Seth Petruzelli

Seth Petruzelli
Born (1979-12-03) December 3, 1979
Cape Coral, Florida, United States
Other names The Silverback
Residence Orlando, Florida
Nationality American
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st)
Division Light Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Reach 74.0 in (188 cm)
Fighting out of Orlando, Florida
Team The Jungle MMA and Fitness
Rank Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Third degree black belt in Shitō-ryū
Years active 2000–2013
Kickboxing record
Total 3
Losses 3
By knockout 3
Mixed martial arts record
Total 22
Wins 14
By knockout 12
By submission 1
By decision 1
Losses 8
By knockout 3
By submission 4
By decision 1
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: September 8, 2012

Seth Christopher Petruzelli (born December 3, 1979) is a retired American mixed martial artist, current kickboxer, professional wrestler and entrepreneur. Petruzelli competed in the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions for the UFC, WEC, EliteXC, King of the Cage, BAMMA, and Bellator. On October 21, 2015, Petruzeli signed with professional wrestling promotion WWE, to work at their Performance Center as a striking coach.[1]

Background

Petruzelli was born in Cape Coral, Florida and is a native of Fort Myers, Florida. He began training in martial arts at the age of seven and continued on training through high school. Petruzelli attended Bishop Verot High School as a freshman before transferring to Mariner High School to take advantage of the school's elite wrestling team. He also played football and ran in track and field. Petruzelli was a three-sport letterman all four years of high school and was also all-state center in football. Petruzelli was offered a scholarship to wrestle and play football in college but ended up turning professional in mixed martial arts right out of high school. He holds a 3rd degree black belt in Shitō-ryū Karate and a Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He eventually went on to study psychology at the University of Central Florida.[2] Seth Petruzelli was married for around 4 years.[3] He and his first wife divorced after conflicts over him continuing fighting and business conflicts.[4] When he retired from fighting in 2013 he was engaged to a girlfriend.[5]

Mixed martial arts career

Petruzelli was a member of the cast of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's The Ultimate Fighter 2 as a Heavyweight. He was eliminated in the semi-finals by Brad Imes after having defeated Dan Christison by unanimous decision in an elimination bout. He later had the opportunity to fight in the UFC in 2006, but was cut after losses to Matt Hamill and Wilson Gouveia.

EliteXC controversy

On October 4, 2008, at EliteXC: Heat, he defeated Kimbo Slice in 14 seconds by TKO. He was offered the fight as a stand-in after UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock received a cut over his left eye in pre-fight practice and was forced to back out.[6]

On October 10, 2008, six days after the fight with Slice, he told the radio show The Monsters in the Morning:

"The promoters kinda hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and throw with him, they didn't want me to take him down. Let's just put it that way. It was worth my while to try and stand up punch him."[7][8]

EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw immediately denied what could be perceived as them trying to fix the fight,[7] and Petruzelli later clarified his statement telling respectively Yahoo! Sports and FiveOuncesofPain.com:

What that meant was they offer a knockout bonus, submission bonuses, fight of the night bonuses. I think it just got misconstrued. I wanted to have an exciting fight and I wanted the knock out bonus so I wanted to keep it standing. [...] They just said, ‘we want to see an exciting fight no matter what happens.’ I took it as I wanted the knockout bonus.[7]
What was meant to be said was that I wanted to keep the fight standing for myself because I knew that was what the crowd, the promoters, and everyone wanted to see because that’s more exciting than just taking someone to the ground. That was my thing only. I wanted to keep it exciting so I decided to keep it standing. It had nothing to do with anybody else. That was all me.[9]

On October 23, 2008, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation concluded its investigation of the bout and found no wrongdoing.[10]

2008–2010

In December 2008, Petruzelli opened "The Jungle MMA & Fitness" (http://jungleorlando.com) with Tom Lawlor and Mike Lee in Orlando, Fl. On August 22, 2009, Petruzelli fought in the Art Of Fighting 4 at the USF Sundome in Florida.

Petruzelli was expected to face MMA pioneer and former King of Pancrase Ken Shamrock on March 6, 2010 at an event called International Unlimited Fighting: The Return of Buluc but the fight was called off.[11]

Return to the UFC

Petruzelli returned to the UFC at UFC 116 to face UFC newcomer Ricardo Romero. Despite having dominated the initial stages of the fight, Petruzelli lost by armbar submission and was visibly hurt.[12]

Petruzelli stated via Twitter that his arm was not broken and it had just popped. He was given another fight by the UFC, and expressed excitement to face Tito Ortiz or Matt Hamill depending on whoever loses the fight. On November 13, he faced Karlos Vemola at UFC 122 in Oberhausen, Germany. He lost the fight via TKO (strikes) at 3:46 of the first round and was released from the promotion after dropping to 0-4 in the UFC.[13]

Post-UFC Career

Petruzelli faced Dave Mewborn on April 22 serving as the Main Event for World Extreme Fighting 46 at the UCF Arena in Orlando Florida.[14] He defeated Mewborn by TKO at 3:06 of the first round.

Bellator Fighting Championships

Petruzelli made his Bellator debut against Ricco Rodriguez at Bellator 48. He won the fight via KO in the first round. After the fight Petruzelli was rewarded with a BJJ black belt under Thiago Domingues (a De La Riva Blackbelt).

