Savant Young (born June 19, 1976) is an American retired

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 ...

. A professional competitor from 1998 until 2013, he competed for the WEC, Bellator, Shooto, Affliction, the Tokyo Sabres of the IFL,

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock Jr. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstre ...

, and Tachi Palace Fights.

Mixed martial arts career

Although his first professional bout was in 1998, in June 2006 Young decided he wanted to begin training mixed martial arts full-time. In February 2007 Young won his first fight in the International Fight League by defeating Ed West with a unanimous decision. Young compiled a 2-2 record with the IFL, and that gave him an opportunity to fight Takeshi Inoue at Shooto. Despite Inoue being heavily favored, Young pulled off the upset and beat him by unanimous decision. Young has stated that this win is the reason he was offered a fight contract with the new Affliction Clothing Promotion. Young fought at their first event, Affliction: Banned, losing by second-round armbar against UFC veteran Mark Hominick.

Outside MMA

While training part-time, Young worked in post-production at a video editing company, making the feats of others come alive on the screen. An avid video game player, Young has also had a lifelong fascination with cars, building and competing with them in street races while in high school.

Personal life

Savant and his wife Rahima have two children, a girl and a boy. His mother's name is Debra Baldwin.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 11–9 , Mike Guymon , KO (punch) , Bellator 85 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:48 ,

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

bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 10–9 , Rob Emerson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , TPF 12: Second Coming , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:29 , Lemoore, California, United States , Catchweight (149 lbs) bout. , - , Win , align=center, 10–8 , Robert Washington , Submission (guillotine choke) , TPF 11: Redemption , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:41 , Lemoore, California, United States ,

bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 9–8 , Mark Hominick , Submission (armbar) , Affliction: Banned , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:25 ,

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–7 , Takeshi Inoue , Decision (unanimous) , Shooto: Shooto Tradition 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Japan ,

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

debut. , - , Loss , align=center, 8–7 , Deividas Taurosevicius , Decision (unanimous) , IFL- 2007 Semifinals , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:00 ,

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–6 , Ryan Schultz , Decision (unanimous) , IFL-Everett , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–5 , Adam Lynn , KO (punch) , IFL-Los Angeles , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:21 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–5 , Ed West , Decision (unanimous) , IFL-Houston , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:00 ,

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–5 , Danny Suarez , KO (superman punch) , BIB-Beatdown in Bakersfield , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:32 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–5 , Gabe Ruediger , Submission (armbar) , PF 1-The Beginning , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:29 ,

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debut. , - , Loss , align=center, 5–4 , Chris Lytle , Submission (strikes) , WEC 18: Unfinished Business , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:50 , Lemoore, California, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–3 ,

John Alessio John Paul Alessio (born July 5, 1979) is a Canadian retired professional mixed martial artist. A former competitor in Bellator's Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 1998, Alessio has also formerly competed for the UFC where h ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , KOTC: Shock and Awe , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:09 ,

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

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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 th ...

debut. , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Kendall Grove , Technical Submission (choke) , LIP 1: Lockdown in Paradise 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:00 , Lahania, Hawaii, United States , Catchweight (192 lbs) bout; Grove missed weight. , - , Win , align=center, 4–2 , Marcus Vinicios , Decision , XP 2: Xtreme Pankration 2 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2 , Jason Von Flue , KO (punch) , IFC WC 5: Warriors Challenge 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:05 ,

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Victor Hunsaker , Submission (heel hook) , NG 9: Neutral Grounds 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:55 ,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Ronnie Barnwell , Submission (guillotine choke) , NG 9: Neutral Grounds 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Scott Herman , Decision , Neutral Grounds 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:00 , United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Thomas Kenny , Submission (armbar) , ES 2: Extreme Shoot 2 , , align=center, 2 , ,

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References

External links

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Savant Young
IFL Page
International Fight League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Savant Living people 1976 births American male mixed martial artists African-American mixed martial artists 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen