Ian William Freeman (born 11 October 1966) is a retired

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 was the Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion and the final Cage Rage British Light Heavyweight Champion. He was the first British person to fight in 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 ...

, as well as the first person to beat

Frank Mir Francisco Santos Mir III (; born May 24, 1979), is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator MMA in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years. A fo ...

Martial arts background

Freeman came into martial arts from

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, in which he had trained for around ten years, after being taught by his father, who was an ABA Boxing Champion at 18 years of age. While working as a doorman, Freeman ended up fighting with a man who was intoxicated; a friend mentioned that rather than punch him, he should have broke the mans arm. Curious as to what he could learn, he started training in Goshin jiu-jitsu for around six to eight months before competing in an amateur Vale Tudo competition. In his early days, he trained periodically with various instructors, including

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 ...

and Renzo Gracie.

Mixed martial arts career

Freeman entered the professional circuit in 1999. He was considered an early ambassador for

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 ...

and given the nickname, "The Iron Ambassador." In early 2000, the

approached Ian to fight at

UFC 24 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 ...

, where he lost to Scott Adams via

achilles lock A compression lock, muscle lock, muscle slicer or muscle crusher, is a grappling hold that causes severe pain by pressing a muscle into a bone. A compression lock can cause a joint lock in a nearby joint when it is applied by squeezing a limb over ...

submission. He fought two more times in the

, winning both times. Later, Freeman's career hit a low point with four losses in a row, but he returned with a submission win in a rematch with Stanislav Nuschik. His greatest triumph was arguably his win on home soil over

UFC 38 ''UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom, on July 13, 2002. The event was seen live on pay-per-view in the United Sta ...

. The heavy underdog, Freeman lived up to his nickname as he systematically ground Mir down and broke his spirit, winning a first round stoppage in front of the English crowd. The match was bittersweet for Freeman, having dedicated the match to his father who, unbeknown to him, had died of cancer the day before. Victory gave Freeman the chance to make his mark on the

Heavyweight division but his next fight saw him stopped by

Andrei Arlovski Andrei Arlovski (born 4 February 1979) is a Belarusian-American professional mixed martial artist, actor and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and ho ...

. Seven months later, a draw against Vernon White signalled the end of Freeman's second stint in

and led to his return to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

MMA 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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

scene. After one successful fight for the

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish owned mixed martial arts promotion, based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under the Cage War ...

promotion, Ian took a break from MMA, citing chronic fatigue syndrome and an overly intense training schedule. He returned eleven months later to fight Ryan Robinson for the vacant Cage Rage Heavyweight title. Defeating Robinson within one round with his now-customary ground and pound, Freeman vacated the title and announced he was dropping to Light Heavyweight. In early 2005, Ian again appeared to ebb away from MMA, appearing as a referee in

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's ill-fated

Celebrity Wrestling ''Celebrity Wrestling'' is a British television programme, broadcast on ITV in 2005. It involved two teams of celebrities, competing against each other in wrestling style events. The series was presented by Kate Thornton and Rowdy Roddy Piper. ...

game show, which was quickly relegated to Sunday mornings and subsequently cancelled.

Retirement

Freeman was scheduled to return to the UFC to fight

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 ...

at UFC 55 - Fury but suffered a horse-riding accident and was unable to compete. After not competing for nearly nine months, he announced his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from competitive MMA. He later cited the return of chronic fatigue as a factor in his layoff and subsequent retirement.

Comeback

After a year-long layoff, he returned to training. He approached Cage Rage and was soon offered a match against the Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight champion

Melvin Manhoef Melvin Manhoef (born 11 May 1976) is a retired Surinamese-born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer. In kickboxing, he is a former It's Showtime Middleweight Champion, and in MMA he was the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion. In mixed mar ...

in 2006 at Cage Rage 17. Originally slated as a "super-bout" at a catchweight of 96 kg (211 lbs), Manhoef asked for the fight to take place at the light heavyweight limit of 93 kg (205 lbs), which placed his World Light Heavyweight title on the line. Freeman lost the fight by KO in just 17 seconds. Freeman got a shot at British Light Heavyweight champion Mark Epstein at Cage Rage 18 on 30 September 2006. Freeman overpowered Epstein with his ground-and-pound tactic, winning his second Cage Rage title. Freeman then trained at the TSG MMA (Team Sure Grip Mixed Martial Arts) School under Daniel Burzotta to fight Paul Cahoon for the British Cage Rage Light Heavyweight title on 10 May 2008 at Cage Rage 26. He won unanimously after three rounds. In his first bout since 2008, Freeman was expected to fight

UFC Hall of Fame The UFC Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In addition to the Ultimate Fighting ...

