Sean Michael Salmon (born September 11, 1977, in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

, United States) is a retired 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 ...

and a former

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short ess ...

for MMA news site MMAjunkie.com. Salmon has 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 Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

, Strikeforce and

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

Background

Salmon was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Salmon originally began his high school wrestling career for Birmingham Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan. As a freshman, he competed at the varsity level and held a record of 20-20 in the 160 lb. weight class. In his sophomore season, he held a record 38-9 in the same weight class, and qualified for the state meet before moving to Ohio to finish high school. Salmon continued competing for

Worthington Kilbourne High School Worthington Kilbourne High School (WKHS) is a public school located in Columbus, Ohio, United States, and is part of the Worthington City School District. Kilbourne was named after James Kilbourne, the founder of the Worthington, Ohio, city of Wort ...

, where he won a state championship in his senior season and amassed a 44-1 record. Salmon then went on to compete for

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

and was ranked as high as #10 in the nation for the 167 lb. weight class as a freshman. Competing in the 184 lb. weight class for OSU, he was the Michigan State Open Champion and holds a notable win over

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

and

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 ...

star

Bobby Lashley Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is an eight-time world champion, having been a two-t ...

. However, the weight-cutting was too harsh for Salmon, and he left after his sophomore year but would return as a volunteer assistant coach to continue training. Salmon continued his career in

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

and also qualified for the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

trials while competing at the Ohio International Wrestling Club in the

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

circuit.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Salmon made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2005 in Columbus, Ohio and won via keylock submission in the first round. He would go on to reach an undefeated record of 6-0, competing in smaller American promotions such as

, before being handed his first professional loss by future UFC veteran David Heath. He compiled a record of 9-1 with only one win by way of decision before being invited to compete in the UFC.

UFC career

Salmon made his UFC debut in the main event of UFC Fight Night 8 on January 25, 2007. In a nationally televised fight against

Rashad Evans Rashad Anton Evans (born September 25, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist. Evans started his professional career in 2003, he was the Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 and is also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and a ...

, 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 ...

winner of

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen ...

2, Salmon lost due to

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

from a head kick at 1:06 in the second round. The knockout was so brutal that he was carried out of the octagon on a stretcher. Salmon was then scheduled to fight Eric Schafer at

UFC 71 ''UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event took place on Saturday, May 26, 2007, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was the rem ...

on May 26, 2007, but he instead faced Alan Belcher after Schafer broke a rib during training. In the preliminary fight, Salmon lost due to

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while st ...

submission in the first round. After the consecutive losses, Salmon announced in a June 5, 2007, MMAjunkie.com column that he was taking a temporary leave from the UFC to fight in smaller organizations.

Post UFC

On June 9, 2007, Salmon submitted Jason Freeman at a North American Allied Fight Series event in Cleveland, Ohio called Fite Nite at the Flats III, winning via americana keylock. On August 11, 2007, he defeated Will Hill via unanimous decision at the Xtreme Fighting Organization's "XFO 19" show. On September 1, 2007, he was defeated via guillotine choke by fellow UFC veteran

Travis Wiuff Travis James Wiuff (born March 15, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2001 and a longtime veteran of the sport, Wiuff has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Bellat ...

in an International Fight Organization title fight. On November 16, 2007, Salmon lost to Jorge Santiago via knockout due to a

flying knee A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent. Styles such as ...

in a Strikeforce tournament which Santiago eventually won. According to

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

.com, and

California State Athletic Commission The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) regulates amateur and professional boxing, amateur and professional kickboxing and professional mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds ...

Executive Officer Armando Garcia, Salmon suffered a seizure in the ring after he was knocked out by Santiago. Garcia also stated Salmon's career was in jeopardy. 2008 saw Salmon's return to the cage, with a TKO victory over Mitch Whitesel in an NAAFS event on September 19. Barely three weeks later, however, on October 11, Salmon's fortunes reversed, as The Ultimate Fighter 3 alumni and 3x time UFC veteran Josh Haynes forced him to tap to an ankle lock. Salmon had been hired as a guest wrestling coach for the famed Wolfslair MMA Academy in England. He briefly left the camp to participate in one of his own bouts, to which the camp responded by telling him to come back healthy and able to train the fighters or don't return at all. On June 6, 2009, after he was unable to finish his opponent in the first round, Salmon intentionally left his arm out to be submitted. After losing by the

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, p ...

, he admitted to quitting the fight in order to be able to come back to Wolfslair healthy. He has since received criticism from the mixed martial arts community and was punished by the Ohio State Athletic Commission. Salmon fought early UFC veteran

Laverne Clark LaVerne Clark is an American mixed martial artist and a former professional boxer. Clark is a veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Maximum Fighting Championship and World Fighting Alliance. Clark holds a professional record of 27– ...

on August 20, 2011. After a slow-paced fight Clark caught Salmon with a vicious combination that knocked Salmon out, bringing his record to 17 losses (11 consecutive) and 3 wins since November 2007. Salmon, in an interview on the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

MMA Hour, stated that if he lost his next fight in 2014 he would formally retire from contact sports, Sean had taken the rest of 2013 after his loss to Todd Brown and a back surgery in mid-2013 to prepare for the fight in 2014, it had been rumored that he would fight veteran Jason Guida on the undercard of a Bellator event. Salmon later pulled out of the bout, set to be on the undercard of

Bellator 112 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 14, 2014, for undisclosed reasons. Salmon later officially retired from mixed martial arts competition, citing injuries and needing more time to spend with his family.

Personal life

Sean and his ex-wife Missy have a son, Marcus, and a daughter, Hayden. Salmon's ex-father-in-law, Rick Pyles, is the owner of the Ohio-based Ultimate Victory Challenge promotion.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 18–21 , Todd Brown , TKO (submission to punches) , MFL 29 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:02 ,

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–20 , Teddy Holder , TKO (punches) , UCC: Undisputed Combat Challenge 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:46 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–19 , Aaron Mays , TKO (punches) , Coalition of Combat: Clash of the Titans , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:35 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–18 , João Zeferino , Submission (heel hook) , NAFC: Unleashed , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, United States , Catchweight (195 lbs) bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 18–17 , Antony Rea , TKO (punches) , Desert Force: Elimination Series: Knockout Round , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 , Amman, Jordan , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–16 ,

, KO (punches) , Fight Tour , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:22 , Rockford, Illinois, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–15 , Joe Cason , TKO (punches) , NAFC: Mayhem , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:14 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–14 , Tom DeBlass , Submission (achilles lock) , Ring of Combat 35 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:57 ,

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, United States , Return to

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 ...

. , - , Loss , align=center, 18–13 , Assan Njie , TKO (punches) , Superior Challenge 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:41 , Stockholm, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–12 , Toni Valtonen , TKO (punches) , Fight Festival 28 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:18 ,

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, Finland , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–11 , Jeremy Horn , Submission (rear-naked choke) , IFC: Extreme Challenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:57 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–10 , Eric Cebarac , Submission (guillotine choke) , WAFC: Mayor's Cup 2010 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 , Khabarovsk Krai, Russia , Lost the WAFC Middleweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 18–9 , Nikita Khazov , Decision (unanimous) , WAFC: Mayor's Cup 2010 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Khabarovsk Krai, Russia , Won the WAFC Middleweight Championship. , - , Loss , align=center, 17–9 ,

Alexander Shlemenko Alexander Pavlovich Shlemenko (russian: Александр Павлович Шлеменко, born 20 May 1984) is a Russian mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Middleweight division. He is most notable for fighting for Bellator Fig ...

, TKO (knee to the body) , Fight Festival 27 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:40 ,

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 17–8 , Yuki Sasaki , Decision (unanimous) , Fight Festival 26 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Finland , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–8 , Allan Weickert , Submission (armbar) , NAAFS: Fight Nite in the Flats 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:05 , Cleveland, Ohio, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–7 , John Doyle , Decision (unanimous) , Ring of Combat 24 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–7 , Lucio Linhares , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Fight Festival 25 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:07 ,

, Finland , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–6 , Josh Haynes , Submission (achilles lock) , SuperFights MMA: Night of Combat 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:49 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–5 , Mitch Whitesel , TKO (punches) , NAAFS: Night of Pain 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:08 ,

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–5 , Jorge Santiago , KO (flying knee) , Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:24 ,

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, United States , Middleweight debut. , - , Win , align=center, 14–4 , Marcus Vinicios , TKO (injury) , HCF: Title Wave , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:22 ,

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, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Mikko Rupponen , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Fight Festival 22 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:32 ,

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 12–4 , Jason Jones , TKO (submission to punches) , NAAFS: Rock n Rumble , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:30 , Cleveland, Ohio, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–4 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , IFO: Wiuff vs. Salmon , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:37 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , William Hill , Decision , XFO 19 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Jason Freeman , Submission (americana) , NAAFS: Fight Night in the Flats III , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:19 , Cleveland, Ohio, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 , Alan Belcher , Submission (guillotine choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:51 ,

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

, KO (head kick) , UFC Fight Night 8 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:06 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Matt Hershberger , TKO (submission to punches) , Fightfest 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:51 , Cleveland, Ohio, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Bobby Martinez , Submission (americana) , Legends of Fighting 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:19 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 ,

Lucas Lopes Lucas Lopes de Freitas (born October 5, 1979) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional since 1999, he has competed for Strikeforce, Shooto, and Titan FC. , - , Loss , align=center, 29-20 , DeWayne Diggs , TKO (punches) , ...

, Submission (elbows) , Fightfest 6 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:44 , Corpus Christi, Texas, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–1 , David Heath , Submission (armbar) , FF 5: Korea vs USA , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:50 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Hans Marrero , Submission (americana) , Diesel Fighting Championships 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:04 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Danny Sheehan , TKO (punches) , FFP: Untamed 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:42 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jim Bundy , Submission (armbar) , Fightfest 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:27 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Bryan Zanders , TKO (injury) , KOTC: Redemption on the River , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:46 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Jerry Spiegel , Decision , KOTC 64: Raging Bull , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Cleveland, Ohio, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Rob Wince , Submission (americana) , HHCF 24: Thanksgiving Throwdown 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, United States ,

References

External links

*
Sean Salmon's Columns at MMAjunkie.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Sean 1977 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Milwaukee Mixed martial artists from Wisconsin Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers