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MATT "THE LAW" LINDLAND
Nickname The Law, Woogie
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality American
Born May 17, 1970
Fighting out of Portland, Oregon
Town of birth Oregon City, Oregon
Team/Association Team Quest
Fighting style Greco-Roman Wrestling, Collegiate Wrestling
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 21
By knockout 6
By submission 8
Losses 5
Draws 0
No contests 0
Matthew James "The Law" Lindland (born May 17, 1970) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and Olympic wrestler.
Lindland started wrestling at age 15. He represented the United States in Greco-Roman Wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 69-76 kg weight category, winning the silver medal. In the finals of the United States Olympic trials, Lindland wrestled Keith Sieracki. Lindland accused Sieracki of tripping him. (Under the rules of Greco-Roman wrestling, athletes are not permitted the use of their legs for advantage or defense of offensive moves). The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) eventually took the case as far as the Supreme Court, attempting to keep Keith Sieracki on the team. An arbitrator has previously ordered a rematch, which Lindland won, but the USOC still did not want to put Lindland on the team in place of Sieracki. First a district judge, then a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, decided in Lindland's favour. As a result of this process Lindland earned the nickname "the Law".
Lindland readily adapted his wrestling skills to mixed martial arts fighting, with the aid of Randy Couture, Dan Henderson and others at Team Quest, to create an effective and dominant Clinch-and-pound and Ground-and-pound attacking style. He progressed rapidly through the ranks of the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship until losing to Murilo Bustamante in a championship match. Lindland continued to maintain a mostly-winning record in the UFC, not including two losses to Falaniko Vitale and David Terrell. Prior to the fight with Terrell, Lindland was touted as the number one Middleweight in the UFC, only to be knocked out in the first round in what was to many a serious upset. Another loss came at the hands of Falaniko Vitale, who Matt Lindland attempted to slam, only to knock himself out in the process. At UFC 57 Lindland was dropped from the UFC roster despite being a #1 contender for breaking one of the sponsorship and advertising-related terms of his contract by wearing an unapproved T-shirt at the weigh-ins. There has been much speculation as to why Lindland was punished so harshly for a rather insignificant violation. Some people believe that there was a feud between Lindland and White resulting in White using a loophole in the standard fighter contract to fire Lindland. Others believe that White took advantage of same loophole to fire Lindland due to the rapid popular growth of UFC after the TUF reality show, and that Lindlands workman like style was considered too boring for the newly popular status of a UFC Champion. But even after his dismissal Lindland can be seen cornering fighters at UFC events such as in B.J.Penn's bout against Georges St.Pierre. He has also continued his professional MMA career in IFL and BODOG fight with five wins and two losses, with the two losses coming outside of his weightclass against the current UFC Light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson and the Pride Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. After his loss to Jackson, Lindland joined the International Fight League, which also marked Lindland's debut as an IFL team coach – he fought against top ten middleweight Jeremy Horn. Lindland won by TKO early in the second round exibiting vastly improved striking skills. He then beat Carlos Newton at IFL Houston by submission. Lindland is sometimes ranked as being the number one fighter at 185 pounds, and generally considered at least a top 5 fighter in his weight class on every MMA top ten list. Lindland has a professional MMA record of 20 wins and 5 losses. However he has drawn criticism in the past from fans who say his style is boring and relies on the 'lay and pray' style to win fights [citation needed] even though most of his victories have come by way of stoppage; he has finished in 8 out of his last 10 victories. His last fight was a submission (armbar) loss to PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 14, 2007 in 2 minutes and 58 seconds. Lindland is currently coaching the Portland Wolfpack in the International Fight League. Lindland is always referred to as "Woogie" among MMA internet circles due to his resemblance to Chris Elliott who played a character nicknamed Woogie in the movie There's Something About Mary. There is currently a documentary being filmed about Matt and his MMA career Matt Lindlands Documentary
Matt and his wife Angie have two children, a son named James and a daughter named Robin. On an episode of IFL: Battleground, Matt said that he and his wife were married young and that they were origianlly expecting triplets but only his son James survived due to compications.
From Wikipedia
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