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Cha ...

at an Ultimate Cage Fighting Championships event on 27 July 2013. The fight with Shamrock was cancelled due to contractual issues on Shamrock's part. After Shamrock backed out of the fight he was replaced by Ricco Rodriguez. Ian won by TKO, stopping Rodriguez at 2:06 of Round 1. Shortly after this win, Freeman retired from competition, citing his age and health issues.

Outside of fighting

His autobiography, ''"Cage Fighter: The True Story of Ian 'The Machine' Freeman"'', was published in 2004 by Blake Publishing. In 2004 he was the referee on the game show Britain's Hardest, which ran for 10 episodes on Sky 1. On 1 November 2006 it was announced that Ian was due to coach a British-based team that would have participated in the International Fight League from 2008, had the promotion not shut down due to financial difficulties. In 2005, Ian was the referee on ITV's ill-fated ''

'' gameshow. Freeman also starred in the 2008 British boxing action-comedy film ''

Sucker Punch A sucker punch (American English), also known as a dog shot, coward punch, king hit or one-punch attack ( Australian and New Zealand English) or cold-cock (American English), is a punch made without warning or while the recipient is distracted ...

''. Ian was the ring announcer for M-1 Global: Breakthrough, which took place on 28 August 2009 at Memorial Hall, in Kansas City, Kansas. Ian has recently agreed to be ring announcer for Clan Wars, Ireland's first Pro ISKA governed MMA competition. In 2010, Ian worked as spokesman for the now defunct Kudegra Fighting Championship, shortly after he parted company with the promotion. In 2019, his daughter Kennedy was signed to Bellator.

Convictions

In 2009, Freeman was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for a year, for tax fraud, as he had not declared earnings from his fighting career and had also fraudulently claimed £12,352 in tax credits with his wife. He was additionally ordered to complete 120 hours community service and wear an electronic tag. His wife was sentenced to a six-week community order and also electronically tagged.

Mixed martial arts record

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Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American semi-retired mixed martial artist currently competing in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, EliteXC, I ...

, TKO (punches) , UCFC 5: Legends of MMA , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:11 ,

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

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Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

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London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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UFC 43 ''UFC 43: Meltdown'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 6, 2003, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later relea ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Paradise, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–6 , Gerhard Ettl , Submission (armbar) , FFAA: Fight Night Championships 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:40 , Graz, Austria , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–6 ,

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UFC 40 ''UFC 40: Vendetta'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 22, 2002, at the MGM Grand Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The event was broadcast live on pay per view in the United Sta ...

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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 ...

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Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–5 , Stanislav Nuschik , Submission (front choke) , FFAA: Fight Night Championship 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:57 , Graz, Austria , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5 , Stanislav Nuschik , KO (punch) , M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:20 ,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

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Valentijn Overeem Valentijn Overeem (; born 17 August 1976) is a retired Dutch professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently signed with United Glory. A professional competitor since 1996, he has previously fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, ...

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Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

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Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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Bob Schrijber Robert Schrijber (born 3 March 1965) is a Dutch former mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He currently runs his own MMA and Muay Thai team in Krommenie, Netherlands called Sports Academy Schreiber. His most famous students at the moment are UF ...

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , It's Showtime: Christmas Edition , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:28 , Haarlem, The Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Tedd Williams , Decision (unanimous) ,

UFC 27 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 ...

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UFC 26 ''UFC 26: Ultimate Field of Dreams'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 9, 2000, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. History The main card featured Welterweight Champion Pat Miletich defending his title against ...

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Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcas ...

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Travis Fulton Travis Jon Fulton (May 29, 1977 – July 10, 2021) was an American mixed martial artist and a professional boxer in the heavyweight division of both sports. Known as a longtime veteran in mixed martial arts, he competed in over 300 sanctioned ...

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References

External links

* * *
"Fighters Only" magazine

Ian Freeman's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Ian 1966 births Sportspeople from Sunderland Living people People with chronic fatigue syndrome English male mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing jujutsu Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters English jujutsuka English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu