MMA legend Dan Severn to visit PH in December

MANILA, Philippines – The archipelago nation will roll out the red carpet once again for a mixed martial arts legend when he visits the Philippines next month.

In partnership with Gavin Williams and Gareth Hobbs of MMA Seminars, Team Goat Locker is bringing MMA pioneer Dan Severn to the country for a three-hour colloquium at the Goat Locker Gym in Marikina City on December 6.

“The main goal of this event is to introduce the younger generation to the techniques and secrets of Dan Severn as to how he dominated the MMA scene during his time,” gym owner Jefe Munsayac tells Rappler.

A two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Arizona State University, Severn began his prizefighting career in December 1994 when he participated in the UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors tournament.

The 6-foot-2 fighter known as “The Beast” competed three times at the aforementioned event, defeating Anthony Macias and Marcus Bossett with a rear-naked choke before yielding to Royce Gracie in the finals by means of a triangle choke.

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Severn rebounded from the disappointing setback to Gracie by capturing the tourney crown in his next attempt at UFC 5: Return of the Beast in April 1995.

Three months later, Severn was booked to square off with Ken Shamrock for the inaugural super-fight championship at UFC 6: Clash of the Titans, but he failed to bring home the belt as he was submitted with a guillotine choke in the first round.

Diverting his attention from the submission loss to Shamrock, Severn then entered the Ultimate Ultimate 1995, which at the time was the toughest competition in UFC history as the step-ladder format consisted of past tournament champions and runner ups.

Severn thumped the likes of Paul Varelans, David “Tank” Abbott and Oleg Taktarov all in the same night to be declared as the Ultimate Ultimate 1995 winner.

With the victory, Severn earned a title shot and rematch against Shamrock in May 1996 at UFC 9: Motor City Madness, where he won by split decision to claim the super-fight strap.

Severn faced Mark Coleman at UFC 12: Judgment Day in February 1997 to determine the promotion’s first heavyweight champion, but he succumbed to Coleman’s neck crank submission.

Under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner, he had 13 bouts, including his last Octagon outing versus Pedro Rizzo at UFC 27: Ultimate Bad Boyz in September 2000.

Although he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in April 2005, Severn still made sporadic appearances in various organizations such as PRIDE, World Extreme Cagefighting, Pacific Xtreme Combat and King of the Cage, to name a few.

The 56-year-old native of Coldwater, Michigan decided to hang up the gloves for good in January 2013 and left the sport with a record of 101-19-7.

“It will be a perfect opportunity for MMA fans and practitioners to learn from a UFC legend like him. I am sure he would share his own experiences in a different approach to today’s MMA,” Munsayac said.

Aside from his MMA stint, Severn made a run in professional wrestling, working for Japan’s UWF International, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Wrestling Federation, which is known today as World Wrestling Entertainment.

Severn won the NWA world heavyweight championship by beating Chris Candido on a Smoky Mountain Wrestling card in February 1995 and would go on as the third-longest reigning titlist in the belt’s history. – Rappler.com