Michael Wade Wessel (born December 2, 1977) is an 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 in 2016. A professional competitor since 2007, Wessel formerly competed 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 ( ...

, Bellator, and was a contestant on '' The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights.''

Background

Born and raised in

Celina, Ohio Celina ( ) is a city in Mercer County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 10,935 at the 2020 census. Located about northwest of Dayton, Celina is situated on the northwestern shores of Grand Lake St. Marys. History ...

, Wessel played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

at Celina High School as a defensive tackle and was talented, earning a scholarship to the University of St. Francis where he played nose tackle. Wessel also went to training camps for both the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

but was cut in both appearances. Wessel later competed for

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

teams in North Dakota and San Diego for three-and-a-half seasons before accepting a strength and conditioning coaching job at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

. It was during his time in Arkansas when Wessel began to train

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

Mixed martial arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship

He made his

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 ...

debut against

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 92. He accepted the fight on a week notice after Hardonk's original opponent dropped out due to injury. UFC's Dana White offered the fight to Wessel and he quickly accepted, signing a four-fight deal. Wessel lost in the second round via TKO stoppage after tiring from only having a few days to train.

The Ultimate Fighter

After losing to Hardonk in his UFC debut, Wessel took a spot on the Spike TV reality show, The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights. He was the last pick for Team Rashad Evans. Wessel had his first fight on the show against Marcus Jones, losing via first round submission

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 ...

. Wessel was not given a chance to fight on the finale card. After losing to Jones, Wessel was released from his contract.

Post-UFC

Wessel's first fight after his stint on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, was against another Ultimate Fighter alumni, Dan Christison. Wessel lost the fight via submission kimura. Wessel also faced Bellator's veteran Scott Barrett and

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

's veteran Matt Kovacs, losing against Barrett and winning against Kovacs. In the second half of 2012, Wessel signed with Bellator.

Bellator MMA

Wessel made his debut on August 24, 2012, at Bellator 73 against fellow newcomer Ryan Martinez. He won via split decision (29-28 Wessel, 30-27 Martinez, 29-28 Wessel). Wessel next entered the Bellator season seven heavyweight tournament, facing Rich Hale on October 5, 2012, at Bellator 75 for a spot in the semifinals. Hale defeated Wessel via TKO in the first round. Wessel faced Alexei Kudin on December 7, 2012, at Bellator 83. He won via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28). Wessel then faced Justin Frazier at Bellator 120 on May 17, 2014. He defeated Frazier via first round TKO. Wessel faced Josh Diekmann at Bellator 123 on September 5, 2014. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Wessel faced Frank Tate at Bellator 162 on October 21, 2016. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 15–8 , Frank Tate , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 162 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–8 , Josh Diekmann , KO (punches) , Bellator 123 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:47 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is a village in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is located in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–7 , Justin Frazier , TKO (punches) , Bellator 120 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:28 ,

Southaven, Mississippi Southaven is a city in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. It is a principal city in Memphis metropolitan area, Greater Memphis. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census reported a population of 54,648, making it the List of municipal ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–7 , Michal Kita , TKO (punches) , Pro MMA Challenge 1: Drwal vs. Heleno , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:11 ,

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–6 , Robert Neal , TKO (punches) , PFMMAC: PrizeFight MMA Championships , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:13 ,

Tunica, Mississippi Tunica is a town in and the county seat of Tunica County, Mississippi, United States, near the Mississippi River. Until the early 1990s when casino gambling was introduced in the area, Tunica had been one of the most impoverished places in the U ...

, United States , For the PrizeFight Heavyweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 13–5 , Alexei Kudin , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 83 , , 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 ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–5 , Rich Hale , TKO (punches) , Bellator 75 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:19 ,

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4 , Scott Barrett , TKO (punches) , SportFight X: Middle Tennessee Mayhem , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:53 ,

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Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

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Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

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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, 7–1 , Rudy Lindsey , Decision (unanimous) , Extreme Fighting League , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Patrick Castillo , Decision (split) , AOW: GIs vs. Pros , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Mark Bier , TKO (punches) , Ring Rulers , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:45 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Aaron Wintterle , KO (punch) , Xtreme Fighting League , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:28 ,

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Mixed martial arts exhibition record

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References

External links

* *
Ingrid Norton's coverage of Wessel's early MMA career
at The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette {{DEFAULTSORT:Wessel, Mike American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Ohio People from Celina, Ohio Sportspeople from Mercer County, Ohio Mixed martial artists from Ohio Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters