Charles Brenneman (born February 9, 1981) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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, incorpo ...

and currently is a motivational speaker. A professional from 2007 until 2014, he competed for the

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 ...

ShoXC ''ShoXC'' is a mixed martial arts series produced by the mixed martial arts organization EliteXC, Showtime and Proelite.com. The series was announced on July 11, 2007. The purpose of the show is to highlight up and coming MMA fighters. On Oct ...

, and was the winner of the first season of the television show ''

Pros vs Joes ''Pros vs. Joes'' was an American physical reality game show that aired on Spike from 2006 to 2010. The show featured male amateur contestants (the "Joes") matching themselves against professional athletes (the "Pros"; mostly of retired male and ...

''.

Background

Brenneman was born to Charles and Marie Brenneman in

Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania Hollidaysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Blair County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located on the Juniata River, south of Altoona and is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, metropolitan statistical area. In 1900, 2,99 ...

, the youngest of the four Brenneman children. He wrestled throughout his elementary and high school career. Upon graduating from Hollidaysburg Area High School in 1999, Brenneman attended

Lock Haven University Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania (LHU) is a public university in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The main campus consists of and the branch campus covers . It offers 69 undergradua ...

, where he continued wrestling and finished his

collegiate wrestling Collegiate wrestling (also known as folkstyle wrestling) is the form of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. This style of wrestling, with some slight modifications, is also practiced at high school and m ...

career with a Top-12 finish at Nationals. Brenneman earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in Secondary Education/Spanish from

, and returned to his hometown to teach

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

at his former high school for three years, which is where his nickname 'the Spaniard' came from. He continued his education, earning his Master of Arts from

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) is a public university in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It is one of ten state universities that compose the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). History What today is East ...

in Sports Management. It was during the first season of the ''

'' game show when he first received national public attention. He was unexpectedly cast after submitting his application to participate in the reality game show, but he won the competition alongside his older brother Ben. Following his victory on the ''Pros vs. Joes'' show, Brenneman resigned from his high school teaching job to pursue a mixed martial arts fighting career.

Fighting career

During his amateur career, Brenneman compiled a 5–0 undefeated record. In an attempt to maintain his momentum, he quickly turned professional, debuting on July 28, 2007, against Marcello Olivera. Brenneman also earned a 5–0 record at the professional level through early 2008, with a notable split-decision victory over Drew Puzon at the

event on January 25, 2008.

2008 injury and AMA Fight Club

During a sparring session with one-time UFC fighter Chris Liguori, Brenneman sustained a kick to the face that shattered his left orbital and forced him to undergo emergency surgery to repair the damage. Vertical and lateral plates were inserted into his face, and he eventually regained vision in his left eye. Brenneman made his comeback to competition on September 12, 2008, against

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

, but suffered the first loss of his career. Because of the defeat, the self-trained Brenneman decided to join the AMA Fight Club, and went on to win his next six bouts before being offered a contract for the

Ultimate Fighting Championship 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 ...

(UFC).

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Brenneman made his UFC debut on the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi against

Jason High Jason High (born October 12, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight division of the Professional Fighters League. A professional competitor since 2005, High has also competed for Strikeforce, Aff ...

, whom he defeated via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28). In his next fight, Brenneman lost to

Johny Hendricks Johny Harvey Hendricks (born September 12, 1983) is an American former mixed martial artist and collegiate wrestler. He competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former UFC Welterwe ...

UFC 117 ''UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, United States. Background UFC President Dana White announced via ESPN on Jim Ro ...

via TKO in the second round. Brenneman faced Amilcar Alves on January 22, 2011, at

UFC Fight Night 23 ''UFC: Fight for the Troops 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 23'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 22, 2011 at Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. The event was the third that the UFC has ho ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Brenneman was scheduled to fight

T. J. Grant T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for "True" in lo ...

on June 26, 2011 at

UFC on Versus 4 ''UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry'' (also known as ''UFC on Versus 4'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 26, 2011, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The event was broadcast on Versus ...

, but Grant had to pull out due to illness and the fight was scrapped. However, just hours before the weigh-ins it was reported that

Nate Marquardt Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight and welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 1999, he is a former Strikeforce W ...

did not receive medical clearance and had to pull out of his bout against

Rick Story Rick Thomas Story (born August 28, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2007-2018, he last competed for the Professional Fighters League, but is better known for his 19-fight tenure with the UFC. Background Stor ...

. As a result, Brenneman fought Story in the evening's co-main event. Brenneman upset the favored Story, as Brenneman was able to out wrestle Story and control him on the ground while fending off multiple submission attempts in the third round en route to a unanimous decision victory. He later stated about his upset win, that he'd luckily been told about being Marquardt's replacement for this fight earlier than Story and was also training for a fight with Story as well because of this, just in case he turned out to be the replacement, which he was. Brenneman lost to Anthony Johnson via first-round TKO due to a head kick on October 1, 2011 at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson. Brenneman next faced Daniel Roberts on January 20, 2012 at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Brenneman faced

Erick Silva Erick Vinicius Silva (born June 21, 1984) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A professional from 2005 till 2019, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA, and Jungle Fight, ...

on June 8, 2012 at

UFC on FX 3 The year 2012 was the 20th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2012 started with UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes and ended with UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 ...

and lost via rear-naked choke near the end of the first round. Brenneman was expected to face

Kyle Noke Kyle Noke (born 18 March 1980) is an Australian retired mixed martial artist who competed as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2002, Noke has also fought for EliteXC. Background Noke, origina ...

on September 1, 2012 at

UFC 151 ''UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson'' was a planned mixed martial arts event that was to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 1, 2012, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was to be headlined by a UFC Light ...

. However, as a result of the cancellation of

, Noke/Brenneman was rescheduled for September 22, 2012 at

UFC 152 ''UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort '' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 22, 2012, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background Rory MacDonald was expected to face fo ...

. Brenneman lost the fight in the first round via TKO due to punches. After the loss Brenneman was released from the promotion.

Post UFC

Brenneman cut down to 155 lbs. following his release from the UFC. Brenneman fought Eric Irvin at VFL 40 on Jan 19, 2013. He won via second round submission. Brenneman defeated Jeremy Castro and Gemiyale Adkins in the Cage Fury Fighting Championships, and would then defeat Kyle Baker by submission via arm-triangle choke for the vacant CFFC lightweight title.

Return to UFC

Brenneman returned to the UFC and faced promotional newcomer Beneil Dariush in a lightweight bout on January 15, 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 35 ''UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Philippou'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 35'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 15, 2014, at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia. The event was broadcast live on Fox Sports 1, and was ...

, replacing an injured

. Brenneman was quickly submitted in the first round via rear-naked choke, after being dropped by a left hand. Brenneman faced

Danny Castillo Daniel Alfonso Castillo (born August 25, 1979) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2007 until 2015, he competed in 22 bouts with both the UFC and WEC. Mixed martial arts career Early career Castillo began training M ...

UFC 172 ''UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira'' was a mixed martial arts event that was held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on April 26, 2014, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The event was released on DVD on July 29, 2014. The DVD was dist ...

. After a back-and-forth first round, Brenneman lost via knockout early in the second round. Brenneman faced Leandro Silva on November 8, 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 56 ''UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 56'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the Ginásio Municipal Tancredo Neves in Uberlândia, Brazil, on November 8, 2014. Background After previously holding even ...

. Brenneman was submitted by a rear naked choke in the first round following multiple takedown attempts. After the loss Brenneman was again released from the promotion.

Personal life

Brenneman and his wife Amanda have a daughter named Gracie, born in 2013 and a son named Rocky, born in 2016.

Championship and accomplishments

*Cage Fury Fighting Championships **CFFC Lightweight Championship (One time) *Ring of Combat **ROC Welterweight Championship (One time) *Valley Fight League **VFL Welterweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest municipality in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the fo ...

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Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 19–6 ,

Beneil Dariush Beneil Khobier Dariush (born May 6, 1989) is an Assyrian-American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of October 24, 2022, he is #4 in the UFC lightw ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Philippou , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:45 ,

Duluth, Georgia Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, Duluth had a population of 31,873, and the United States Census Bureau estimated the ...

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King of Prussia, Pennsylvania King of Prussia (also referred to as KOP) is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 22,028. The community took its unusual name in the 18th ...

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Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:33 , Sunrise, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–3 , Daniel Roberts , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

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West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.

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References

External links

Official UFC Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brenneman, Charlie 1981 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from Pennsylvania People from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania Lightweight mixed martial artists American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters