Michel Batista Martínez (born April 20, 1984) is a Cuban freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist. He competed in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship 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 ...

(UFC) 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 and currently competes in

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with othe ...

Wrestling

Batista competed for Cuba men's heavyweight wrestling category. He won a gold medal for his division at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, defeating Venezuela's

Luis Vivénes Luis Felipe Vivénes Urbanesa (born October 6, 1980 in Cumaná, Sucre) is an amateur Venezuelan freestyle wrestler, who played for the men's heavyweight category. He won two medals each for his division at the Pan American Games (2007 in Rio de J ...

. Batista represented

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where he competed for the men's 96 kg class. He received an automatic free pass from the preliminary round of sixteen after U.S. wrestler

Daniel Cormier Daniel Ryan Cormier (; born March 20, 1979) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, amateur wrestler, and current commentator for the UFC. He is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Ch ...

had been withdrawn from the competition due to complications related to excessive

weight cutting Weight cutting is the practice of fast weight loss prior to a sporting competition. It most frequently happens in order to qualify for a lower weight class (usually in combat sports or rowing, where weight is a significant advantage) or in sports ...

. He lost the quarterfinal match to Kazakhstan's

Taimuraz Tigiyev Taimuraz Tigiyev (born 15 January 1982 in Vladikavkaz) is a Russian-Kazakhstani wrestler from Moscow of Ossetian origin. He initially won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2016, he was stripped of his Olympic medal after a retest of hi ...

, who was able to score three points in two straight periods, leaving Batista without a single point. Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Batista offered another shot for the bronze medal by defeating his former opponent Vivenes in the repechage round. He progressed to the bronze medal match, but narrowly lost by a

fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

to Georgia's

Giorgi Gogshelidze Giorgi Gogshelidze (born 7 November 1979 in Gori) is a Georgian wrestler, who has won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Oly ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Batista amassed a record of 4-0 prior join the

TUF 28 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters'' (also known as '' The Ultimate Fighter 28'') is an installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The season tournament finale took pla ...

The Ultimate Fighter

In August 2018, it was announced that Batista was one of the fighters featured on '' The Ultimate Fighter 28'', competing in the heavyweight division. In the quarterfinals, Batista defeated

Josh Parisian Joshua Wayne Parisian (born June 28, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight division of the UFC. Background Parisian grew up in Escanaba, Michigan, before moving from Martinsburg, West Virginia before the secon ...

via technical knockout in the second round, allowing him to move on to the next stage of the competition. In the semifinals, Batista faced Justin Frazier. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Batista faced Maurice Greene on November 30 at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale. He lost fight via a triangle choke in round one.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 4–2 (1) , Yuriy Fedorov , Submission (guillotine choke) , M-1 Challenge 105 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:06 ,

Nur-Sultan Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...

, Kazakhstan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 (1) , Maurice Greene , Submission (triangle choke) , The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:14 ,

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, 4–0 (1) , Edison Lopes , Decision (unanimous) , Titan FC 47: Yusuff vs. Gomez , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 (1) , Drew Stewart , Decision (unanimous) , Fight Time 35 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, United States , , - , NC , align=center, 2–0 (1) , Oscar Delgado , NC (accidental eye poke) , Fight Time 34 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Andreas Danapas , TKO (punches) , Fight Time 30 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:32 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Russell Johnson , KO (punch) , World Fighting Championship 46 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 ,

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, United States ,

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Justin Frazier , TKO (punches) , The Ultimate Fighter 28 , (airdate) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:24 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 ,

, TKO (punches) , The Ultimate Fighter 28 , (airdate) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:50 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batista, Michel 1984 births Living people Olympic wrestlers for Cuba Wrestlers at the 2007 Pan American Games Wrestlers at the 2011 Pan American Games Wrestlers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Camagüey Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Cuban male sport wrestlers Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Olympic medalists in wrestling Olympic bronze medalists for Cuba