Virgil Zwicker, (born June 26, 1982), is an 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 ...

currently competing 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. A professional competitor since 2003, Zwicker has formerly competed for

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 ...

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'', ...

and KSW.

Background

Zwicker grew up on the

San Pasqual Indian Reservation The San Pasqual Band of Diegueño Mission Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay people,North County, San Diego North County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second-most populous region in the county (after San Diego), with an estimated population of 869,322. North County is well known for its affluence, especial ...

, to a father who was a truck driver and a mother who worked hard to support Zwicker and his 11 other siblings. Zwicker's older brother was a

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

boxer and aided Zwicker in his fighting career. Zwicker belongs to the Kumeyaay-Ipai tribe and grew up in a poverty stricken environment. There weren't a lot of opportunities for Zwicker to play organized sports growing up, but he was a star football player in

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

, known as a smaller player who hit very hard. With little supervision on the reservation, by the age of eleven Zwicker was routinely fighting grown men. It was also when he was eleven years old that he was arrested for the first time, in 1994. The arrest was for assaulting his school's vice principal and from then until 2005, Zwicker spent most of his time in and out of

juvenile hall In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

s and prisons for various offenses, including assaulting a police officer. After spending over four years in prison for this offense, he returned a year later for knocking a man's eye out in a fight. He attended

Orange Glen High School Orange Glen High School (OGHS) is one of the five public high schools in the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, California. It was established in 1962. The school earned the California Distinguished School Award in 2007. In the 2005 ...

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Zwicker's first fight came when he was released from being incarcerated and took the fight on two weeks' notice. He defeated Denis Hall in under a minute via TKO. He then racked up a 9–1 record, defeating notables such as future UFC and Strikeforce competitor

Ovince St. Preux Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is a Haitian-American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2008, Saint Preux has also formerly competed for Strikef ...

Strikeforce

Zwicker signed with Strikeforce and fought

Lavar Johnson Lavar F. Johnson (born June 11, 1977) is an American bare-knuckle boxer and former Heavyweight mixed martial artist. A professional from 2004 until 2014, he competed for the UFC, the WEC, Strikeforce and Bellator MMA. Background Johnson is from ...

at Strikeforce Challengers: Bowling vs. Voelker. However, Zwicker lost via first-round KO, after the two veterans exchanged wild punches. Zwicker next fought against Brett Albee at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. At Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier, Zwicker faced

Guto Inocente Carlos Augusto "Guto" Inocente Filho (born May 29, 1986) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently signed to ONE Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Inocente formerly competed for the UFC and S ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

KSW

Zwicker faced Mike Hayes on December 7, 2013 at KSW 25. He won the fight via KO in the first round.

Bellator MMA

Zwicker signed a mult-fight contract with

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 ...

, facing Nick Moghadden on September 13, 2013 at

Bellator 99 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 Mixed martial arts weight classes, weight classes and all of the ch ...

. He won the fight by TKO in round one. In his second fight for the promotion, Zwicker faced

Linton Vassell Linton Vassell (born 3 June 1983) is an English mixed martial artist, who competes in the Heavyweight division of Bellator. A professional since 2008, he has also competed for UCMMA and Cage Warriors. He is the former UCMMA Light Heavyweight ...

Bellator 122 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 Heavyweight, ...

on July 25, 2014. He lost the fight via submission in the first round. Zwicker filled in for an injured James Thompson against

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 ...

veteran

Houston Alexander Houston Alexander (born March 22, 1972) is an American professional mixed martial artist who last competed in 2017. A professional competitor since 2001, he has fought for the UFC, Bellator, Shark Fights, the RFA, and KSW. He currently compet ...

on October 17, 2014 at

Bellator 129 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 Heavyweight, ...

. The fight ended in a majority draw as Alexander was docked a point for repeated illegal headbutting. A rematch with Alexander took place at

Bellator 132 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on January 16, 2015. Zwicker won the bout via split decision. Zwicker faced former UFC competitor Razak Al-Hassan at

Bellator 137 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on May 15, 2015. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. Zwicker next faced Brian Rogers on December 4, 2015 at

Bellator 147 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

. He lost the fight via submission in the second round. Zwicker faced

Dan Charles Dan Charles (born September 24, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2011, he has competed for Bellator MMA and Absolute Championship Berkut. Background Bor ...

at Bellator 162 on October 21, 2016. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.

World Fighting Championship Akhmat

Zwicker signed three-fight deal with Chechen promotion World Fighting Championship Akhmat. Zwicker made his debut for the organisation on May 21, 2017 in Grozny, Chechnya

Kickboxing

Zwicker debuted as a

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

in the main event of ''WCK Muay Thai: Bad to the Bone'' in

Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

on April 6, 2013, losing to Sergio Piqué via

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

. He will rematch Piqué at ''WCK Muay Thai: Matter of Pride'' in Temecula, California, US on February 15, 2014.

Personal life

On Christmas Eve of 2013, Zwicker was stabbed in an attempted carjacking, but was able to fend off the three assailants attempting to take his car and was not wounded fatally. On July 10, 2019 Zwicker was arraigned on charges of sexual assault of a minor and plead not guilty. In all, Zwicker was charged with resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, illegal possession of a firearm, aggravated sexual assault on a minor and lewd acts on a child. It was reported by San Diego County police that Zwicker has been involved in 10 legal cases between 2003 and 2014.

Kickboxing record

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Championships and accomplishments

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (English: ''Martial Arts Confrontation'') better known by its initials KSW, is widely considered to be the premiere mixed martial arts organization in Poland and one of the leading in Europe. History Martin Lewandowsk ...

** Fight of the Night (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Attila Végh Attila Végh (born August 9, 1985) is a Slovak mixed martial artist who competed in the Light Heavyweight divisions of Bellator Fighting Championships and Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). He won the Bellator 2012 Summer Series Light Heavyweight ...

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Aleksander Emelianenko Alexander Vladimirovich Emelianenko ( rus, Александр Владимирович Емельяненко, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Emel'janenko ; born ) is a Russian mixed martial artist . He is a three-time Russian natio ...

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Grozny Grozny ( rus, Грозный, p=ˈgroznɨj; ce, Соьлжа-ГӀала, translit=Sölƶa-Ġala), also spelled Groznyy, is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2010 census, it had a pop ...

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Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

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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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Ovince Saint Preux Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is a Haitian-American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2008, Saint Preux has also formerly competed for Strikef ...

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San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

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Anza, California Anza is a census-designated place located in southern Riverside County, California, in the Anza Valley, a semi-arid region at a mean elevation of above sea level. It is located south of Idyllwild, east-northeast of Temecula, southwest of P ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwicker, Virgil Living people 1982 births American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists American male kickboxers Heavyweight kickboxers Native American sportspeople People of Kumeyaay descent Sportspeople from Temecula, California

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Strikeforce

KSW

Bellator MMA

World Fighting Championship Akhmat

Kickboxing

Personal life

Kickboxing record

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links