Bret Bergmark (born November 24, 1973) is an American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who most recently competed in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division. A professional competitor since 2002, Bergmark has formerly competed for the WEC,

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

, and

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki pr ...

Biography

Bret was born in

Novato Novato ( Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...

, California, the son of a San Francisco police officer. He attended and graduated from

San Marin High School San Marin High School is a public high school located in Novato, California, in the United States. History San Marin High School opened in 1968 in Novato. Robert Vieth became principal in 2007, after the former principal was dismissed by the ...

, where he wrestled for four years. After high school Bret took up rodeo bull riding, until a wrist injury forced him to retire. It was at this time that Bret turned his energy toward training in

Gracie Jiu Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a martial arts, self-defence martial art and combat sport based on ground fighting, grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opp ...

, joining the

Ralph Gracie Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

academy in 1999. After gaining his blue belt he left the

academy to train at the Cesar Gracie academy in

Pleasant Hill, California Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 34,613 at the 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1961. Pleasant Hill is the home of College Park H ...

, in 2002. It was at the Cesar Gracie academy that Bret earned his purple belt and started fighting in professional

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

matches. Bret currently trains and teaches out of the Cesar Gracie academy in

. He also occasionally trains at the respective academies of

Jake Shields Jake Sequoyah Shields (born January 9, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and submission grappler. He was the last Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Champion, the only Elite XC Welterweight Champion, a former Shooto Welterweight ...

(Graciefighter Berkeley),

Nick Diaz Nickolas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Diaz is a former Strikeforce, WEC and IFC welterweight champion ...

and

Nate Diaz Nathan Donald Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist who is currently a free agent. Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for over 15 year ...

(Graciefighter Lodi),

Gilbert Melendez Gilbert Melendez (born April 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a two-time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and a former WEC Lightwe ...

(El Nino Training Center), Jon Santos (Team Santos Jiu Jitsu) and Dave Terrell (Nor Cal Fighting Alliance).

Mixed martial arts career

Bergmark had his first professional MMA fight on August 3, 2002, shortly after joining the Cesar Gracie academy. He fought Paul Ano in Warriors Quest 6 - The Best of the Best. After a brutal fight, which saw each fighter give and receive punishment, Bergmark locked up an armbar at 4:45 of the second round forcing the referee to stop the action and giving Bret the victory. Bret next fought in a superfight for the Ultimate Athlete 4 - King of the Mountain tournament on September 28, 2002. He was matched up against seasoned veteran and

American Kickboxing Academy The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) is a martial arts gym based in San Jose, California. It is one of the pioneering schools of mixed martial arts (MMA). In 2014, AKA opened the ''AKA Thailand'' gym in Phuket, Thailand. Prominent trainers inc ...

member

Brian Ebersole Brian Keith Ebersole (born November 27, 1980) is an American retired mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC's Welterweight division, and holds a record of 5-3 with the organization. In addition to the UFC, Ebersole has competed in Shooto, ...

. The fight would go the distance, with both fighters landing punches and takedowns. Bergmark would earn the victory via split decision. Bret's third fight was against

Brodie Farber Brodie Kyle Farber (born July 5, 1980) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional since 2002, he has competed for the UFC and WEC. Mixed martial arts career Early ca ...

at WEC 6: Return of a Legend on March 27, 2003. After some early ground fighting that saw Bret taking his opponent down and several sweeps and reversals, Bret finally achieved mount and forced the referee to stop the match at 3:57 of the first round due to strikes, giving Bret the victory. For his fourth fight Bret moved to the legendary

organization in Japan, taking on

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

and Pancrase veteran Keiichiro Yamamiya at

Hybrid: 11 on December 21, 2003. After going all three rounds without either fighter able to finish the bout, the fight went to the judges scorecards and was ruled a draw. Bret's next fight was back in the WEC at WEC 10: Bragging Rights on May 21, 2004. Again Bret was matched up against a seasoned Pancrase veteran in Daisuke Ishii. In an exciting back and forth fight that saw action both on the ground and on the feet, Bret finally secured the mount and forced the referee to stop the fight at 4:49 of the first round due to strikes, earning him his fourth victory. On October 14, 2005 Bret took on Mike Pyle at WEC 17: Halloween Fury 4. The fight quickly went to the ground, where after several reversals of position Pyle locked in a triangle choke, forcing Bret to tap at 3:36 of the first round and giving Bret his first loss. After a two-year layoff, Bret dropped to the 170 pound weight class to fight

Jesse Juarez Jesse Juarez (born May 8, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Absolute Championship Berkut. A professional competitor since 2006, Juarez has also formerly competed for Strikeforce, ...

on April 26, 2008, in the Iroquois MMA championships. After 3 rounds of action Bret earned a unanimous decision. Bret made his

debut on June 26, 2010 in San Jose California as he fought

Vagner Rocha Vagner Rocha (born June 6, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a Brazilian-American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and professional mixed martial artist, currently competing in the lightweight division. He is the current Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds ...

in the prelims. Bret earned his first victory for the company by unanimous decision. Bret was scheduled to fight October 9, 2010 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II against

Cung Le Cung Le ( vi, Lê Cung; born May 25, 1972) is a Vietnamese-born American actor, retired mixed martial artist, Sanshou fighter and kickboxer. He competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), holding a record ...

product James Terry, but had to pull out due to an injury sustained while training for the fight.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Bergmark is currently a

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

brown belt under the world-renowned Cesar Gracie, with whom he has been training since 2002.

Muay Thai

Bret also trains in

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

kickboxing, starting his training with World Team USA and then continuing at Gym 445 in San Francisco, California. He currently trains Muay Thai at

Fairtex Gym Fairtex Gym is the name given to a number of Muay Thai, Kick boxing, Boxing, Brazilian jiujitsu and Mixed martial arts gyms around the world. The original Fairtex Gym was founded in Bangkok, Thailand in 1975. History The Fairtex Garments Facto ...

in San Francisco.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 6–1–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Iroquois Mixed Martial Arts Championships III , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, California , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1–1 , Mike Pyle , Submission (triangle choke) ,

WEC 17 WEC 17: Halloween Fury 4 was a mixed martial arts event promoted by World Extreme Cagefighting on October 14, 2005 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. A light heavyweight tournament was held with the winner being crowned th ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3.36 ,

Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 2 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0–1 , Daisuke Ishii , TKO (punches) , WEC 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:49 ,

, United States , , - , Draw , align=center, 3–0–1 ,

Keiichiro Yamamiya Keiichiro Yamamiya (born July 12, 1972) is a Japanese former professional mixed martial artist. A veteran of 89 fights who began his career in 1996 and last competed in 2015, he fought in the UFC, Pancrase, DEEP, and World Victory Road. He was th ...

, Draw , Pancrase: Hybrid 11 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , WEC 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:57 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 ,

, Decision (split) , Ultimate Athlete 4: King of the Mountain , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Auberry, California Auberry () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 2,369 at the 2010 census, up from 2,053 at the 2000 census. Auberry is located on Little Sandy Creek west of Shaver Lake Heights, at an ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Paul Ano , Submission (armbar) , Warrior's Quest 6: Best of the Best , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:45 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, United States ,

References

External links

Official WebsiteGraciefighter Biography
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmark, Bret Living people 1973 births American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American Muay Thai practitioners American sanshou practitioners People from Novato, California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area