Bret Bergmark (born November 24, 1973) is an American retired professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. A competitor from 2002 until 2010, Bergmark has fought for the WEC,

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

, and

Pancrase is a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the An ...

Biography

Bret was born in

Novato Novato (Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, situated in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was origi ...

, California, the son of a San Francisco police officer. He attended and graduated from

San Marin High School San Marin High School is a public high school located in Novato, California, in the United States. History San Marin High School opened in 1968 in Novato. Robert Vieth became principal in 2007, after the former principal was dismissed by the ...

, where he wrestled for four years. After high school Bret took up rodeo bull riding, until a wrist injury forced him to retire. It was at this time that Bret turned his energy toward training in Gracie Jiu Jitsu, joining the

Ralph Gracie Ralph Gracie (born May 25, 1971) is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and jiu-jitsu black belt. A member of the famed Gracie family, he is the son of Robson Gracie and the brother of 11 Gracies, including Charles Gracie, Renz ...

academy in 1999. After gaining his blue belt he left the

academy to train at the Cesar Gracie academy in

Pleasant Hill, California Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 34,613 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was municipal corporation, incorporated in 19 ...

, in 2002. It was at the Cesar Gracie academy that Bret earned his purple belt and started fighting in professional

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

matches. Bret currently trains and teaches out of the Cesar Gracie academy in

. He also occasionally trains at the respective academies of

Jake Shields Jake Shields (born January 9, 1979) is an American former mixed martial artist and podcaster. As a mixed martial artist, he was the last Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Champion, the only Elite XC Welterweight Champion, a former Shooto Welte ...

(Graciefighter Berkeley),

Nick Diaz Nicholas Robert Diaz (born August 2, 1983) is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Diaz is a former Strikeforce, WEC and ...

and

Nate Diaz Nathan Donald Diaz (born April 16, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist and professional boxer who is currently a free agent. Diaz is most known for his time spent fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought for ov ...

(Graciefighter Lodi),

Gilbert Melendez Gilbert Melendez (born April 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a two-time Strikeforce Lightweight Champion and a former WEC Lightwei ...

(El Nino Training Center), Jon Santos (Team Santos Jiu Jitsu) and Dave Terrell (Nor Cal Fighting Alliance).

Mixed martial arts career

Bergmark had his first professional MMA fight on August 3, 2002, shortly after joining the Cesar Gracie academy. He fought Paul Ano in Warriors Quest 6 - The Best of the Best. After a brutal fight, which saw each fighter give and receive punishment, Bergmark locked up an armbar at 4:45 of the second round forcing the referee to stop the action and giving Bret the victory. Bret next fought in a superfight for the Ultimate Athlete 4 - King of the Mountain tournament on September 28, 2002. He was matched up against seasoned veteran and

American Kickboxing Academy The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) is a mixed martial arts gym based in San Jose, California. It is one of the pioneering schools of mixed martial arts (MMA). In 2014, AKA opened the ''AKA Thailand'' gym in Phuket, Thailand. Prominent traine ...

member

Brian Ebersole Brian Keith Ebersole (born November 27, 1980) is an American retired mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC's Welterweight division, and holds a record of 5-3 with the organization. In addition to the UFC, Ebersole has competed in Shooto, ...

. The fight would go the distance, with both fighters landing punches and takedowns. Bergmark would earn the victory via split decision. Bret's third fight was against

Brodie Farber Brodie Kyle Farber (born July 5, 1980) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional since 2002, he has competed for the UFC and WEC. Mixed martial arts career Early car ...

at WEC 6: Return of a Legend on March 27, 2003. After some early ground fighting that saw Bret taking his opponent down and several sweeps and reversals, Bret finally achieved mount and forced the referee to stop the match at 3:57 of the first round due to strikes, giving Bret the victory. For his fourth fight Bret moved to the legendary

organization in Japan, taking on

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 TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

and Pancrase veteran Keiichiro Yamamiya at

Hybrid: 11 on December 21, 2003. After going all three rounds without either fighter able to finish the bout, the fight went to the judges scorecards and was ruled a draw. Bret's next fight was back in the WEC at WEC 10: Bragging Rights on May 21, 2004. Again Bret was matched up against a seasoned Pancrase veteran in Daisuke Ishii. In an exciting back and forth fight that saw action both on the ground and on the feet, Bret finally secured the mount and forced the referee to stop the fight at 4:49 of the first round due to strikes, earning him his fourth victory. On October 14, 2005 Bret took on Mike Pyle at WEC 17: Halloween Fury 4. The fight quickly went to the ground, where after several reversals of position Pyle locked in a triangle choke, forcing Bret to tap at 3:36 of the first round and giving Bret his first loss. After a two-year layoff, Bret dropped to the 170 pound weight class to fight

Jesse Juarez Jesse Juarez (born May 8, 1981) is an American former mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Absolute Championship Berkut. A professional competitor since 2006, Juarez has also formerly competed for Strik ...

on April 26, 2008, in the Iroquois MMA championships. After 3 rounds of action Bret earned a unanimous decision. Bret made his

debut on June 26, 2010 in San Jose California as he fought

Vagner Rocha Vagner Rocha (born June 6, 1982) is a Brazilian submission grappler and former professional mixed martial artist, who competed in the featherweight division. He is the 2017 Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds lightweight champion. Mixed martial arts career ...

in the prelims. Bret earned his first victory for the company by unanimous decision. Bret was scheduled to fight October 9, 2010 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II against

Cung Le Cung Le (; born May 25, 1972) is an American actor, former professional mixed martial artist, Sanshou fighter and kickboxer. Le is perhaps best known in mixed martial arts for competing in Strikeforce, holding a record of 7–1 with the organi ...

product James Terry, but had to pull out due to an injury sustained while training for the fight.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Bergmark is currently a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt under the world-renowned Cesar Gracie, with whom he has been training since 2002.

Muay Thai

Bret also trains in

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

kickboxing, starting his training with World Team USA and then continuing at Gym 445 in San Francisco, California. He currently trains Muay Thai at

Fairtex Gym Fairtex Gym is the name given to a number of Muay Thai, Kick boxing, Boxing, Brazilian jiujitsu and Mixed martial arts gyms around the world. The original Fairtex Gym was founded in Bangkok, Thailand in 1975. History The Fairtex Garments Facto ...

in San Francisco.

Mixed martial arts record

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, Decision (unanimous) , Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

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Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

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Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 252 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0–1 , Daisuke Ishii , TKO (punches) ,

WEC 10 The year 2004 was the 4th year in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 2004 WEC held 4 events beginning with, ''WEC 9: Cold Blooded''. Title fights Events list W ...

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Keiichiro Yamamiya Keiichiro Yamamiya (born July 12, 1972) is a Japanese former professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A veteran of 90 fights who began his career in 1996 and last competed in 2015, he fought in the UFC, Pancrase, Deep (mixed martial ...

, Draw , Pancrase: Hybrid 11 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan ,

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

bout. , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

WEC 6 The year 2003 was the 3rd year in the history of World Extreme Cagefighting, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. In 2003 WEC held 3 events beginning with, ''WEC 6: Return of a Legend''. Title fights Events list ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:57 ,

, United States ,

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

debut. , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 ,

, Decision (split) , Ultimate Athlete 4: King of the Mountain , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Auberry, California Auberry () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 3,238 at the 2020 census. Auberry is located on Little Sandy Creek west of Shaver Lake Heights, at an elevation of . Geography Accordi ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Paul Ano , Submission (armbar) , Warrior's Quest 6: Best of the Best , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:45 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, United States ,

References

External links

Official WebsiteGraciefighter Biography
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmark, Bret Living people 1973 births American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male Muay Thai practitioners American sanshou practitioners Sportspeople from Novato, California San Marin High School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen