Richard "Rich" Hale (born May 17, 1985) is an American

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 ...

currently competing in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

division. A professional since 2006, he is perhaps best known for his 10-fight stint with

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Glob ...

, and made it to the finals of the promotions Season Seven Heavyweight and Season Four Light Heavyweight tournaments.

Mixed martial arts career

Hale made his professional debut in December 2006.

Rage in the Cage

Hale started his career fighting for the promotion Rage in the Cage. He has a record of 13 wins and 2 losses in his career under the promotion. He won the Rage in the Cage Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Championships.

Bellator

In February 2011, Bellator announced that Hale would be a part of the Bellator Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament and that he would National Champion wrestler Nik Fekete in the quarterfinals. Hale made his Bellator debut on March 26, 2011 at

Bellator 38 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Feather ...

where he defeated Nik Fekete via technical submission (inverted triangle choke) to move on to the Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinals. At Bellator 42, Hale competed in the semi-finals of the Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament against D.J. Linderman. Hale won by a narrow split decision to move on to the Light Heavyweight Tournament Finals where he fought

Christian M'Pumbu Christian M'Pumbu (born June 2, 1977) is a French-Congolese professional mixed martial artist. He was the inaugural Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. Background M'Pumbu was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of the ...

Bellator 45 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Feather ...

. He lost via TKO in the third round. In late 2012, Hale moved up in weight as he joined the Heavyweight Tournament in Bellator's Season Seven. He faced

Mike Wessel Michael Wade Wessel (born December 2, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist who last competed in 2016. A professional competitor since 2007, Wessel formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator, and was a contestant on ' ...

in the opening quarter-finals at

Bellator 75 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so i ...

on October 5, 2012. He won the fight via vicious TKO, stopping his opponent via strikes at just 1:19 into the first round. In the semifinals, he faced

Thiago Santos Thiago Santos de Lima (born January 7, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), competing in the light heavyweight division. Prior to signing with the PFL, Santos competed for the U ...

. After being rocked in the first minute of the fight, Hale regained his composure and won the fight via TKO in the first round. Hale faced Russian Alexander Volkov in the final, with the winner awarded the Bellator Heavyweight Championship. The fight took place at

Bellator 84 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so i ...

on December 14, 2012, with Volkov winning by unanimous decision after five rounds. Hale fought

Ryan Martinez Ryan Martinez (born August 27, 1982) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2009 until 2014, he competed for Bellator and ProElite. Background Martinez was born in Greeley, Colorado. He grew up wrestling and had a pro ...

Bellator 96 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

. He was knocked out in the first round by ground and pound from Martinez. In March 2014, Hale returned to the heavyweight division. He faced

Blagoi Ivanov Blagoy Ivanov ( bg, Благой Александров Иванов; born October 9, 1986) is a Bulgarian mixed martial artist and Sambo practitioner. He is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he competes ...

in the opening round of the Bellator Season Ten Heavyweight Tournament at

Bellator 111 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

on March 7, 2014. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Accomplishments

** Bellator Season Four Light Heavyweight Tournament Runner-Up ** Bellator Season Seven Heavyweight Tournament Runner-Up *Rage in the Cage **RITC Heavyweight Championship (One time) **RITC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Josh Burns Josh Burns (born May 15, 1978) is an American professional mixed martial artist and current bare-knuckle boxer. Since 2017, Burns has competed in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Bellator MMA Burns faced TNA ...

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Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruis ...

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Antwain Britt Antwain Britt (born May 9, 1978) is an American professional mixed martial artist who last competed in Strikeforce's Middleweight division. While perhaps best known for his stint with the Strikeforce organization, he also fought in YAMMA Pit F ...

, Decision (majority) , Vendetta Fighting Championship: A Night of Vengeance , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Oranjestad, Aruba , , - , Win , align=center, 13–2–1 , Evan Nedd , Decision (majority) , Vendetta Fighting Championship: A Night of Vengeance , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Oranjestad, Aruba , , - , Win , align=center, 12–2–1 , Adam Padilla , TKO (punches) , Rage in the Cage 130 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:12 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 , Rich Beecroft , TKO (punches) , Rage in the Cage 125 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:33 ,

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Richard 1985 births Living people American male mixed martial artists American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Bellator male fighters Sportspeople from Cleveland