Erik Apple (born August 26, 1979) is a former American

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

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 ...

fighter. A professional competitor from 2003 until 2011, he fought for the WEC, Strikeforce,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. Apple also played the character of Pete "Mad Dog" Grimes in the 2011 film ''

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

''.

Beginning

Apple graduated from

Dana Hills High School Dana Hills High School is a high school in Dana Point, California opened in 1973. The school's enrollment of nearly 3,000 students is drawn from the nearby communities of Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, Capistrano Beach, and San Juan Capistrano. When ...

Career

Apple began to train with vale-tudo and MMA legend

Marco Ruas Marco Antônio de Lima Ruas (; born 23 January 1961) is a Brazilian former mixed martial arts fighter, Submission Wrestler, Kickboxer and instructor. Ruas was the UFC 7 Tournament Champion, and also competed for the World Vale Tudo Championsh ...

at Ruas Vale Tudo team. Now Erik Apple trains at CSW training center with fighters

Josh Barnett Joshua Lawrence Barnett (born November 10, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist, submission grappler, professional wrestler and color commentator currently signed to Bellator MMA, where he competes in their Heavyweight division. Barnett p ...

and

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 ...

. He beat Matt Makowski at ShoXC – Elite Challenger Series and is currently signed with Strikeforce in the welterweight division. His Strikeforce debut came in a loss to

Bobby Voelker Robert "Bobby" James Voelker (born April 26, 1979) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in their Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Voelker has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator MMA, Strikef ...

. Erik Apple was announced against

Seth Baczynski Seth Baczynski (born October 26, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional since 2006, Baczynski has formerly competed for the UFC, and was a cast member ...

at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II, but was forced out of the bout due to an injury. Apple then faced Ryan Larson at Strikeforce Challengers: Beerbohm vs. Healy, losing by triangle choke in the second round. On a forum, he revealed he was infected with COVID-19 when he attended a club, and has recovered

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 , Ryan Larson , Submission (triangle choke) , Strikeforce Challengers: Beerbohm vs. Healy , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:14 ,

Cedar Park, Texas Cedar Park is a city and a major suburb of Austin in the state of Texas, approximately to the north-west of the center of Austin. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city's population was 77,595. History Before the arrival of European sett ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 ,

, TKO (punches) , Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Bears , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:23 ,

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Matt Makowski , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:04 ,

Santa Ynez, California Santa Ynez (; Spanish for "St. Agnes") is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley. It features the Santa Ynez Airp ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 ,

Brock Larson Brock Orville Larson (born August 23, 1977) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions. A professional competitor from 2002 until 2016, Larson has formerly competed for the ...

, Submission (kimura) , WEC 26: Condit vs. Alessio , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:43 ,

Las Vegas 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 Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Ray Elbe , TKO (knee and punches) , TC 16: Annihilation , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:00 ,

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 , Steve Ramirez , Submission (triangle choke) , GC 50: Top Gunz , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:37 ,

Porterville, California Porterville is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Since its incorporation in 1902, the city's population has grown as it annexed n ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Danny Wren , Decision (unanimous) , Total Combat 12 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,