Justin McCully (born February 18, 1976) is a retired American 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 ...

and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

who most recently competed in the

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 ...

division of the

RFA RFA may refer to: Groups, organizations * Radio Free Asia, a private news broadcaster and publisher in East Asia, funded in part by the U.S. government * Renewable Fuels Agency, a former UK renewable fuel regulatory agency * Renewable Fuels A ...

. A professional competitor since 1997, McCully has also formerly competed for the

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 ...

, RINGS,

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 ...

, It's Showtime and

Jungle Fight Jungle Fight is a Brazilian mixed martial arts and kickboxing promotion. It was created in 2003. The name is derived from its origin, the Amazonas state in Brazil. History Jungle Fight was founded by pioneering MMA fighter and long-time Brazi ...

Mixed martial arts career

McCully trains with Team Punishment, including

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz () is an American politican and retired mixed martial artist and Submission grappling, submission grappler. Ortiz is best known for his career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC ...

Kendall Grove Kendall Grove (born November 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also competed for the Bellator MMA, UFC, KSW, ProElite, King ...

, and

Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Opps, and is one-third of the AEW Worl ...

. McCully also trained with B.J. Penn in

Hilo Hilo () is the largest settlement in and the county seat of Hawaii County, Hawaiʻi, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaiʻi, and is a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. I ...

for Penn's bout with

Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre (; born May 19, 1981), also known by his initials GSP, is a Canadian former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-divi ...

at UFC 94. He has three previous fights inside the UFC, a unanimous decision victory over

Antoni Hardonk Antoni Hardonk (born February 5, 1976) is a Dutch retired mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and kickboxing, kickboxer who competed in K-1 and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC. Kickboxing career Antoni made his K-1 debut at the ''K- ...

at ''UFC Fight Night 9'', a submission loss to Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 86, and a unanimous decision win over Eddie Sanchez at UFC: Fight For The Troops. McCully was also scheduled to fight

Christian Wellisch Christian Wellisch (born September 13, 1975) is a Hungarian-American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2009, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, World Extreme Cagefighting, W ...

at ''

UFC 76 ''UFC 76: Knockout'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event took place on September 22, 2007, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Although the event was advertised with the s ...

'', but McCully was ultimately replaced by Scott Junk. He has also fought a former UFC champion, losing to

Evan Tanner Evan Lloyd Tanner (February 11, 1971 – September 5, 2008) was an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He was a former UFC Middleweight Champion and was the first American to win the Pancrase Neo-Blood tournament in Tokyo, ...

by technical submission at a 1998

event. McCully competed against

Gabriel Gonzaga Gabriel Gonzaga Santos Nogueira (; born 18 May 1979) is a Brazilian former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Submission grappling, submission grappler and 5th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) Brazilian jiu-jitsu ranking syst ...

at UFC 86. He lost by submission to Gonzaga applying an Americana keylock from the mounted position in the first round. He then fought Eddie Sanchez at UFC: Fight for the Troops and won the fight by unanimous decision. Most recently, McCully lost to Mike Russow at UFC 102 via unanimous decision. After his defeat at the hands of

Mike Russow Michael Earl Russow (born November 9, 1976) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who competed in the heavyweight division. Having made his professional debut in 1998, Russow has formerly competed for the UFC, Adrenaline MMA, ...

at UFC 102, McCully was released by the organization.

Personal life

Justin has two children, and is also good friends with professional wrestler

Rob Van Dam Robert Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD) is an American professional wrestler. Known for his unique ring style—which includes his variety of kicks, acrobatic movemen ...

. In 2014 he had a falling out with

over what McCully claimed was Ortiz owing him money and refusing to pay him back. This fallout culminated with McCully openly supporting and training with

Stephan Bonnar Stephan Patrick Bonnar (April 4, 1977 – December 22, 2022) was an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Bonnar competed as a Light Heavyweight in the UFC for most of his career. Bonnar was the runner-up on The Ultimate Fig ...

who was Ortiz' opponent at Bellator 131. McCully's brother, Sean, is a former professional kickboxer and MMA fighter.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 11–5–2 , Justin Grizzard , TKO (punches) , RFA 1: Elliot vs. Pulver , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:45 ,

Kearney, Nebraska Kearney ( ) is the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 33,790 in the 2020 census, making it the 5th most populous city in Nebraska. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The westward pus ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 102 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, , Eddie Sanchez , Decision (unanimous) , UFC: Fight For The Troops , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–4–2 ,

, Submission (americana) , UFC 86 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:57 ,

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 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Stevenson vs. Guillard , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–3–2 , Ruben Villareal , Submission (front choke) , Valor Fighting: San Manuel , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:48 ,

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3–2 , Derek Thornton , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Extreme Wars 5: Battlegrounds , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:20 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3–2 , Ed de Kruijf , Submission (armbar) , Venom: First Strike , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–3–2 , Dario Amorim , Decision (unanimous) ,

Jungle Fight 1 The year 2003 is the first year in the history of Jungle Fight, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Brazil. In 2003 Jungle Fight held 1 event, ''Jungle Fight 1''. Events list Jungle Fight 1 Jungle Fight 1 was an event held on Septemb ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–3–2 , Ed de Kruijf , Submission (reverse full-nelson) , It's Showtime: Exclusive , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:36 ,

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 4–2–2 , Errol Maduro , Submission , UFO Europe: Free Fight Gala , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , Kijkduin, Netherlands , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2–2 , Mikhail Ilyukhin , Technical Submission (achilles lock) , RINGS: King of Kings 1999 Block A , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:48 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1–2 , Mario Neto , Submission (kneebar) , WVC 9: World Vale Tudo Championship 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:53 ,

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1–2 ,

, Technical Submission (kimura) , Pancrase: 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:07 ,

Aomori , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0–2 , Martin Emmen , Submission (armbar) , Pancrase: 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:34 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0–2 , Daisuke Ishii , Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase: 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 0–0–2 , Daisuke Ishii , Draw (unanimous) , Pancrase: Alive 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 0–0–1 , Kenji Akiyama , Draw , Daidojuku: Wars 4 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, Japan ,

Championships and accomplishments in professional wrestling

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC; Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha") is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Goril ...

** WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) * International Wrestling Association **

IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship The IWA Intercontinental Championship is a secondary professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling), title defended in Puerto Rico. It was originally defended in the original International Wrestling Association (Puerto Rico), Inte ...

( 1 time) * Ultimate Pro Wrestling ** UPW Tag Team Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with Hardkore Kidd

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCully, Justin American male mixed martial artists American male professional wrestlers Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Sportspeople from Washington, D.C. 1979 births Living people Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters WWC World Junior Heavyweight Champions