Edward Norris Ratcliff (born March 5, 1983) is a retired American professional

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 ...

. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2010, he fought in the WEC.

Background

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Ratcliff is African-American but is also of Iroquois Native American descent. Ratcliff was raised alongside his sister by his single mother, Laceine. It was Ratfcliff's mother who was his original martial arts instructor. In elementary school, Ratcliff began

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

and would eventually earn black belts in both disciplines. At the age of 17, Ratcliff tried out to be a part of

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Champ ...

's gym The Lion's Den in 2001 and made the team.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Ratcliff made his professional MMA debut in 2005 and compiled an undefeated professional record of 4-0 before being signed by the WEC.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Ratcliff debuted at WEC 27, defeating Johnny Sampaio via TKO (knees) in the second round. Next, he faced Ultimate Fighter alumni Alex Karalexis and was again victorious via technical knockout. However, Ratcliff suffered his first WEC and professional loss at WEC 33 at the hands of Marcus Hicks via guillotine choke. Ratcliff then bounced back against

Phil Cardella Phil Ryan Cardella (born July 9, 1976) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He formerly fought as a lightweight in the World Extreme Cagefighting organization. All but one of Cardella’s triumphs have come by first-round submission. He ...

, winning via unanimous decision. He lost his last fight against

Donald Cerrone Donald Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American retired mixed martial artist, actor, and former professional kickboxer. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight division for the Ult ...

via submission at

WEC 45 ''WEC 45: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on December 19, 2009 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas.www.wec.tv/index.cfm It marked the first time the WEC has held back-t ...

on December 19, 2009. Ratcliff was expected to face

Chris Horodecki Christopher Horodecki (born September 24, 1987) is a Polish-Canadian mixed martial artist. He has competed for the WEC, the IFL, Bellator, TKO Major League MMA, and Palace Fighting Championship. Background Horodecki was born in London, Ontari ...

on June 20, 2010 at

WEC 49 ''WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on June 20, 2010 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Background WEC 49 was the only event the organization had held outsi ...

, but just days before the event, Ratcliff pulled out of the event for undisclosed reasons. Horodecki instead faced WEC newcomer Danny Downes. The fight between Horodecki and Ratcliff eventually took place on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51. He lost the fight via split decision. Ratcliff was released by UFC/Zuffa in January 2011.

Championships and accomplishments

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was mad ...

** Fight of the Night (One time) vs.

Mixed martial arts record

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Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

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WEC 42 ''WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on August 9, 2009 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada Background Kenji Osawa was originally scheduled to face Rani Yahya at this e ...

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Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight b ...

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Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliff, Ed 1983 births American male mixed martial artists African-American mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Living people American male karateka American male taekwondo practitioners 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people