Haim Gozali ( he, חיים גוזלי; born May 6, 1973), also known by the nickname The Israeli Batman, is an Israeli

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 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. He is best known for his tenure in Bellator. Gozali is also a 5th degree

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 ...

black belt under Renzo Gracie. He is also the first Israeli to compete in the

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promotion based in Philadelphia. BKFC is the first promotion to hold an official state-sanctioned and commissioned bare-knuckle boxing event in the United States since 1 ...

Background

Gozali served at the Israel Border Police in the

Israeli army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

. Later, Gozali was stabbed six times while working as a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

in an Israeli night club. Gozali's nickname, "The Israeli Batman", was given to him by Bellator's announcer Mike Goldberg, and is related to his obsession with the legendary superhero. He has "collected enough Batman comics and paraphernalia to fill up most of a room in his house in

Bat Yam Bat Yam ( he, בַּת יָם or ) is a city located on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, on the Central Coastal Plain just south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area and the Tel Aviv District. In 2020, it had a population ...

" and he "has enough Batman tattoos to cover a good part of his skin, with the bat-sign prominently carried across his chest." Gozali has one son and a daughter. His son, Aviv, is also a mixed martial artist and is currently signed to Bellator.

Mixed martial arts career

In 2010, Gozali produced the MMA event Israel FC: Genesis in Israel, that featured multiple

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 ...

veterans. Following the event's success, he later signed with

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

to work as a promoter and produced 4 events in Israel with the promotion - Bellator 164, Bellator 188 and Bellator 209, Bellator 234, which took place at

Menora Mivtachim Arena Menora Mivtachim Arena ( he, היכל מנורה מבטחים; also known as the Yad Eliyahu Arena, ; and formerly known as the Nokia Arena, ) is a large multi-purpose sports indoor arena that is located in southeast Tel Aviv, Israel. The arena is ...

in Tel Aviv. Gozali is the president of ADCC Israel and the first Israeli to compete in an ADCC event. Gozali is also the head of Renzo Gracie Israel Academy in Bat Yam. Gozali is the first Israeli MMA fighter to compete in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. On November 16, 2017, Gozali scored the second fastest submission in Bellator's Welterweight division, ending the fight 45 seconds into the first round.

Bellator MMA

Gozali faced

Ryan Couture Ryan Duane Couture (born August 27, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2009, he has formerly competed for the UFC and S ...

in a welterweight bout at Bellator 180 on June 24, 2017. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. After racking three straight victories, Gozali was scheduled to appear on the same event, Bellator 234, with his son Aviv in their native Israel. Haim faced Artur Pronin and won the fight via first-round submission. Haim retired after the fight.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 15–6 , Ilya Lupinov , Submission (triangle choke) , RFP 86 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:35 ,

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Ukraine ,

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

bout; won the vacant RFP Middleweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 14–6 , Andrey Savchuck , Submission (heel hook) , TDT 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:05 ,

Dubno Dubno ( uk, Ду́бно) is a city and municipality located on the Ikva River in Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Dubno Raion (district). The city is located on intersection of two major ...

, Ukraine ,

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

debut; won the TDT Light Heavyweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 13–6 , Dmitriy Makhotskiy , Submission (triangle choke) , RFP 80 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:56 ,

, Ukraine , Return to

; won the RFP Middleweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 12–6 , Artur Pronin , Submission (heel hook) , Bellator 234 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:12 ,

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel , , - , Win , align=center, 11–6 , Gustavo Wurlitzer , Submission (triangle choke) , Bellator 222 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:02 , New York, New York, United States , Catchweight (175 lb) bout. , - , Win , align=center, 10–6 , Dmitriy Makhotskiy , Submission (heel hook) , RFP: International MFC 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:57 ,

, Ukraine , , - , Win , align=center, 9–6 , Alexey Kolesnikov , Submission (armbar) , RFP: International MFC 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:37 ,

, Ukraine , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–6 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 209 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 8–5 , Jose Campos , Decision (unanimous) ,

Bellator 192 2018 in Bellator MMA was the tenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2015. Background In addition to airing cards on the newly-rebranded Paramount Network ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–4 , Arsen Faitovich , Technical Submission (triangle choke) , Bellator 188 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:45 ,

, Israel , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–4 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 180 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3 , Zane Clerk , Submission (heel hook) , Bellator 164 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:41 ,

, Israel , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , Zdravko Zdravkov , Submission (armbar) , AFN 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:33 ,

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

, Bulgaria , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–3 , Rustam Bogatyrev , TKO (retirement) , MFP: Mayor Cup 2012 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 ,

Ronaldo Souza Ronaldo Souza dos Santos (born December 7, 1979), nicknamed " Jacare" (), is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist and submission grappler who competed for UFC from 2013 to 2021. A highly regarded grappler on the worl ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , Jungle Fight 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:33 ,

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, Slovenia , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Alcs Plotkin , Submission (triangle choke) , WPKL 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:22 , Israel , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Yakov Mazer , KO (punch) , WPKL 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:35 , Israel , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Dan Koan , Submission (punches) , IVTC 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:55 , Israel , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Guy Micali , Submission (punches) , IFFC 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:34 , Israel , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Maer Cobi Coen , Submission (triangle choke) , IVTC 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:34 , Israel , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 ,

Carlos Newton Carlos Newton (born August 17, 1976) is an Anguillian-born Canadian retired mixed martial artist. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion and Pride FC Japan MMA Legend. Known as "The Ronin", he competed worldwide in the biggest MMA organizatio ...

, Submission (armbar) , IFC: Israel vs. Canada , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:00 , Israel ,

Bareknuckle boxing record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , John McAllister , TKO (punch) , BKFC: KnuckleMania , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:08 ,

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

, United States , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gozali, Haim 1973 births People from Bat Yam Living people Israeli male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing ninjutsu Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Israeli practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Israeli male boxers Bare-knuckle boxers Israeli soldiers