Matt Hume (born July 14, 1966) is an American former 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 ...

, trainer, and businessman. He is the co-founder and head trainer at AMC Pankration in Kirkland, WA. Hume and his AMC team have trained several champions and world-class fighters including

Josh Barnett Joshua Lawrence Barnett (born November 10, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist, submission wrestler, professional wrestler, and color commentator. Barnett previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the y ...

Demetrious Johnson Demetrious Khrisna Johnson (born August 13, 1986) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the inaugural and former UFC Flyweight C ...

, Bibiano Fernandes,

Tim Boetsch Timothy A. Boetsch (; born January 28, 1981) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who fought in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2006, Boetsch has for ...

Jeff Monson Oregon State Beavers Jeffrey William Monson (born January 18, 1971) is an American-born Russian mixed martial artist, boxer, and submission grappler who competes primarily in the heavyweight division. A professional com ...

Bob Sapp Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973) is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxing, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football, football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federatio ...

Chris Leben Christian Cyrus Leben (born July 21, 1980) is an American former mixed martial artist, referee, and bare knuckle boxer. A professional MMA competitor from 2002 until 2013, he most notably competed in the UFC in the Middleweight division, compiling ...

Hayato Sakurai (born August 24, 1975) also known as , is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1996, he has formerly competed for the UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, Shooto, Vale Tudo Japan, DEEP, and participated in the Yarennoka!, ...

Akira Shoji Akira Shoji (小路晃) (born January 31, 1974) is a retired Japanese mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He is most known as being a regular in almost all the beginning Pride Fighting Championship Shoji was in Pri ...

, Matt Brown,

Rich Franklin Richard Jay Franklin II (born October 5, 1974) is an American businessman and retired mixed martial artist. He is best known for competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is a member of the UFC Hall of Fame and a former UFC Midd ...

, and

Caros Fodor Caros Fodor (born January 7, 1984) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight division of the Professional Fighters League. A professional competitor since 2009, he has also competed for ...

. Hume has been the Senior Vice President of Competition for Singapore-based combat sports promotion

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

since 2012.

Background

Hume grew up in

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

. His father was a Seattle police officer and his mother was a housewife and later a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. His father had trained under

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

and began Matt's

judo 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 ...

and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

training at age four. Hume began

folkstyle wrestling Collegiate wrestling, commonly referred to as folkstyle wrestling, is the form of amateur wrestling, wrestling practiced at the Tertiary education, post-secondary level in the United States. This style of wrestling is also practiced at the Secon ...

in elementary school and started coaching after graduating from

Lake Washington High School Lake Washington High School (LWHS) is a four-year public high school in Kirkland, Washington, a suburb east of Seattle. History and facilities Lake Washington opened as Kirkland High School (also called Union “A” High School) in 1922, the ...

. He coached

during Barnett's time in high school, which eventually led to Barnett's MMA career. Hume attended

Highline College Highline College is a public community college in Des Moines, Washington. Highline was founded in 1961 as the first community college in King County, Washington. The main campus covers . , there were approximately 17,000 students and 350,000 al ...

for one year and finished his degree at

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington, United States. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academi ...

. He credited his Highline wrestling coach Ron Wallick as being a major influence. While attending CWU in 1988, Hume started a

pankration Pankration (; ) was an unarmed combat sport introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC. The athletes used boxing and wrestling techniques but also others, such as kicking, holds, joint locks, and chokes on the ground, making it s ...

club, inviting all wrestlers, boxers, and other martial artists to train. He originally learned about pankration as a child while attending wrestling camps hosted by

Athletes in Action Athletes in Action (AIA) is an American sports organization founded in 1966. It is the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. History Athletes in Action was started in 1966 by Dave Hannah."Fact Sheet: ...

. This encouraged him to train and compete 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 ...

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

Thai boxing 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 clinching technique ...

, and

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

. After graduating, Hume worked in finance while training with Haru Shimanishi and Maurice Smith. Shimanishi had already established AMC (American Martial Arts Centre) Kickboxing, and partnered with Hume to co-found AMC Pankration. His relationship with Smith brought interest from Japanese reporters 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 ...

, who recruited Hume and many other AMC fighters.

Mixed martial arts career

Hume's competitive

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 ...

career started in the

shootfighting Shootfighting is a martial art and combat sport, with competitions governed by the International Shootfighting Association (ISFA). It incorporates techniques from a multitude of traditional martial arts, the most principal of these being wrestlin ...

organization

, debuting at Pancrash 3! against Katsuomi Inagaki, losing by points. He won his second fight against veteran and future UFC fighter Scott Bessac via

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

, but lost his next 3 fights against

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 ...

Manabu Yamada Manabu Yamada (山田学, born May 18, 1969, in Tochigi, Japan) is a retired Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in Shooto and Pancrase fighting organizations. On December 17, 1994, Yamada advanced to the ...

, and

Jason Delucia Jason DeLucia (born July 24, 1969) is an American retired mixed martial artist. Biography DeLucia participated as the alternate at UFC 1. At UFC 2: No Way Out, DeLucia fought Royce Gracie and lost via armbar submission. After DeLucia tapped ou ...

. Hume rebounded by submitting Scott Sollivan with an armbar in under a minute, but lost against

Minoru Suzuki (born June 17, 1968) is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, known for his tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP Intercontinental Ch ...

by points in his final Pancrase fight. He later cited Shamrock, Suzuki, and

Masakatsu Funaki is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF) ...

as influences on his career. After Pancrase, Hume fought in Extreme Fighting, defeating

Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the Shooto Association and the International Shooto Commission (ISC). Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 1989 as a ...

champion

Erik Paulson Erik Paulson (born June 28, 1966) is an American mixed martial artist. He is the first American to win the World Light Heavyweight Shooto Championship in Japan. Biography Erik started his career in martial arts starting with Judo at age of e ...

and former

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 ...

Welterweight Champion

Pat Miletich Patrick Jay Miletich (; born March 9, 1968) is a retired Americans, American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and former sports commentator. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first UFC W ...

. His last fight was at Absolute FC, where he submitted Shawn Peters in under two minutes. Since retiring from active competition, Hume has remained active as the head coach at AMC, working with a range of students from world champions to hobbyist adults and children.

Submission wrestling career

Hume made his professional debut in

submission wrestling Submission wrestling, also known as submission grappling, submission fighting, or simply grappling, is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on ground fighting and submission techniques. It is a hybrid discipline that incorporates elem ...

on October 11, 1997 at The Contenders, an event that pitted submission grapplers against amateur wrestlers. He faced Olympic wrestling gold medalist Kenny Monday, winning via submission in under a minute. On March 20, 1998, Hume competed at the inaugural

ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship is an international submission wrestling, submission grappling competition, organised by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC). ADCC is considered one of the most prestigious No-Gi submission grappling tou ...

s. He defeated Micah Pittman and Luis Brito but withdrew due to injury before facing John Lewis.

Executive positions

In 1993, Hume founded United Full Contact Federation in order to sanction amateur pankration events. UFCF was instrumental in legalizing MMA in Washington state. After conflicts with the state's boxing commission, the boxing commission was dissolved and UFCF worked with the Department of Licensing to sanction, codify, and legislate the sport. UFCF would also hold professional events from 1995 to 2007, several of them at the AMC gym. Hume was the rule director and official trainer to both

PRIDE Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

and

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

. Hume was initially appointed as the head official by Singapore-based promotion

when it was founded in 2011. The following year he accepted a new role as Vice President of Operations.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 5–5 , Shawn Peters , Submission (armbar) , HOOKnSHOOT: Absolute FC 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:45 ,

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–5 ,

, TKO (nose injury) , Extreme Fighting 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–5 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , Extreme Fighting 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:44 ,

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

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

, Decision (lost points) ,

King of Pancrase tournament The King of Pancrase tournament was a mixed martial arts event held by Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling. It took place at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on December 16 and 17, 1994. The event was a 16-man tournament to crown the first ever champion of Panc ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 10:00 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 2–4 , Scott Sollivan , Submission (armbar) , Pancrase - Road To The Championship 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:38 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–4 ,

Jason DeLucia Jason DeLucia (born July 24, 1969) is an American retired mixed martial artist. Biography DeLucia participated as the alternate at UFC 1. At UFC 2: No Way Out, DeLucia fought Royce Gracie and lost via armbar submission. After DeLucia tapped ou ...

, Decision (lost points) , Pancrase - Road To The Championship 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 15:00 ,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–3 ,

, Submission (heel hook) , Pancrase - Road To The Championship 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:31 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–2 ,

, Submission (kimura) , Pancrase - Road To The Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:50 , Hyogo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Scott Bessac , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Pancrase - Road To The Championship 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:21 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Katsuomi Inagaki , Decision (lost points) , Pancrase - Pancrash! 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 10:00 ,

, Japan , , -

Submission grappling record

, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Result , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Method , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Event , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Round , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Time , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes , - , Win, , Luis Brito , , Points , , ADCC -77 kg, , 1998, , 1, , 10:00, , Subsequently withdrew due to injury. , - , Win, , Micah Pittman , , Submission , , ADCC -77 kg, , 1998, , 1, , 5:34, , , - , Win, , Kenny Monday , , Submission (toe hold) , , The Contenders, , 1997, , 1, , 0:45, , , -

References

External links