Justin McCully (born February 18, 1976) is a retired American professional

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 ...

and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

who most recently competed in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division of the RFA. A professional competitor since 1997, McCully has also formerly competed 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 ...

RINGS Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

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 ...

, It's Showtime and

Jungle Fight Jungle Fight is a Brazilian mixed martial arts and kickboxing promotion. It was created in 2003. The name is derived from its origin, the Amazonas state in Brazil. History Jungle Fight was founded by pioneering MMA fighter and long-time Brazi ...

Mixed martial arts career

McCully trains with

Team Punishment Punishment Training Center is a mixed martial arts training camp founded in 1999 by Tito Ortiz. Also known as Punishment Athletics, the training center is headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, with a training camp located in Big Bear, ...

, including

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (; born January 23, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist and politician. He is currently signed to the Combate Americas promotion. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UF ...

Kendall Grove Kendall Grove (born November 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also competed for the Bellator MMA, UFC, KSW, ProElite, King ...

, and

Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Samoa Joe who is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Joe is currently a double champion - in his first reign both as AEW ...

. McCully also trained with

BJ Penn Jay Dee "B.J." Penn III (born December 13, 1978) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. Penn competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and in K-1. Penn was the first American G ...

Hilo Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Hawaii (island), Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 United ...

for Penn's bout with

Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre (; born May 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-division champion in the Ult ...

UFC 94 ''UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on January 31, 2009. The card featured five televised MMA bouts, as well as five un-aired preliminary bouts. I ...

. He has three previous fights inside the UFC, a unanimous decision victory over

Antoni Hardonk Antoni Hardonk (born February 5, 1976) is a Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed in K-1 and the UFC. Kickboxing career Antoni made his K-1 debut at the '' K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary Scandinavia'' on June 9, 2001 whe ...

at ''UFC Fight Night 9'', a submission loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 86, and a unanimous decision win over Eddie Sanchez at UFC: Fight For The Troops. McCully was also scheduled to fight

Christian Wellisch Christian Wellisch (born September 13, 1975) is a Hungarian-American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2009, he competed for the UFC, WEC, and King of the Cage. Mixed martial arts career Welli ...

at ''

UFC 76 '' UFC 76: Knockout'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event took place on September 22, 2007, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Although the event was advertised with the ...

'', but McCully was ultimately replaced by Scott Junk. He has also fought a former UFC champion, losing to

Evan Tanner Evan Lloyd Tanner (February 11, 1971 – September 5, 2008) was an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He was a former UFC Middleweight Championship, UFC Middleweight Champion and was the first American to win the Pancrase N ...

by technical submission at a 1998

event. McCully competed against

Gabriel Gonzaga Gabriel Gonzaga Santos Nogueira (; born 18 May 1979) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competed in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is perhaps best known for his upset head-kick knockout of ...

UFC 86 ''UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on July 5, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was between Qui ...

. He lost by submission to Gonzaga applying an Americana keylock from the mounted position in the first round. He then fought

Eddie Sanchez Eduardo Arturo Sanchez (born November 4, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional since 2004, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, Titan FC, Final Fight Championship, ...

at UFC: Fight for the Troops and won the fight by unanimous decision. Most recently, McCully lost to Mike Russow at

UFC 102 ''UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on August 29, 2009 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. It featured former five-time UFC champion and UFC Hall of Fam ...

via unanimous decision. After his defeat at the hands of

Mike Russow Michael Earl Russow (born November 9, 1976) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight division. Having made his professional debut in 1998, Russow has formerly competed for the UFC, Adrenaline MMA ...

, McCully was released by the organization, along with other UFC veterans,

Hermes Franca Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orators ...

, Chris Wilson, and

Marcus Aurélio Marcus Aurélio Martins (; born 18 August 1973) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He formerly fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships and for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He currently does stunt and mo-cap work, after an MMA care ...

Personal life

Justin has two children, and is also good friends with professional wrestler

Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

. In 2014 he had a falling out with

over what McCully claimed was Ortiz owing him money and refusing to pay him back. This fallout culminated with McCully openly supporting and training with

Stephan Bonnar Stephan Patrick Bonnar (April 4, 1977 – December 22, 2022) was an American mixed martial artist. Bonnar competed as a Light Heavyweight in the UFC for most of his career. Bonnar was the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 1, his TUF Ultimate Fi ...

who was Ortiz' opponent at

Bellator 131 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweigh ...

. McCully's brother, Sean, is a former professional kickboxer and MMA fighter.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 11–5–2 , Justin Grizzard , TKO (punches) , RFA 1: Elliot vs. Pulver , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:45 ,

Kearney, Nebraska Kearney is the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 30,787 in the 2010 census. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The westward push of the railroad as the Civil War ended gave new birt ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

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

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC: Fight For The Troops , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–4–2 ,

, Submission (americana) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:57 ,

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 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Stevenson vs. Guillard , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–3–2 , Ruben Villareal , Submission (front choke) , Valor Fighting: San Manuel , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:48 ,

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3–2 , Derek Thornton , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Extreme Wars 5: Battlegrounds , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:20 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3–2 , Ed de Kruijf , Submission (armbar) , Venom: First Strike , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–3–2 , Dario Amorim , Decision (unanimous) , Jungle Fight 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–3–2 , Ed de Kruijf , Submission (reverse full-nelson) , It's Showtime: Exclusive , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:36 ,

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 4–2–2 , Errol Maduro , Submission , UFO Europe: Free Fight Gala , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , Kijkduin, Netherlands , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2–2 ,

Mikhail Ilyukhin Mikhail Ilyukhin (born November 21, 1966) is a retired Russian mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who competed in the light heavyweight division. He competed in both Fighting Network Rings, and Pride Fighting Championships, and was ...

, Technical Submission (achilles lock) , RINGS: King of Kings 1999 Block A , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:48 ,

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 ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1–2 , Mario Neto , Submission (kneebar) , WVC 9: World Vale Tudo Championship 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:53 ,

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1–2 ,

, Technical Submission (kimura) , Pancrase: 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:07 ,

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0–2 , Martin Emmen , Submission (armbar) , Pancrase: 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:34 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0–2 , Daisuke Ishii , Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase: 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 0–0–2 , Daisuke Ishii , Draw (unanimous) , Pancrase: Alive 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 0–0–1 , Kenji Akiyama , Draw , Daidojuku: Wars 4 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, Japan ,

Championships and accomplishments in professional wrestling

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship The WWC Junior Heavyweight Championship is a championship contested for in the Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council. While weight classes are generally not strictly adhered to in professional wrestling tod ...

( 1 time) * International Wrestling Association **

IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship The IWA Intercontinental Championship is a secondary professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), title defended in Puerto Rico. It was originally defended in the original International Wrestling Association (Puerto Rico), Intern ...

( 1 time) *

Ultimate Pro Wrestling Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) was a California-based independent pro wrestling company owned and operated by Rick Bassman, that operated from 1999 to 2007. The company had working relationships with Pro Wrestling Zero1 and World Wrestling Entertai ...

** UPW Tag Team Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) - with Hardkore Kidd

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCully, Justin American male mixed martial artists American male professional wrestlers Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Sportspeople from Washington, D.C. 1979 births Living people Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters