Shamar Bailey is a retired 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 ...

who competed in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Bailey has 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 ...

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

, Bellator,

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 ...

, and was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos.

Background

The son of a devoted pastor father, Shamar Bailey was raised in a strict Christian household which moved him across state lines six times before his 20th birthday. These moves were due to his dad's full-time corporate re-locations. Bailey was homeschooled until his senior year of high school when he elected to attend the local

Greenwood, Indiana Greenwood is a city in Johnson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 63,830 at the 2020 Census. Greenwood is located between Indiana State Road 37 and Interstate 65. The city shares a border with Indianapolis and is the most pop ...

, public school. During his senior season at

Center Grove High School Center Grove High School is a high school located in Greenwood, Indiana. A part of Center Grove Community School Corporation, it serves western Greenwood and most of Bargersville. Founded in 1884, the high school has always been located at the ...

, Bailey excelled on the varsity wrestling team, going undefeated over the course of the year.http://www.ultimatefighter.com/fighter/shamar-bailey After high school, Bailey attended Maranatha Bible College and majored in church-ministry.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Building on his impressive senior year at Center Grove, Bailey entered Division III

Maranatha Baptist Bible College Maranatha Baptist University is a private Baptist university in Watertown, Wisconsin. History The institution was founded in 1968 as Maranatha Baptist Bible College by B. Myron Cedarholm. The college was named for the Aramaic phrase ''Maran ...

in Wisconsin where he continued to thrive on the mats, earning All-Conference three times and being named NCAA National Qualifier. The Church Ministries major returned to Indianapolis after graduation and began to train with

Jake O'Brien Jake O'Brien may refer to: *Jake O'Brien (basketball), American basketball player *Jake O'Brien (fighter), American martial artist *Jake O'Brien (footballer) Jake O'Brien (born 15 May 2001) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a de ...

and

Chris Lytle Chris Scott Lytle (born August 18, 1974) is a retired American mixed martial artist and boxer. An MMA professional from 1999 until 2011 and 20-fight veteran of the UFC, Lytle also fought in Pancrase, Cage Rage, and the WEC. He held the inaug ...

to stay active as he mulled over an offer to move to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

to train at the Olympic Training Center with the World Team training camp. Bailey began to feel more comfortable in the sport and decided to decline the invitation in order to pursue mixed martial arts and soon after, in 2006, Bailey had his first professional fight, a first-round TKO victory over Jason Cook. For the past four years, Bailey has trained with Integrated Fighting Academy while also working part-time for the Indianapolis Fire Department with

. During this time, he has earned notable victories over

John Kolosci John Kolosci (born November 26, 1974) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2003 until 2011, he competed for the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, the XFC, and was a competitor on ''The Ultimate Fighter'', fighting for Team ...

and

Waachiim Spiritwolf Waachiim Spiritwolf is a Native American professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since from 2006 until 2015, he competed for King of the Cage, Tachi Palace Fights, Bellator, an ...

Strikeforce

Bailey made his

on November 7, 2009, when he faced

at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers. He won his debut via unanimous decision. Bailey then replaced an injured Bryan Travers, as he fought Justin Wilcox at Strikeforce Challengers 7 on March 26, 2010. He lost via unanimous decision and was subsequently released.

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2011, it was announced that Bailey had signed with the

to compete in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos. Bailey was picked first on Team dos Santos and second overall. In the first preliminary bout of the season, Bailey was selected to fight Nordin Asrih. Bailey used his wrestling to control Asrih on the ground and win a clear-cut decision. In the quarterfinals, he fought

Chris Cope Christopher William Cope (born March 5, 1983) is a former American mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight division. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos, and has also competed for the UFC as ...

but lost via unanimous decision after two rounds. After the fight Shamar was visibly upset with the decision, saying numerous times, "he fought well, but not that good".

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Even though he lost in the quarterfinals, Bailey remained signed after the show. He made his official UFC debut June 4, 2011 on

The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos'' is the thirteenth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on November 4, 2010, ...

card, fighting against fellow quarterfinalist and teammate, Ryan McGillivray. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Bailey dropped to Lightweight in order to face

Evan Dunham Evan Neil Dunham (born December 18, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the lightweight division. He is perhaps best known for 21-fight tenure in the Ultimate Fighting Championship which spanned over a decade. Bac ...

UFC Fight Night 25 ''UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 25'' or ''UFC Fight Night: Battle on the Bayou'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 17, 2011 at the Ernest N. Moria ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Bailey faced

Danny Castillo Daniel Alfonso Castillo (born August 25, 1979) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2007 until 2015, he competed in 22 bouts with both the UFC and WEC. Mixed martial arts career Early career Castillo began training M ...

on November 19, 2011 at

UFC 139 ''UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It was the first UFC event in San Jose, the longtime home and base ar ...

. During the official weigh ins, Bailey failed to make the weight limit for the Lightweight division. Bailey came in three pounds over, which resulted being fined 20 percent of his earnings, and the bout took place at a Catchweight of 158 lb. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. After the loss to Castillo, Bailey was released from the promotion.

Post UFC

Bailey was scheduled to face UFC veteran

Karo Parisyan Karapet "Karo" Parisyan ( hy, Կարապետ Փարիզյան; born August 28, 1982) is an Armenian-American mixed martial artist, who last competed in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 1999, Parisyan is a ...

at ShoFight 20 on June 16, 2012 for the vacant ShoFight Welterweight Championship. However, due to a medical suspension, Bailey was pulled from the fight and replaced by

John Gunderson John Edward Gunderson (born May 1, 1980) is a retired American mixed martial artist. He used to fight with the UFC and SCC also numerous other organizations being a champion or fighting for the championship in many of them. Once he was a top 1 ...

Xtreme Fighting Championships

Bailey faced Bellator veteran Luis Santos at XFC 23 on April 19, 2013. He lost the fight via TKO at just over a minute into the first round.

Retirement

On October 7, 2014, Bailey announced his retirement from MMA competition.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 16–11 , Mark Stoddard , TKO (punches) , Pinnacle Combat XVII , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:44 ,

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

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Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. History The site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the ...

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Gideon Ray Gideon Charles Ray (born May 27, 1973) is a former People of United States, American professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional from 2000 until 2012, Ray competed for the UFC, King of the Cage, the Toronto Dragons of th ...

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Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

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Josh Shockley Josh Shockley (born November 15, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2007, Shockley has also previously competed for the UFC and Bellator. Mixed martial arts ...

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Bellator 60 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

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Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–5 , Darrell Smith , Submission (D'arce choke) , Colosseum Combat XIX , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:53 ,

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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 Vegas ...

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Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Raymond Jarman , TKO (punches) , M-1 Challenge 18: Netherlands Day Two , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:15 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Mike Firari , TKO (punches) , Madtown Throwdown 10 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

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Amateur mixed martial arts record

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Shamar 1982 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Illinois Welterweight mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Sportspeople from Chicago People from Greenwood, Indiana Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters