Heath Sims (born October 14, 1971) is an American

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 ...

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

wrestler and MMA trainer. He is a long time training partner of

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

and a highly respected MMA coach who was the wrestling instructor for the US team on The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom. In 2011, he sold his share in Team Quest and moved to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

to become the head of the wrestling program at

Evolve MMA Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (not associated with Evolve Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) is a chain of martial arts academies. Founded by Chatri Sityodtong, it opened in January 2009. The gym includes several former and reigning UFC and ONE Championship World ...

Wrestling

Sim's Father was a freestyle wrestler who competed in the 1972 Olympic trials. As a ninth grader Sims began training with the San Clemente Jets, an amateur wrestling club where kids from all over California came to learn freestyle and Greco-Roman techniques. He won state championships in 1988 and 1989 but instead of going to college and continuing a freestyle career, Sims decided to keep wrestling in the Greco style. He became a junior national team member in 1989 and a world team member in 1990. In 1996 he quit wrestling in order to work for a computer company but he missed the competition and began to practise again, finishing third at the 1998 U.S. World Team trials. However, in 1999 while he was training at the U.S. Olympic facilities in Colorado Springs Sims flew his snowboard off a mountainside and had to be transported off the mountain by helicopter. His kidney and spleen had been lacerated and his kidney had been nearly severed. Sims worked delivering groceries for a while but defied doctors orders to start wrestling again. He went to the Olympic Trials and in the best-of-three finals, Sims beat Chris Saba of Colorado Springs, 5-2, in the first match. Saba won the second match, 4-0. Sims won the final match, 3-1.

Olympics

Sims was in Group D of the Wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman 69 kg. Also in his group were

Katsuhiko Nagata is a Japanese olympic wrestler and mixed martial artist, who won the silver medal in 63–69 kg Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He is also the brother of professional wrestler Yuji Nagata, who works for New Japan P ...

and Ruslan Biktyakov, Sims finished third in the group with three classification points and two technical points, leaving him 11th overall.

Mixed Martial Arts

Sims is an MMA coach who has worked with fighters such as

Matt Lindland Matthew James Lindland (born May 17, 1970), also known as The Law, is an American retired mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler, speaker, actor, coach, entrepreneur and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for t ...

Chael Sonnen Chael Patrick Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

Tarec Saffiedine Tarec Robert Saffiedine (born 6 September 1986) is a Belgian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Saffiedine has also f ...

and

Pat Healy Patrick Healy, Pat Healy, Patrick Healey or Pat Healey may refer to: * Felix Healy (Patrick Joseph Healy, born 1955), former Northern Irish football player and manager * Pat Healy (actor) (born 1971), American actor, writer, and director * Pat H ...

Team Quest Team Quest is a mixed martial arts training camp founded by Randy Couture and Dan Henderson with facilities located in Gresham, Oregon; Murrieta, California; Encinitas, California; Redding, California; Hemet, California; and Chiang Mai, Thailand. ...

and is currently head of the wrestling program at

. Sims made his MMA debut at 'Xtreme Pancration 2' in Los Angeles in April, 2002, defeating

Steve Bruno Steve Bruno (born November 3, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2001, Bruno has formerly competed for the UFC, the IFL, and the MFC. Mixed ...

by decision. In total he fought 11 times in his MMA career, including five fights for

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 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and took on top fighters of the era such as Koji Oishi, Antonio McKee,

Satoru Kitaoka , is a Japanese shoot wrestler and mixed martial artist who most recently competed for RIZIN. A professional competitor since 2000, he has also competed for DREAM, Pancrase, DEEP, and World Victory Road. Kitaoka is renowned for his catch wrest ...

, Yuki Sasaki and Brad Gumm before retiring in 2006 in order to focus on his coaching commitments.

Mixed martial arts record

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Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–3–2 , Katsuya Inoue , TKO (punches) , Pancrase: Spiral 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:40 ,

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 ...

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, Draw , Pancrase: Brave 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–2–1 , Brad Gumm , Submission (punches) , SF 2: On the Move , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:01 ,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, , - , Draw , align=center, 2–2–1 , Koji Oishi , Draw , Pancrase: Brave 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–2 , Yuki Sasaki , Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase: 10th Anniversary Show , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Antonio McKee , Decision (unanimous) , HFP 2: Hitman Fighting Productions 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Paul Gardner , TKO (punches) , RFC 1: The Beginning , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:23 ,

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 Vegas ...

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, Decision , XP 2: Xtreme Pankration 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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References

External links

* *http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Heath-Sims-4366
Heath Sims at Sports Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sims, Heath Living people 1971 births American male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of the United States