Tiki Ghosn 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 ...

, competing from 1998 to 2009 in the Welterweight division.

History

Ghosn 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 ...

while attending Mater Dei High School in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

, where he played

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. Ghosn then attended

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a Public college, public community college in Costa Mesa, California, Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Ar ...

for a brief time. While playing football, he took up

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

as a form of cross training and ultimately made the decision to pursue

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 ...

and leave football. Ghosn has competed in a number of MMA promotions including 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 ( ...

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 *' ...

World Fighting Alliance The World Fighting Alliance (WFA) was a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States. History Owned and organized by mixed martial arts, MMA legend and trainer John Lewis (Promoter/Match Maker) and nightclub operator and "Club Rub ...

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

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was mad ...

. Ghosn is one of the three original members of Team Punishment, which included

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz () is an American politican and retired mixed martial artist and Submission grappling, submission grappler. Ortiz is best known for his career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC ...

and

Rob McCullough Robert Alexander McCullough IV (born May 26, 1977) is an American former Muay Thai kickboxer and professional mixed martial artist. A professional from 2001-2011 in MMA, McCullough has formerly competed for the WEC, Bellator, DREAM, the Wor ...

. He is also a training partner of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Ghosn has made appearances as a guest coach on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights as well as The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. Ghosn was managed by UFC President

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

prior to White becoming president of the UFC. Ghosn is the founder and CEO of The Huntington Beach Ultimate Training Center which opened on January 1, 2001. Ghosn has worked with a number of fighters including

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English former mixed martial artist, sports commentator, analyst, and actor. He competed in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ( ...

, B.J. Penn,

Quinton Jackson Quinton Ramone Jackson (born June 20, 1978), known by his ring name of Rampage Jackson, is an American rapper, former mixed martial artist, actor, kickboxer, and professional wrestler. During the course of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, ...

, Jason Miller,

Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight (MMA), heavyweight division. A professional competitor from 1999 to 2019, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, ...

Cheick Kongo Cheick Kongo (born May 17, 1975) is a French mixed martial artist and former kickboxer who fights in the Heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2001, he has also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator. ...

Joey Beltran Joey Beltran (born December 9, 1981) is an American bare-knuckle fighter and mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional mixed martial artist since 2007, he has competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, Bellator MMA, Bel ...

, and Brandon Halsey. Ghosn operates Arsenal Sports Agency, a management company that represents various athletes including

Dustin Poirier Dustin Glenn Poirier (born January 19, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion. ...

, Aljamain Sterling, and

Chael Sonnen Chael Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

, among others.

Career accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** UFC Encyclopedia Awards *** Fight of the Night (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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WEC 29 ''WEC 29: Condit vs. Larson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting. The event took place on Sunday, August 5, 2007 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas), Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Las V ...

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Ronald Jhun Ronald Andrew Jhun Jr. (born September 21, 1970) is an American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 1998, Jhun has formerly competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, ...

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–4 ,

Robbie Lawler Robert Glenn Lawler (born March 20, 1982) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed between 2001 and 2023. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion, former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and has formerly competed in ...

, KO (punches) , UFC 40 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:29 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 ,

Kit Cope Kristopher Lee "Kit" Cope (born March 17, 1977) is an American Kickboxing, Muay Thai kickboxer and Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight, Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight, and Welterweight ( ...

, TKO (forfeit) , WFA 2: Level 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–3 , Steve Schelburn , TKO (knees and punches) , HFP 1: Rumble on the Reservation , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:35 ,

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

Sean Sherk Sean Keith Sherk (born August 5, 1973) is a retired American mixed martial artist and former UFC Lightweight Champion. Sherk competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was one of the first combatants to have been a championship competit ...

, TKO (shoulder injury) ,

UFC 30 ''UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Trump Taj Mahal (now the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City) in Atlantic City, New Jersey on February 23, 2001. UFC 30 was th ...

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2 , Bob Cook , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC 24 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:29 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Jason Maxwell , Decision (split) , KOTC 2 - Desert Storm , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Phil Ensminger , Decision , West Coast NHB Championships 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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Genki Sudo is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, singer, actor and politician. Between 1998 and 2006, Sudo was a professional athlete and then was in the entertainment industry from 2006 to 2019. He has since returned to his previous position in World ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosn, Tiki 1977 births Living people American people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople from Huntington Beach, California American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male Muay Thai practitioners Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California) alumni