Christophe Leininger (born October 12, 1959), is an American former

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Encyc ...

who was 1984, 1988, and 1992 US Olympic Judo Team Alternate. He was born in 1959. His brother Bryan Leininger was also a judo competitor. While his father Maurice was a French Judo champion. He is a two time US National Judo Champion and a two time US Judo open champion. He competed in a number of mixed martial arts fights included in

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 ( ...

Career

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Leininger made his debut in

UFC 3 ''The Ultimate Fighting Championship III'' (later renamed ''UFC 3: The American Dream'') was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on September 9, 1994, at Grady Cole Center in Charlotte, North Caro ...

event, being billed as the second ranked American judoka in his weight class at the time. Going against

shoot wrestler Shoot wrestling is a Japanese hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Shoot wrestling incorporates techniques from various wrestling, submission grappling, kickboxing and karate styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch wrestl ...

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock ( né Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Ken Shamrock. He is best known ...

, Leininger started by trying a morote gari, but Shamrock protected against it and ended up in Christophe's

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. The judoka then tried an

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful; it will immobilize an opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock t ...

, only for Shamrock to turn him over and stack him against the fence, raining punches and

headbutt A headbutt or butt is a targeted strike (attack), strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's Skull#Humans, cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of ...

s on him for the tap out. Shamrock crossfaced Leininger so hard into the mat that Leininger admitted to being knocked out for a second, and he later was revealed to have suffered a mild concussion. He returned at UFC 13 against Ken Shamrock's teammate

Guy Mezger Guy Mezger (born January 1, 1968) is an American martial artist, who competed in professional combat sports including full contact karate, kickboxing, and boxing, but is most recognized as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. Mezger retired fro ...

. Leininger tried to take the fight to the ground, at one point scoring a

tomoe nage is one of the traditional forty throws of jujutsu and Judo. It belongs to the third group (Sankyo) of the traditional throwing list, the traditional Gokyo (no waza), and the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. Tomoe nage is categorized as a front ...

and transitioning it into a

mount Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

position, but Mezger was able to return to his feet every time. After a restart, Mezger hit a clearly tired Leininger with kicks to the legs and head, but the affair was inconclusive and the match went to overtime. There Mezger continued punishing Leininger with strikes, finally earning a decision win.

Mixed martial arts record

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Edwin Dewees Edwin Stanton Dewees (born August 7, 1982 in Florence, South Carolina) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor from 2000 to 2014, he was featured on '' The Ultimate Fig ...

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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 ...

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Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

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Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

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, TKO (submission to punches) ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leininger, Christophe 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Scottsdale, Arizona American male judoka American male mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Judoka at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in judo Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 20th-century American sportsmen