David Alan Heath (born February 10, 1976) is an American former

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 ...

who last competed in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since from 2003 until 2012, he fought 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 ...

, MFC, and

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Heath began training in

mixed martial arts 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, inc ...

in 2002 and made his professional debut in 2003. Heath compiled a record of 7-0, which included a win over

Sean Salmon Sean Michael Salmon (born September 11, 1977, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States) is a retired American mixed martial artist and a former columnist for MMA news site MMAjunkie.com. Salmon has competed for the UFC, Strikeforce and King of t ...

, while mostly fighting in his home-state of Oklahoma before being signed by the UFC.

UFC

Heath made his debut for the organization at

UFC 62 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 ...

on August 26, 2006, against Cory Walmsley won the bout via

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikog ...

submission in the first round. Heath next fought at

UFC Fight Night 7 ''UFC Fight Night: Sanchez vs. Riggs'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 7'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 13, 2006 at the MCAS Miramar near San Diego, California. It was the first UFC event ...

against

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Victor Valimiki and won via split decision. Heath then fought against future

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

against then-undefeated

Lyoto Machida (born 30 May 1978), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and karateka, who currently competes in the Light heavyweight division. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light ...

UFC 70 ''UFC 70: Nations Collide'' was the second UFC event held in the United Kingdom, and the first in Manchester on Saturday, 21 April 2007. ''UFC 70'' was also only the seventh UFC event held outside the United States, and the first since ''UFC 38 ...

in England. Heath was a replacement for Machida's original opponent,

Forrest Griffin Forrest Griffin (born July 1, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2013 and currently serves as the Vice President of Athlete Development at the ...

, who withdrew from the bout due to a nagging

staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasio ...

. Heath was handed his first professional loss via unanimous decision and the fight was pulled off the air, being replaced for more entertaining fights. Heath apologized in post-fight interview for a "boring" and "frustrating" performance, and also said that Machida has an "ultra-boring style" of fighting. Heath then fought longtime veteran

Renato Sobral Renato da Cunha Sobral (; born 7 September 1975), also known as "Babalu", is a retired Brazilian Luta Livre submission grappler, mixed martial artist, and was the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. Sobral previously fought in the Ult ...

at ''

UFC 74 ''UFC 74: Respect'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 25, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was a UFC Heavyweight Championship ...

''. Prior to the fight, Heath taunted Sobral over his recent legal difficulties and then wore a shirt displaying Sobral's police mugshot to the Octagon. While angered by the display, Sobral defeated Heath by

anaconda choke Arm triangle choke, side choke, or head and arm choke are generic terms describing blood chokeholds in which the opponent is strangled in between their own shoulder and the practitioner's arm. This is as opposed to the regular triangle choke, whi ...

in the second round after horrifically beating and bloodying his opponent to the point of grotesquerie. Sobral continued to hold the choke for four seconds after Heath tapped out, which is illegal, and ignored the commands of referee Steve Mazzagatti, who tried to physically break the hold. Renato stated during the post-fight interview that "He (Heath) has to learn respect. He deserved that. He called me 'motherfucker'." Sobral also disregarded the boos from the over 11,000 fans, saying "The crowd didn't like it? Who cares! At least they had a reaction." Sobral was released from the UFC for his actions. In a later interview, Heath has stated that he does not hold a "grudge" against Sobral but is disappointed about the "black eye" that the sport of mixed martial arts suffered after the incident. In his next bout for the UFC a year later, Heath fought Tim Boetsch at

UFC 84 ''UFC 84: Ill Will'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on May 24, 2008, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The card featured the return of Sean Sherk, who was suspended and ...

and was defeated in the first round after he was thrown against the cage and hit with numerous punches. Heath, having lost three consecutive fights, was released by the UFC.

Post-UFC

After a TKO win, Heath was signed by the Canada-based MFC and lost his debut against current Bellator fighter,

Emanuel Newton Emanuel Newton (born February 1, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in Bellator's Light Heavyweight division, where he is a former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion. He has also competed for WEC, King of the ...

. Heath then bounced back with a win over former MFC Light Heavyweight Champion,

Roger Hollett Roger Hollett (born October 8, 1978) is a retired Canadians, Canadian mixed martial artist who formerly fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in their Light Heavyweight division. He is the former Maximum Fighting Championship, Maximum Figh ...

. Heath lost his next two fights for the organization before defeating

Solomon Hutcherson Solomon Hutcherson (born August 13, 1972) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter currently competing in the Middleweight division. He was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 3, and has competed for the UFC and MFC. Background H ...

at MFC 26: Retribution via knockout from a superman punch. Heath lost his last appearance for the organization against Rodney Wallace before signing with

King of the Cage

Heath signed with King of the Cage and won his first two fights for the organization in 2012.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 18–7 , Chad Herrick , Decision (split) , KOTC: Unification , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

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MFC 27 ''MFC 27: Breaking Point'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) on November 12, 2010 at the River Cree Casino in Enoch, Alberta. Background This event featured an MFC Welterweight title fight between Do ...

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Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

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, KO (Superman punch) , MFC 26: Retribution , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:46 ,

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, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 14–6 , Jason Freeman , KO (head kick) , FCF: Freestyle Cage Fighting 38 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:18 ,

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, Submission (guillotine choke) ,

MFC 20 ''MFC 20: Destined for Greatness'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) on February 20th, 2009 in Enoch, Alberta. Fight Card See also * Maximum Fighting Championship * List of Maximum Fight ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:58 , Enoch, Alberta, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , MFC 18: Famous , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:19 , Enoch, Alberta, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Shepard Owens , TKO (punches) , Freestyle Cage Fighting , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:19 ,

Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 , Tim Boetsch , TKO (throw and punches) ,

UFC 81 ''UFC 81: Breaking Point'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held on February 2, 2008, by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip. Background The main event featured Tim Sylvia and Ant ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:52 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Technical Submission (anaconda choke) ,

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Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, United Kingdom , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Victor Valimaki , Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Sanchez vs. Riggs , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Cory Walmsley , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC 62: Liddell vs. Sobral , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:32 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, Submission , FF 5: Korea vs USA , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:50 ,

McAllen, Texas McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Rob Wince , TKO (doctor stoppage) , FCF: Clash of the Titans , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Chase Watson , Submission (armbar) , EFL: Battle at the Brady 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Rudy Lindsey , Submission , EFL: Extreme Fighting League , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Doug Sour , Submission (achilles lock) , KOTC 42: Buckeye Nuts , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Concho, Oklahoma Concho is an unincorporated community in Canadian County, Oklahoma, United States. It is north of the Concho Indian Boarding School. The post office opened April 20, 1915. The ZIP code is 73022. The school and post office were named for Indian agen ...

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Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, David American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Oklahoma Middleweight mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Living people 1976 births People from Nowata, Oklahoma Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters