Mark Godbeer (born 22 November 1983) is a British

bare-knuckle boxer Bare-knuckle boxing (or simply bare-knuckle) is a combat sport which involves two individuals throwing punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time without any boxing gloves or other form of padding on their hands. It is a regulated ...

and former

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 ...

. A professional MMA competitor from 2009 until 2018, he 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 ...

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 ...

Absolute Championship Akhmat Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), formerly known as Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), is a Russian mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization and one of the leading promotions in Europe. To date, most events have been ...

, and

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ire ...

. He is a former BAMMA heavyweight champion. In bare-knuckle boxing, he is a former Valor heavyweight champion, and a BKB British heavyweight champion.

Early life

Starting training in MMA relatively late at the age of 25, Godbeer originally ran his own plastering business before focusing on mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Godbeer made his professional MMA debut on 7 August 2009 with a TKO victory over Sam Hooker. While fighting for numerous regional promotions, he amassed a record of 7–1 with all victories coming by way of knockout or submission. Following this, he was signed by

in 2012 to compete in their heavyweight division.

BAMMA and Bellator MMA

Between March 2012 and May 2016, Godbeer would remain undefeated in the

cage. During this time, he also signed on with

and would make a single appearance for the promotion, facing notable heavyweight

Cheick Kongo Cheick Kongo is a French heavyweight Mixed Martial artist and former Kickboxer who fights in Bellator MMA. A professional MMA competitor since 2001, he has also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of May 10, 2022, he is #4 in the ...

on 4 October 2013 at Bellator 102. Following that loss, Godbeer would claim three straight victories in

, including winning the heavyweight title against Paul Taylor on 13 June 2015. During this run he would announce a brief retirement from MMA due to injury, but ended that retirement in May 2016 to defend the BAMMA heavyweight title.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Godbeer signed with the

in September 2016. He made his promotional debut on 19 November 2016 against Justin Ledet at

UFC Fight Night 99 ''UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 99'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on 19 November 2016 at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland Backgr ...

. He would lose the bout via submission in the first round. Godbeer was expected to face

Todd Duffee Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

on 4 March 2017, at

UFC 209 ''UFC 209: Woodley vs. Thompson 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on March 4, 2017, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Background The event was ...

. However, Duffee pulled out of the fight in mid-February for undisclosed reasons. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Daniel Spitz. Godbeer got his first ufc win under coach Brian Martin Gallacher and the Scottish hit squad team by unanimous decision. Godbeer was expected to face Walt Harris on 7 October 2017 at

UFC 216 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 ...

before a fight-day injury to

Derrick Lewis Derrick James Lewis (born February 7, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he currently holds the record for most knockouts ...

took him out of his scheduled fight with

Fabricio Werdum Fabricio () is a Spanish male given name. Fabrício () is the Portuguese equivalent. Among those with the first name are: *Fabricio Coloccini, Argentine footballer *Fabrício Guerreiro (born 1990), Brazilian mixed martial artist *Fabricio Oberto, A ...

. As a result, Harris was moved on to face Werdum, and Godbeer was pulled from the event. The bout with Harris was rescheduled for 4 November 2017 at

UFC 217 ''UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 4, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Background The event was the second that the promo ...

. Godbeer won the fight via disqualification after Harris hit Godbeer with a head kick following the referee called a time out due to a groin strike. Godbeer was expected to face promotional newcomer Dmitry Poberezhets on 17 March 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 127 ''UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 127'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on March 17, 2018, at The O2 Arena in London, England. Background A heavy ...

. However, it was announced on 25 January 2018 Poberezhets was injured and he was replaced by Dmitriy Sosnovskiy. Godbeer lost the fight via submission in the second round. Godbeer was briefly scheduled to face Luis Henrique in his return to light heavyweight division on 22 September 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 137 ''UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Anders'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 137'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on September 22, 2018 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. Background A ...

. However, Godbeer pulled out of the fight in early August, citing injury, and was replaced by promotional newcomer Ryan Spann. Godbeer announced his retirement on 25 September 2018 .

Bare-Knuckle Boxing

Mark Godbeer, while retired from MMA, transitioned over to bare-knuckle boxing and entered

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 Champ ...

's newly founded Valor Bare Knuckle for its debut event, VBK: 1. Godbeer knocked out former fellow UFC,

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

, &

veteran Jack "The Outlaw" May. Goddbeer knocked May out in less than a minute. He then faced current

Road FC Road Fighting Championship (Road FC; ) is a South Korean-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which was officially launched in 2010. Prior to December 2016, Road FC had held 52 events in three countries - South Korea, Japan, and China. Abou ...

Open-weight Champion Mighty Mo in the main event for the tournament championship. Godbeer defeated Mo when after a series of punches Mo was knocked down and unable to get up in time for the 10 count, winning the VBK tournament.

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts

**BAMMA Heavyweight Championship (One time)

Bare-knuckle boxing

*Valor Bare Knuckle **Valor Heavyweight Tournament Champion (One time) *BKB **BKB British Heavyweight Champion (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Justin Ledet Justin Wayne Ledet (born September 28, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxer who competes in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2010, he has most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:16 ,

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, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 ,

, TKO (knees and punches) ,

Bellator 102 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight cha ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Bare-Knuckle Boxing

, - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , Bartłomiej Domalik , TKO (punches) , Gromda 9: Balboa vs. Godbeer , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:55 ,

Pionki Pionki is a town in Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, central Poland with 18 846 inhabitants (2016). Surrounded by the ''Kozienice'' Wilderness, Pionki is located in northern part of historic province of Lesser Poland, from Radom, and from ...

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O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

, Won BKB British Heavyweight Championship , - ,

References

External links

Official UFC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godbeer, Mark Living people 1983 births English male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Sportspeople from Taunton Bare-knuckle boxers

Early life

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

BAMMA and Bellator MMA

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Bare-Knuckle Boxing

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts

Bare-knuckle boxing

Mixed martial arts record

Bare-Knuckle Boxing

See also

References

External links