Chris Tuchscherer (born September 8, 1975) is a retired American

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 ...

who last competed as a

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

for the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

Background

Born in

Rugby, North Dakota Rugby is a city in and the county seat of Pierce County, North Dakota, Pierce County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 2,509 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, 19th largest ...

, Tuchscherer competed in

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

for Bowman County High School, continuing with the sport at North Dakota State before eventually transferring to NCAA Division II Minnesota State University, Moorhead. At MSUM Tuchscherer participated in Heavyweight NCAA Division II competitions and became a two-time All-American as well as an NCAA Division II Championship Runner-Up.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After using up all of his college eligibility, Tuchscherer - who was already a fan of MMA - was urged by his friends to try competing himself. He tried out for and earned a spot on a local fight card where he won his first amateur match in less than a minute. Tuchscherer continued training at MSUM while helping to coach the university's wrestling team. He later began training at Minnesota Martial Arts Academy with fellow All-American

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...

. In his first professional MMA bout Tuchscherer defeated Krzysztof Soszynski by decision. Later in his career, he won the Dakota Fighting Championships Heavyweight Championship, and at Extreme Challenge 85 on October 6, 2007, Tuchscherer defeated Jimmy Ambriz for the EC Heavyweight Championship. He later participated at YAMMA Pit Fighting's only event in a heavyweight tournament where he defeated both Tony Sylvester and Alexey Oleinik by unanimous decision before losing by unanimous decision in the final to Travis Wiuff. Tuchscherer then won the Max Fights Heavyweight Championship on July 19, 2008, by defeating Tony Mendoza at Max Fights 4 before defeating Branden Lee Hinkle on March 21, 2009, at "Beatdown 4" to win the first SNMAA heavyweight championship.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Chris Tuchscherer tried out for the tenth season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) reality show, ''

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

''. The UFC scouts at the tryouts noticed Tuchscherer's professional record and decided to give him a fight at a UFC event rather than go through the show's tournament. As a result, Tuchscherer debuted with the UFC at '' UFC 102'' against Gabriel Gonzaga. Early in their fight Tuchscherer was hit with a hard kick to his groin by Gonzaga. Tuchscherer required several minutes to recover during which he nearly vomited. He managed to convince a group of officials that he was willing and able to continue in the fight. Following the restart of the match, Tuchscherer lost to Gonzaga by technical knockout at 2:27 of the first round. His next fight was with Tim Hague who was coming off being the subject of the UFC's fastest knockout. Occurring on February 6, 2010, at ''

UFC 109 ''UFC 109: Relentless'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on February 6, 2010, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background A previously rumoured bout between Renzo Gracie and M ...

'', Tuchscherer was once again faced with being on the receiving end of a low blow early in the first round. He managed to continue this time. However, conditioning for both fighters seemed to be poor as the action throughout the match was sporadic and they were visibly exhausted in the third round. Tuchscherer won the fight by majority decision (29–28, 29–28, and 28–28). On July 3, 2010, at ''

UFC 116 ''UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 3, 2010, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show was voted as the Best Major Show in the 2010 List of Wrestling ...

'', Tuchscherer faced Brendan Schaub. Tuchscherer lost the fight by TKO in the first round. Tuchscherer's next bout was against Mark Hunt on February 27, 2011, at '' UFC 127''. Tuchscherer suffered his second consecutive loss when Hunt knocked him out at 1:41 into the second round. Following his loss to Hunt, Tuchscherer was released from the UFC.

Crowbar MMA

Chris Tuchscherer ran his own promotion, "Crowbar MMA", that held five events in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

and

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, third-most populous ...

Personal life

Tuchscherer and his wife have a daughter and a son. Before becoming a professional fighter, Tuchscherer worked as a plumber.

Mixed martial arts record

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 20–1 (1) , Jamie Klair , TKO (punches) , SNMMA: Extreme Beatdown , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:19 ,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, United States , Defended SNMAA Heavyweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 19–1 (1) , Branden Lee Hinkle , TKO (punches) , SNMMA: Beatdown at 4 Bears , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:43 , New Town, North Dakota, United States , Won SNMAA Heavyweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 18–1 (1) , Tony Mendoza , Submission (armbar) , Max Fights 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:43 ,

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, United States , Won Max Fights Heavyweight Championship. , - , Loss , align=center, 17–1 (1) , Travis Wiuff , Decision (unanimous) , YAMMA Pit Fighting , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

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Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck (; from 1872 to 1873: Edwinton) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat, seat of Burleigh County, North Dakota, Burleigh County. It is the state's List of cities i ...

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, United States , , - , NC , align=center, 10–0 (1) , Josh Hendricks , NC (overturned) , Fightfest 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Ed Myers , TKO (punches) , Royce Gracie Fightfest 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:05 ,

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Thief River Falls, Minnesota Thief River Falls, sometimes abbreviated as TRF, is a city and county seat of Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. History Thief River Falls takes its name fro ...

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Brainerd, Minnesota Brainerd ( ) is a city and the county seat of Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 14,395 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluen ...

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Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moo ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuchscherer, Chris 1975 births Living people People from Rugby, North Dakota American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling American male sport wrestlers Minnesota State–Moorhead Dragons wrestlers Mixed martial artists from North Dakota Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 20th-century American sportsmen