Shane Derrick Roller (born July 14, 1979) 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 ...

who is perhaps best known in his career for competing as a

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

for the UFC and WEC.

Background

Roller was born and raised in

Bixby, Oklahoma Bixby is a city in Tulsa and Wagoner counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and is a suburb of Tulsa. The population was 28,609 at the 2020 census and 20,884 in the 2010 census, an increase of 13.70 percent In 2010, Bixby became the 19th larg ...

along with his three brothers. Roller is known as one of the most decorated athletes in his state's history, a standout at Bixby High School while competing in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, baseball, and football, lettering in each, and was the Tulsa World's 1998 Male Athlete of the Year. In baseball, he was a two-time letterman, playing

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

, hitting in the lead-off spot, and was twice selected for the All-Metro Honorable Mention Team. In football, Roller played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

, free safety, and was a three-time letterman. Roller was selected to play in the

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Nativ ...

All-Star Game and was also selected as the 1997 Oklahoma Football Coaches Association All-Star Running Back. In wrestling, Roller was his high school's first four-time state champion and was twice selected as the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the state tournament. He compiled a 141-3 record and was selected for the All-State team, being voted the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the All-State match. He was also an Asics First Team All-American and received the Junior Hodge Award which is given to the nation's most dominant high school wrestler. Roller also received the Dave Schultz award which is for academic and athletic excellence, as he was also his class' salutatorian and a member of the National Honor Society. He received a scholarship to continue competing in wrestling for

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and was a three-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

All-American, three-time Academic All-American, and

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

Champion. Roller was also the captain of the 2003 NCAA Championship team, and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. He later earned his master's degree from the school while working as an assistant coach, earning three NCAA championships.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Roller made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2007 and compiled a record of 3-1 before being signed by the WEC.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Roller made his WEC debut defeating Todd Moore at WEC 35 via submission (guillotine choke) at 3:00 of the first round. This was followed by another first round submission win over previously undefeated Mike Budnik at WEC 37. Roller faced future

UFC Lightweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Benson Henderson Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes for Bellator MMA, currently competing in their Lightweight division. He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and WEC Lightweight Champion. As of Novem ...

on April 5, 2009 at WEC 40. He lost the fight via TKO due to punches in the first round. Roller rebounded from his loss to Henderson defeating former Lightweight title challenger Marcus Hicks via unanimous decision on August 9, 2009 at WEC 42. Roller defeated Danny Castillo on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44 via submission in the third round, earning ''Submission of the Night'' honors. Roller faced

Anthony Njokuani Anthony Obinna Njokuani (born March 1, 1980) is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional competitor since 2001, Njokuani has also formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, and ONE Championship. Background ...

on April 24, 2010 at WEC 48. He won the fight via first-round rear-naked choke submission. Roller faced

Anthony Pettis Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of th ...

on August 18, 2010 at WEC 50. Following a back and forth battle, the visibly exhausted Roller was submitted by Pettis via triangle choke with seconds left in the bout. Roller faced former WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner on December 16, 2010 at WEC 53. He won via submission in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the

Ultimate Fighting Championship 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 ...

. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC. Roller defeated Thiago Tavares via second round KO on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann, earning ''Knockout of the Night'' honors. In his second UFC fight, Roller faced Melvin Guillard on July 2, 2011 at

UFC 132 ''UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background UFC 132 was originally set to feature a rematch between B.J. Pen ...

. He lost the fight via KO in the first round. Roller faced T. J. Grant on October 1, 2011 at UFC on Versus 6. Roller lost via controversial armbar submission in round 3. Roller faced Michael Johnson on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2, replacing an injured Cody McKenzie. Roller lost via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). Roller defeated

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 he ...

on July 7, 2012 at

UFC 148 ''UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 7, 2012, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the seventeenth UFC event of the year. The card consisted of e ...

via unanimous decision. Roller was expected to face Jacob Volkmann on September 1, 2012 at UFC 151. However, after UFC 151 was cancelled, Roller/Volkmann was rescheduled and instead took place on October 5, 2012 at UFC on FX 5. Roller was taken down early in the fight and eventually submitted via rear naked choke. Shortly after the event Shane announced his retirement from mixed martial arts competition.

Personal life

Shane is married to Jennifer Roller and the couple have four children. Roller's three brothers, Keith, Mike, and Jimmy all played sports at the collegiate level. Keith played football, while Mike and Jimmy wrestled. Shane began Wrestling after he was bullied in the 2nd grade for letting flatulence slip.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 11–7 , Jacob Volkmann , Submission (rear naked choke) , UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:38 , Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–6 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–6 , Michael Johnson , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5 , T. J. Grant , Submission (armbar) , UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:12 , Washington, D.C. United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4 , Melvin Guillard , KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:12 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Thiago Tavares , KO (punches) , UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:28 ,

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3 , Jamie Varner , Submission (rear-naked choke) , WEC 53 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:55 ,

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the late 1800s the area that is now Glendale was all deser ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–3 ,

, Submission (triangle choke) , WEC 50 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:51 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , WEC 48 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:07 ,

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Danny Castillo , Submission (rear-naked choke) , WEC 44 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:32 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Marcus Hicks , Decision (unanimous) , WEC 42 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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

, TKO (punches) , WEC 40 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:41 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Mike Budnik , Submission (guillotine choke) , WEC 37 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Todd Moore , Submission (guillotine choke) , WEC 35 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Yoshihiro Kitaoka , TKO (punches) , Xtreme Fighting League , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 ,

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Erick Fernandez , Submission (guillotine choke) , CCCF: Contenders , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:23 ,

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Ryan Winthers , TKO (punches) , HRP: Fight Night , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:16 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Jake Pruitt , TKO (punches) , Masters of the Cage 16 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:15 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roller, Shane 1979 births Living people People from Bixby, Oklahoma People from Wagoner County, Oklahoma American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Oklahoma Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers