Timothy Lance Catalfo (born February 23, 1959) is an American former amateur wrestler, and

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 ...

. A professional MMA competitor from 1997 until 2003, he competed for the

PRIDE Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...

and King of the Cage. He was voted as having the seventh-best facial hair in MMA history by hunglodojo.com

Early life

Raised in

Montvale, New Jersey Montvale is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 7,844,Pascack Hills High School Pascack Hills High School (PHHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school, one of two secondary schools serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as part of the Pascack Valley Regional High School District in Bergen County, New ...

, where he was New Jersey state wrestling champion in 1977 in the 148-pound weight class.

Career

Catalfo comes from a

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 ...

background; he finished in fourth place at the 1980 All-American

Freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

tournament and in 1st place at the

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...

Games in 1987. After this, he became a professional wrestler with the

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Natio ...

(WCW) organization. His nickname, "''

Obake and are a class of ''yōkai'', preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. These words are often translated as "ghost", but primari ...

''", was given to him by Japanese pro wrestler

Yuji Nagata is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). A two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, World Heavyweight Champion and a GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him a four-time world champion in major professio ...

, and is a Japanese folklore creature. Catalfo also used this name to found the "Obake Gym" one of MMA's first independent schools. In September 1997, he debuted as a mixed martial artist and defeated his opponent Joe Pardo with a neck crank. He then went to Brazil to fight in the International

Vale Tudo Championship A vale is a type of Valley#Vale, valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in t ...

where he won his bout via disqualification as his opponent Alexandre Ferreira eye gouged him. He returned to the cage three years later to face UFC veteran Dave Beneteau at ''King of the Cage 9: Showtime''. Catalfo defeated Beneteau with a choke after just 25 seconds of the first round. The

of Japan then gave him the opportunity to fight there. He made his promotional debut in February 2002 against fellow wrestler Tom Erikson at '' PRIDE 19: Bad Blood''. Erikson outweighed Catolfo by around 50 pounds and submitted him with relative ease at 2:25 of the first round. He had one more fight after this, submitting James Daniels at an event in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

a year later.

Personal life

Catalfo is a licensed chiropractor.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 4-2 , James Daniels , Submission (neck crank) , World Extreme Fighting Championships 2: Crunch Time , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:19 ,

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3-2 , Tom Erikson , Submission (rear naked choke) , PRIDE 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:25 , Saitama, Japan , ,

Super Heavyweight Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and competitive bodybuilding. Boxing In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Introduced for ...

bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 3-1 , Bobby Hoffman , Submission (strikes) , KOTC 11: Domination , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:56 ,

San Jacinto, California San Jacinto ( ; ; Spanish for " St. Hyacinth") is a city in Riverside County, California. It is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south and Beaumont, California, to its north. The mountains associated with t ...

, United States , , , - , Win , align=center, 3-0 , Dave Beneteau , Submission (choke) , KOTC 9: Showtime , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 ,

, United States , , , - , Win , align=center, 2-0 , Alexandre Ferreira , DQ (eye gouging) , International Vale Tudo Championship 4: The Battle , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:19 , Brazil , , , - , Win , align=center, 1-0 , Joe Pardo , Submission (neck crank) , International Sport Combat Federation: Submission Fighting Open 1 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

Griffin, Georgia Griffin is a city in and the county seat of Spalding County, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 23,478. Griffin was founded in 1840 and named for landowner Col. Lewis Law ...

, United States ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Catalfo, Tim 1959 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Georgia (U.S. state) Mixed martial artists from New Jersey Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling American male sport wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Pascack Hills High School alumni People from Montvale, New Jersey Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey