongo.
He parted ways with PRIDE in late 2004 because of management disputes.
New Year's Eve kiss
On December 31, 2005, Herring was involved in a memorable MMA moment during K-1's Dynamite 2005 show. During the pre-fight staredown, his opponent, Yoshihiro Nakao, leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Herring reacted, delivering a right hook to the jaw of Nakao, knocking him out cold. Herring was immediately disqualified and Nakao was carried from the ring. Shortly thereafter, Nakao's cornermen attacked Herring and a brief fight ensued. Herring's trainers, Ricardo Pires and Sergio Penhafought 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
Herring was considered a hired gun to shake up the UFC's heavy weight division. He lost to Jake O'Brien via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 8 in his UFC debut.
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 Antonio 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.
Film career
Heath Herring starred in Never Surrender, that was released by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2009 as well as Circle of Pain. According to an October 6 comment on Herring's Facebook page, he has completed work in several other recent or upcoming films, including Hell's Chain, Devil Dogs, Unrivaled, Breakdown, Henry's Crime and Salt (which stars Angelina Jolie). And is slated to star in several upcoming films including "Havanna Heat" with Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Championships and Accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- World Vale Tudo Championship
- WVC 9 Heavyweight Tournament Winner
- WVC 8 Heavyweight Tournament Runner Up
Mixed martial arts record
External links
- Official website
- Heath Herring on Myspace
- Official UFC Profile
- Professional MMA record for Heath Herring from Sherdog
- Heath Herring at the Internet Movie Database
- Weekly Radio Show featuring Herring as co-host
MMA Shirts