He returned in 2013 as a participant in the Bellator Season 7 Light Heavyweight tournament. He lost to Jacob Noe via TKO in the opening round at Bellator 85.

Petruzelli competed in Bellator's Light Heavyweight summer series tournament on Spike.[15] He faced Muhammed Lawal in the opening round of a 4-man tournament at Bellator 96 on June 19, 2013 and lost via knockout in the first round. Following the loss Petruzelli announced his retirement from MMA.[16]

Championships and accomplishments

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record

Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 14–8 Muhammed Lawal KO (punch) Bellator 96 June 19, 2013 1 1:35 Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States Bellator 2013 Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal
Loss 14–7 Jacob Noe TKO (punches) Bellator 85 January 17, 2013 1 2:51 Irvine, California, United States Bellator Season 8 Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal
Win 14–6 Ricco Rodriguez KO (punches) Bellator 48 August 20, 2011 1 4:21 Uncasville, Connecticut, United States Catchweight (230 lb) bout
Win 13–6 Dave Mewborn TKO (punches) World Extreme Fighting 46 April 22, 2011 1 3:06 Orlando, Florida, United States
Loss 12–6 Karlos Vemola TKO (punches) UFC 122 November 13, 2010 1 3:46 Oberhausen, Germany
Loss 12–5 Ricardo Romero Submission (straight armbar) UFC 116 July 3, 2010 2 3:05 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 12–4 Ryan White Submission (armbar) BAMMA 3 May 15, 2010 1 1:07 Birmingham, England
Win 11–4 Chris Baten TKO (punches) Art of Fighting 4: Damage August 22, 2009 1 2:23 Tampa, Florida, United States
Win 10–4 Kimbo Slice TKO (punches) EliteXC: Heat October 4, 2008 1 0:14 Sunrise, Florida, United States
Win 9–4 Sean Sallee TKO Knight Fight October 27, 2007 1 2:58 Orlando, Florida, United States
Loss 8–4 Wilson Gouveia Submission (guillotine choke) UFC Fight Night: Stevenson vs. Guillard April 5, 2007 2 0:39 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Fight of the Night.
Win 8–3 Bernard Rutherford KO (punches) Ultimate Warrior Challenge February 2, 2007 1 1:47 Jacksonville, Florida, United States Won Ultimate Warrior Challenge Knockout of the Night
Loss 7–3 Matt Hamill Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night 6.5 October 10, 2006 3 5:00 Hollywood, Florida, United States Fight of the Night
Win 7–2 Dan Severn Decision (unanimous) KOTC 32: Bringing Heat January 24, 2004 3 5:00 Miami, Florida, United States
Win 6–2 Brian Hawkins TKO (punches) KOTC 21: Invasion February 21, 2003 1 2:21 Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Win 5–2 Rocky Batastini TKO (punches) KOTC 18 - Sudden Impact November 1, 2002 1 4:04 Reno, Nevada, United States
Win 4–2 Mike Ward TKO (cut) Cage Wars 1 December 23, 2001 1 2:50 Portsmouth, England
Win 3–2 Keith Fielder TKO (corner stoppage) RSF 6: Mayhem in Myers December 29, 2001 1 2:10 Fort Myers, Florida, United States
Win 2–2 Victor Majuskaus TKO (slam & punches) WVF: Battlejax November 10, 2001 1 0:29 Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Loss 1–2 Gan McGee Submission (heel hook) WEC 1 June 30, 2001 1 1:25 Lemoore, California, United States
Loss 1–1 Mario Neto Submission (rear-naked choke) World Vale Tudo Championship June 9, 2001 1 17:36 Recife, Brazil
Win 1–0 Nate Robinson KO WVF: Battlejax August 26, 2000 1 1:29 Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Personal life

He was born in Cape Coral, Florida.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.mmanews.com/seth-petruzelli-signs-with-wwe-as-striking-coach-at-the-performance-center/
  2. ↑ UFC Profile info
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "Petruzelli Shocks Slice". Sherdog. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  7. 1 2 3 "Petruzelli in center of Elite XC storm". Yahoo.
  8. ↑ "Monsters in the Morning interview with Seth Petruzelli". WTKS-FM. October 6, 2008.
  9. ↑ Caplan, Seth (October 6, 2008). "Petruzelli disputes reports he received a bribe to keep Slice fight a standup affair". FiveOunceOfPain.com.
  10. ↑ Franklin McNeil. "ProElite exonerated of wrongdoing in Slice-Petruzelli fight". ESPN.
  11. ↑ "Ken Shamrock vs Seth Petruzelli set for IUF: 'The Return of Buluc' on March 6 in Cancun". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  12. ↑ "Seth Petruzelli rejoins UFC, meets Ricardo Romero on UFC 116 preliminary card". MMAjunkie.
  13. ↑ "Seth Petruzelli released by UFC". fiveouncesofpain.com. November 23, 2010.
  14. ↑ twitter.com/silverbackseth
  15. ↑ http://www.mmaweekly.com/king-mo-lawal-slated-to-return-as-part-of-bellator-summer-series-tournament
  16. ↑ "Seth Petruzelli announces retirement following KO loss at Bellator 96". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
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