Michael Jan Hugo Kuiper (born June 7, 1989) is a Dutch

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 most recently competed in the

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 ...

division. A professional competitor since 2009, he has 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 ...

and

Titan FC Titan Fighting Championship (Titan FC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. Their shows were originally run in and near Kansas City and have since expanded to include venues all over North America and e ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Kuiper comes from a

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

background and holds a black belt in the discipline. He made his

mixed martial arts 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, inc ...

debut in February 2009 and defeated his opponent, Ahmed Sultan, with a triangle choke. He went on to have a further six fights that same year, winning all of them in the first or second round. In 2009 he won the Belgium MMA title, and was rewarded with the MMA fighter of the year 2009. After defeating David Marcina on November 20, 2010, he was set to return to the cage on December 4, 2010 to face Welsh boxer John Phillips at '' BAMMA 5: The Beast vs. Crazy Bear'' in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. But due to snowstorms in the UK the event was cancelled.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In his UFC debut Kuiper faced

Rafael Natal Rafael Natal Diniz Franca () is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional from 2005 until 2017, he is best known for his 17-fight stint competing for the UFC. Mixed martial arts career Background Natal started Brazilian Jiu-Jits ...

on February 4, 2012 at

UFC 143 ''UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit'' was a mixed martial arts event organized by Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 4, 2012 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background An episode of UFC Primetime returned to promote the mai ...

. He lost the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. Kuiper faced

Jared Hamman Jared Hamman (born March 7, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist that competes in the World Series of Fighting's Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has also formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce and Sho ...

on August 11, 2012 at

UFC 150 ''UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar II'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 11, 2012, at the Pepsi Center now known as Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. Background A fight between Dennis Hallman and ...

. Kuiper defeated Hamman via second-round TKO. Kuiper was expected to face Thiago Perpetuo on January 19, 2013 at

UFC on FX 7 The year 2013 is the 21st year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2013 started with ''UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping''. 2013 also saw the introduction of the wome ...

. However, Perpetuo suffered an injury and was replaced by

Caio Magalhaes Caio may refer to: * Caio (name), a Portuguese given name derived from the Latin given name Gaius * Caio, Carmarthenshire, a village in west Wales * ''Caio'' (moth), a genus * Italian destroyer ''Caio Duilio'', a destroyer of the Italian Navy ...

. On December 27, it was announced that Magalhaes had also pulled out of the bout and that Kuiper would be shifted to UFC on Fox 6 on January 26, 2013 to face Buddy Roberts. It was then announced on January 8 that Roberts had been forced out of the bout with an illness and was replaced by promotional newcomer Josh Janousek. Then just days before the event, Janousek himself pulled out of the bout citing an injury. With no time to find a suitable replacement for Kuiper, he was pulled from the event as well. This meant that 4 potential opponents for Kuiper (Perpetuo, Magalhaes, Roberts and Janousek) had all pulled out of the proposed bout. Kuiper next faced

Tom Lawlor Thomas Joseph Lawlor (born May 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and podcast host. He is best known for his time in Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he was a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Cham ...

on April 6, 2013 at

UFC on Fuel TV 9 ''UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi'' (also known as ''UFC on Fuel TV 9'' or ''UFC Sweden 2'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 6, 2013, at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The event was broadcast live on Fuel TV. Ba ...

. He lost via submission early in the second round. Kuiper faced Brad Scott on October 26, 2013 at

UFC Fight Night 30 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 MM ...

. He lost the fight via front choke submission in the first round, and was subsequently released from the promotion shortly after.

Titan FC

Kuiper fought fellow former UFC fighter

Matt Riddle Matthew Fredrick Riddle (born January 14, 1986, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is currently inactive due t ...

in the co-main event of Titan FC 27 on February 28, 2014. Kuiper lost by guillotine choke in the second round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 15-6 , Adrick Croes , Submission (rear-naked choke) , CFC 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Aruba ,

debut. , - , Win , align=center, 15-5 , Cristiano Machado , Submission (rear-naked choke) , CFC 4: Nedd vs. Grigsby , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:46 ,

Dessel Dessel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the town of Dessel proper. In 2021, Dessel had a total population of 9,659 inhabitants. The total area is 27.03 km². Nuclear industries ...

, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 14-5 , Oktay Karatas , TKO (punches) , Battle Events: Amersfoort , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:34 ,

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, Netherlands , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–5 , Gregory Milliard , TKO (punches) , Redemption Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:48 ,

Oranjestad, Aruba Oranjestad ( , , ; literally "Orange City") is the capital and largest city of Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is located on the southern coast near the western end of the island country. In the local language ...

, Kuiper missed weight by 5 lbs. , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Lutciano Zimmerman , KO (punches) , Strength and Honour Championship 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Belgium , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , Titan Fighting Championship 27 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:29 ,

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–3 , Brad Scott , Submission (standing guillotine choke) , UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:17 ,

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, United Kingdom , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–2 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:05 ,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:16 ,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

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

Las Vegas 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 ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Morris Cilfoni , TKO (punches) , Milano in the Cage , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Clearance Noordzee , KO (punches) , Staredown 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Deurne, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , David Marcina , TKO (punches) , Live 2 Fight , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:14 ,

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...

, Spain , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Baudin Egoluev , Submission (armbar) , Ultimate Takedown: Brazil vs. Belgium , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:42 ,

Herstal Herstal (; wa, Hesta), formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal, is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. It lies along the Meuse river. Herstal is included in the "Greater Liège" agglomeration, which c ...

, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Ivan Brguljan , TKO (punches) , One Gate 2 Far , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Heerlen Heerlen (; li, Heële ) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the fourth municipality in the province of Limburg. ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Patrice Wagemans , KO (punch) , Strength and Honour 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:10 ,

, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Bert Van Geystelen , Submission (armbar) , Bulls Gym Gala , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

Putte Putte () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality includes the towns of Putte, Beerzel, and the hamlets and . The town of Putte is around east of Mechelen. In 2021, Putte had a total population of 18,109 ...

, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Saigan Muradov , TKO (punches) , The Battle of Akersloot , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

Akersloot Akersloot is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Castricum, and lies about 9 km south of Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of Nort ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Bert Van Geystelen , Submission (armbar) , Staredown , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Kevin Goodliff , Decision (unanimous) , Battle of South 7 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Hoensbroek Hoensbroek ( li, Gebrook) is a Dutch town in the municipality of Heerlen. It is situated in the southeast of Limburg, a province in the southeast of the Netherlands. Until 1982, Hoensbroek was a separate municipality. Hoensbroek is known for its ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Ahmed Sultan , Submission (triangle choke) , Outsider Cup 12 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:00 ,

Mülheim Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compan ...

, Germany ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuiper, Michael 1989 births Living people Dutch male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Dutch male judoka Dutch practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Goirle Sportspeople from North Brabant Sportspeople from Tilburg Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people