Charles Bennett (fighter)

Charles Daniel Bennett (born November 23, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight division. While perhaps best known for competing in King of the Cage and other smaller American promotions such as World Extreme Fighting, Bennett has also competed in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Rizin FF, EliteXC, and ShoXC.

Background

Bennett was born in Gainesville, Florida and is the second-oldest boy of 11 siblings. Bennett lived in Gainesville for the first eight years of his life before moving to Ocala, Florida to live with his father after his mother was arrested on a drug charge. Bennett had a troubled upbringing as he came from a broken home, often getting into fights, and both of his parents abused crack cocaine. Growing up, Bennett was a self-described "black sheep" of the family, but was very athletic and was a talented football player in high school, where he played running back, linebacker, and was even a defensive lineman despite his small stature. However, Bennett was kicked off of the team during his sophomore year. During his junior year, his father kicked him out of the house and Bennett eventually dropped out of high school before turning his attention to selling narcotics. In between jail stints, he found a newspaper advertisement for a mixed martial arts gym in Ocala and decided to sign up and join the gym. His coaches were very impressed with his speed and strength, but at this time Bennett was still dealing drugs. Eventually, he gave up dealing drugs and focused on mixed martial arts, with the birth of his first child as his main motivation to change his lifestyle although he continued to be arrested on drug charges until 2011. He also credits King of the Cage owner Terry Trebilcock Jr. to helping Bennett turn his life around.

Mixed martial arts

Early career

Bennett made his professional debut when he was only 19 years old in Georgia in 1999 and lost the bout via submission. In his next bout a year later, he received his first professional win after he knocked out his opponent with a slam in the first round. Bennett then made his debut for the World Extreme Fighting promotion and faced future UFC and Bellator veteran Rich Clementi. Bennett lost the bout after he tapped out due to strikes in the first round. Bennett won his next two fights via strikes before making his King of the Cage debut against future UFC veteran and K-1 kickboxer, Duane Ludwig. Bennett lost after he submitted due to exhaustion in the second round. Bennett then won 9 of his next 10 fights, including a win over former U.S. Marine and future UFC fighter, Gerald Strebendt via submission due to strikes. His four-fight winning streak was snapped by future Pancrase Featherweight Champion Takumi Nakayama via submission.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

With a record of 12-5, Bennett made his PRIDE debut against former Shooto Lightweight Champion and future PRIDE Lightweight Champion, Takanori Gomi at PRIDE Bushido 5 in what was also Bennett's overseas debut. Bennett lost via kimura within the first round. After a return to King of the Cage in which he achieved mixed results, Bennett returned to PRIDE at PRIDE Bushido 7 against former DEEP Bantamweight Champion, Yoshiro Maeda. Bennett won via knockout just under two minutes in one of the biggest wins of his career.

Bennett made his next appearance for the promotion at PRIDE Bushido 9 against former DEEP Featherweight Champion and former DEEP Lightweight Champion, Dokonjonosuke Mishima. Bennett lost the bout via submission. After losing a King of the Cage Bantamweight Championship fight against future WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber, Bennett made his PRIDE appearance at PRIDE Shockwave 2005 against Japanese fighter Ken Kaneko, and won via armbar submission. After winning the bout, Bennett tackled the referee who in response pulled out a yellow card.

After his bout with Kaneko, Bennett was involved in a backstage altercation with Cristiano Marcello, member of Chute Boxe Academy and current UFC fighter. In a video posted on Chute Boxe's official website, Bennett is seen attacking Chute Boxe fighter Cristiano Marcello. Bennett supposedly insulted the Chute Boxe Academy and Wanderlei Silva, prompting a scuffle between Marcello and Bennett. Bennett charged at Marcello while throwing punches, and both men went to the ground where Marcello put Bennett to sleep with a triangle choke before the fight was broken up. Bennett claimed that he knocked out Wanderlei Silva during the melee.

Bennett made his last appearance for the organization in 2006 at PRIDE Bushido 11 against former Shooto Lightweight Champion Tatsuya Kawajiri. Bennett lost the bout via kneebar submission in the first round. Bennett held a record of 2-3 with the promotion.

EliteXC

Bennett fought at EliteXC: Destiny against current UFC fighter and former Strikeforce veteran, KJ Noons, who would become the EliteXC Lightweight Champion two fights later. After a war of words in the press conference before the fight, Bennett defeated the Hawaiian via knockout in a huge upset.

ShoXC and other ventures

In 2007, Bennett missed a fight in San Jose, California, because he missed his flight from Florida—having just been released from jail. Recently, Bennett lost to longtime rival Victor Valenzuela in a rematch at ShoXC on August 25. Prior to the fight with Valenzuela, the two had fought to a controversial draw, which sparked the feud. On January 24, 2008, Bennett was supposed to fight Victor Valenzuela in a King of the Cage event. However, Bennett was arrested for domestic dispute and faces several charges including strangulation. His bout with Valenzuela will be postponed.

Bennett is known to his fans for his entertaining behavior. Bennett did not actually began training daily for his fights until he received his 22nd career loss.

In the video game UFC Undisputed 2010, the nickname "Krazy Horse" is available for use on a custom created fighter, once bought in the in-game store.

Bennett showed up at the tryouts for The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck, but did not make it to the final cast.

On January 16, 2011 Bennett was training at a gym in Bernalillo County, New Mexico and got into a physical altercation with a teammate. According to a police report, tempers flared between the two and the other fighter knocked down Bennett, who then got dressed and left the building but came back 15 minutes later with a heavy piece of steel and attacked the fighter from behind. He was charged with aggravated battery.

Return to MMA

After being away from the sport for nearly three years, Bennett returned to active MMA competition in October 2015 for his former organization, King of the Cage. Bennett fought six times in the next eleven months and posted a record of four wins and two losses.

In September 2016 Bennett competed at the Rizin Fighting Federation's World Grand-Prix 2016 in Japan. He defeated Minoru Kimura by TKO at 0:07 seconds of the first round.

Legal troubles

Bennett was first arrested when he was 17 years old for aggravated battery but the case was dropped. In 1998, he was arrested twice for possession of cocaine. His first arrest was dismissed and his second arrest included distribution, grand theft, and holding under an ounce of marijuana. He received adjudication withheld on the four felony and one misdemeanor charge.

Between 1999 and 2009, he was arrested 14 times on charges that included selling cocaine, burglary, aggravated battery on a pregnant woman, and possession of MDMA. The charge on the pregnant woman in 2002 was dropped and he was found guilty on two drug charges in 2000 and 2001 and was also found guilty for another aggravated battery in 2008, which stemmed from a domestic dispute.

Bennett was charged for aggravated battery by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department after the incident on January 16, 2011. In 2013, he was again arrested for battery.

Personal life

Bennett is divorced and has children.

Mixed martial arts record