Eric Prindle (born August 30, 1976) is an American

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 W ...

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, incorpo ...

who last competed in 2018. A professional competitor since 2008 he has fought in

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Glob ...

and

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki ...

, and was the Bellator Season Five Heavyweight Tournament Winner.

Background

Prindle was born in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and Honolulu, Hawaii. Having developed a passion for

combat sports A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...

from a young age, Prindle competed in

kickboxing 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, gen ...

, winning two amateur bouts at the age of 12 against opponents twice his age and much larger than himself. At the age of 18, Prindle enlisted into the United States Army as a weapons specialist and competed in amateur

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, where he found a wealth of success, going on to win various tournaments, become a five-time All-Army Champion, a four-time Armed Forces Champion, and in all compiled over 100 amateur fights during his time of service. He was with special forces and with the 101st Airborne division. In 2004, Prindle's military career ended. He suffered injuries as a soldier and believes that with the benefits Martial Arts has to offer, it helps him mentally subside the injuries and mental trauma he acquired serving his country. After taking some time off to be with his family, Prindle transitioned into mixed martial arts and has trained at Erik Paulsons school in California for STX and CSW as well as training on his own and at Average Joes MMA in AZ.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Prindle made his professional debut in 2008 against veteran Jimmy Ambriz and was defeated via submission. However, Prindle would go on to win his next four fights before being invited to compete in

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 ...

Bellator

Eric made his Bellator debut in April 2011 at Bellator 40 where he defeated Josh Burns via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at the end of round two. The fight took place on the

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to shift its programmin ...

live broadcast. Prindle entered into the Bellator Season Five Heavyweight Tournament. His first fight was against Abe Wagner on October 1, 2011, at

Bellator 52 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Feather ...

. Prindle won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. In the semifinal round, Prindle faced Ron Sparks at Bellator 56 and needed to just 40 seconds to KO him in order to advance to the finals. Prindle faced

Thiago Santos Thiago Santos de Lima (born January 7, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), competing in the light heavyweight division. Prior to signing with the PFL, Santos competed for the U ...

in the finals held at Bellator 59. The bout was ruled a No Contest after Santos kicked Prindle in the groin at 1:24 of the first round and Prindle was unable to continue. Prindle and Santos were scheduled to have a rematch at Bellator 61 on March 16, 2012. However, on March 15, Bellator announced the fight had been pushed back a week to Bellator 62 due to Prindle having "flu-like symptoms." A week later at the Bellator 62 weigh-ins, Santos weighed in 12 pounds overweight for the rescheduled rematch and the bout was called off. Prindle was announced as the Season Five Heavyweight Tournament Winner. Prindle competed in the Bellator Season Seven Heavyweight Tournament, where he faced

in their long-awaited rematch in the quarter finals at Bellator 75. Prindle would be disqualified after kicking Santos in the groin. Prindle was expected to fight

Brett Rogers Brett Charles Rogers (born February 17, 1981) is an American former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Rogers has fought in EliteXC, Strikeforce, and Bellator. Ba ...

at Bellator 93 on March 21, 2013. However, the bout was cancelled when Prindle pulled out. In Prindle's next bout with Bellator, he faced

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

Peter Graham at Bellator 104. Prindle lost a hard-fought unanimous decision. Prindle next fought Javy Ayala at Bellator 111 on March 7, 2014. He lost the fight via TKO at 2:05 in the third round. Prindle's next fight was against

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

veteran James Thompson at

Bellator 121 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 June 6, 2014. Prindle lost via TKO in the first round. On June 25, 2014, it was announced that Prindle was released from the promotion, along with 18 other fighters.

Post-Bellator

Prindle made his return at Pancrase 269 on August 9, 2015. His opponent was Mitsuyoshi Nakai and he won the fight via TKO in the second round. Prindle had a rematch with Nakai on November 28, 2015, and won the fight this time via submission in the first round.

Bare knuckle boxing

Prindle faced Sam Shewmaker at a Bare Knuckle FC event held on June 2, 2018. He lost the fight via knockout just 18 seconds into the first round.

Championships and accomplishments

Bellator Fighting Championship Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Global. ...

** Bellator Season Five Heavyweight Tournament Winner

Mixed martial arts record

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Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

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Brandon Cash Brandon Cash (born June 26, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, he has formerly competed for Strikeforce, Bellator, the World Series of Fighting, and Pa ...

, TKO (submission to punches) , The Warriors Cage 22 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:18 ,

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Bellator 111 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, ...

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Bellator 104 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 weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight c ...

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Cole Konrad Minnesota Golden Gophers Cole Konrad (born April 2, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial arts fighter. Konrad won a gold medal at the 2005 Pan-American Championships. He won the NCAA wrestling championships in 2006 and 20 ...

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Bellator 70 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 i ...

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Chris Barnett Christopher James Barnett (born June 14, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Barnett was born in Zaragoza, Spain, where his father was ...

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Bare knuckle record

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prindle, Eric 1976 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing United States Army soldiers Sportspeople from Erie, Pennsylvania Bare-knuckle boxers