Dennis Hallman - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Dennis Lloyd Hallman is an American professional mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

from the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

of Washington. A former state champion wrestler, Hallman is known best for his expertise as a grappler. He has appeared in many fight organizations, including UFC, Strikeforce

Strikeforce

Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by CEO Scott Coker and owned by Zuffa, LLC...

, IFL, Shooto

Shooto

Shooto is a mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, as an organization and as a particular fighting system derived from shoot wrestling. Practitioners are referred to as shooters,...

, Rumble on the Rock, and King of the Cage

King of the Cage

King of the Cage, also known as KOTC, is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, USA.-History:KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features up and coming MMA stars as well as experienced combat fighters....

. Hallman holds notable wins over Karo Parisyan

Karo Parisyan

Karapet Parisyan is an Armenian-American mixed martial artist. From his days as a UFC mainstay Karo holds notable wins over Ryo Chonan, Shonie Carter, Drew Fickett, Matt Serra, Nick Thompson, Chris Lytle, Nick Diaz and Antonio McKee.- Early life:...

, Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes (fighter)

Matthew Allen Hughes is an American mixed martial artist, UFC Hall of Famer, and former two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks in the UFC, won the welterweight title on two occasions, defended the belt a record seven times, and holds the...

and Ben Saunders

Ben Saunders (fighter)

Benjamin Saunders , is an American professional mixed martial artist. His background is in Jeet Kune Do Concepts and he was a featured fighter on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra, fighting on Team Serra....

Hallman vs. Matt Hughes

One of Hallman's biggest achievements are his two wins (both by submission in a combined 38 seconds) over former UFCHall of famer welterweight champion Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes (fighter)

. Their first fight occurred in 1998 at Extreme Challenge 21, the second in December 2000 at UFC 29
UFC 29
UFC 29: Defense of the Belts was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 16, 2000 at Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.-History:...

: Defense of the Belts.

Hallman and Jens Pulver

After his second victory over Matt Hughes, Hallman moved down in weight and fought Hughes' teammate Jens Pulver

Jens Pulver

Jens Johnnie Pulver is an American mixed martial artist . He was the first Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show, which aired on Spike TV. He was formerly signed as a featherweight with World Extreme Cagefighting , which is...

for the lightweight UFC championship in September 2001. Both Hallman and Pulver wrestled at the high school level in Washington. Hallman claimed to know Pulver since high school and expressed dislike toward the fighter. Although Pulver denied knowing Hallman personally, he knew of Hallman through their state champion wrestling careers (at different weight classes).

During the fight Hallman attempted an armbar on Pulver (the same move he used to defeat Hughes in their second meeting), but Pulver countered the technique and followed with his trademark left hook which landed flush on Hallman's chin. Hallman was not able to recover completely from the blow, fighting very passively for the remainder of the bout (which eventually resulted in a unanimous decision loss). Hallman later stated in interviews that he simply wanted to survive the fight after receiving the blow.

UFC return

Hallman made his return to the UFC against John Howard

John Howard (fighter)

John J. Howard is an American mixed martial artist, currently competing welterweight division.-Ultimate Fighting Championship:He made his first UFC debut on January 31, 2009 against Chris Wilson at UFC 94 winning by split decision....

on December 5, 2009, at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale

The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights Finale, also referred to as The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale, was a mixed martial arts event that was held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 5, 2009...

. He lost via third round KO.

Hallman then announced that he would try and move down to lightweight.

Hallman then signed to face Ben Saunders

Ben Saunders (fighter)

in a welterweight bout on August 7, 2010 at UFC 117

UFC 117

UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, United States.-Background:...

. Hallman defeated Saunders via unanimous decision.

Hallman faced returning UFC veteran Karo Parisyan

Karo Parisyan

on November 20, 2010 at UFC 123

UFC 123

UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 20, 2010 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan...

. Hallman defeated Parisyan by TKO due to strikes after he staggered Parisyan with a stiff right, then finished with hammerfists.
The win brought his record to 2-1 in his current UFC run.

Hallman was expected to face TJ Waldburger

TJ Waldburger

Anthony "TJ" Waldburger is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Waldburger has made a name for himself fighting in the South...

on March 26, 2011 at UFC Fight Night 24. However, Hallman was forced out of the bout with a knee injury and replaced by Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks is an American mixed martial artist and an accomplished former amateur wrestler. He currently fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Welterweight division...

.

On January 15, 2011, it was announced that Hallman has extended his UFC contract for four additional UFC fights.

Hallman faced Brian Ebersole

Brian Ebersole

Brian Ebersole is an American mixed martial artist. He is currently fighting under the Ultimate Fighting Championship as of February 2011. Ebersole is a veteran of the mixed martial arts world with a total of 64 professional fights. He has been known to have an iron chin, never being knocked out...

on August 6, 2011 at UFC 133

UFC 133

UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 6, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.-Background:...

. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. Wearing particularly skimpy purple shorts during the fight, in a ground battle Hallman's left testicle was briefly exposed, eliciting chants of "Put some clothes on" from the crowd and call for regulation of fighter shorts from UFC President Dana White

Dana White

Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...

.

Hallman is expected to face John Makdessi

John Makdessi

John Makdessi is an Canadian professional mixed martial arts fighter who competes in the lightweight division. Makdessi has been a professional MMA competitor since 2008, competing mostly in Canada before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.-Early Life:John was born in Halifax, Nova...

on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140

UFC 140

UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 10, 2011 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.-Background:...

Personal life

Hallman has three sons, Ryley, Richie, and Jayden and a daughter named Kylar, who was born in December 2008.

He has Coeliac Disease

Coeliac disease

Coeliac disease , is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that occurs in genetically predisposed people of all ages from middle infancy onward...

, an autoimmune digestive reaction to wheat gluten, which hindered his ability to recover properly from physical activities such as training and fighting.

Mixed martial arts record

|-
|Loss
|align=center|50-14-2 (1)
|

Brian Ebersole

|TKO (elbows)
|UFC 133

UFC 133

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

Hallman vs. Matt Hughes

Hallman and Jens Pulver

UFC return

Personal life

Mixed martial arts record

External links