Mark Kerr (fighter)

Mark Kerr (born December 21, 1968 in Toledo, Ohio), also known as The Smashing Machine, The Titan, and The Specimen, is an American champion collegiate wrestler and retired mixed martial artist. During his MMA career he was a World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, a two-time UFC heavyweight tournament winner, and a PRIDE FC competitor.

In 2003 Kerr was the subject of an HBO documentary entitled The Smashing Machine, which detailed his MMA career fighting in Vale Tudo, the UFC and PRIDE. The Smashing Machine also focused on Kerr's eventual addiction to opiates, his relationships with his then-girlfriend, various training partners, and his friendship with Mark Coleman.

Early life

Mark Kerr was born in Toledo, Ohio to Tom and Mary Kerr. From early childhood, he would dream of being in the World Wrestling Federation and would hold mock fights with his younger siblings in the back yard.

High school career

In 1983 Kerr began his wrestling career in Bettendorf, Iowa wrestling as a freshman at Bettendorf High School where he shared the wrestling room with another future MMA champion Pat Miletich who was a senior at the time. After his freshman year at Bettendorf, Kerr and his family moved to Toledo, Ohio where he became a high school state champion wrestling for Toledo Waite.

College career

At Syracuse University, Kerr was the Division I champion at 190 pounds in 1992. Randy Couture, wrestling for Oklahoma State University, took second place. Kerr was also a Division I All-American in 1992. In 1994, Kerr was the USA Senior Freestyle Champion at 220 pounds. While training as an amateur wrestler, Kerr became interested in mixed martial arts as a way to earn money.

World Vale Tudo Championship

Mark Kerr's first professional MMA fight was at the World Vale Tudo Championship III, where he won three fights. In the first, he broke his hand but continued to fight against Paul Varelans winning via TKO by strikes. In the second, his opponent Mestre Hulk literally crawled out of the ring to avoid Kerr's brutal ground-and-pound. In the final match, a savage half hour brawl, he punched (with a broken hand), kneed, head-butted and elbowed his way to a victory over Fabio Gurgel.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Following his success in Brazil, Mark Kerr was invited to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Kerr had previously been told of the event by his long-time friend and training partner, Mark Coleman, who was himself a UFC tournament winner and champion by this point. Kerr's first bout in the UFC came at UFC 14 where he fought in the heavyweight tournament. His first fight was against Moti Horenstein, and Kerr defeated his opponent by technical knockout at 2:22 of the first round. With this win Kerr advanced to the finals of the tournament where he beat Dan Bobish with a submission (chin to the eye) at 1:38 of the first round; Kerr's win over Bobish earned him the UFC 14 Heavyweight tournament title. Following his success at UFC 14, Kerr was invited to compete at the next UFC tournament — UFC 15. In this tournament, Kerr's first opponent was Greg Stott whom he defeated in 0:17 seconds from the opening of the fight, winning by way of knockout with a knee to his opponent's head. This fight is where the infamous "Just Bleed guy" made his appearance in the crowd. Advancing to the finals, Kerr fought Dwayne Cason and finished his opponent within the first minute of the opening round, winning the UFC 15 Heavyweight tournament. Kerr's winning of the UFC 15 tournament was his last fight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Following his win of UFC 15, Kerr decided to fight in Japan for the Pride Fighting Championships due to the UFC's promotional difficulties and Pride's larger paychecks.

Pride Fighting Championships

Kerr made his PRIDE debut in 1998 at Pride 2 against Branco Cikatic. Kerr utilized the same ground-and-pound fighting style from his previous fights, taking his opponent onto the mat and then using strikes and submissions to try to finish the fight. Kerr was said to be an improved version of Mark Coleman because he was proficient in wrestling, submissions, and take downs, with good cardio and an ever-improving striking game under his tutelage with Bas Rutten. Around the time that Kerr entered PRIDE, many considered Kerr to be one of the top MMA Heavyweight fighters in the world. Kerr won four bouts between Pride 2 and Pride 6. However, his status was soon questioned after his first bout with Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride 7, in which he was knocked out by illegal knee strikes. Even though the loss was immediately overturned and changed to a "No Contest" ruling, Kerr admitted that the initial loss had been a difficult decision for him to face. Following his fight against Vovchanchyn, Kerr fought in the Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round and won over Enson Inoue. His win against Inoue earned him a place at the Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals, where he fought Kazuyuki Fujita and lost by decision. At Pride 10 - Return of the Warriors Kerr defeated Igor Borisov by submission. Four months later, at Pride 12 - Cold Fury, he lost by decision in the rematch with Vovchanchyn. Kerr then lost to Heath Herring at Pride 15 via TKO. With his second loss in a row, Kerr decided to take time away from MMA.

In 2004, Kerr returned to PRIDE, fighting Yoshisha Yamamoto at Pride 27. Just forty seconds of the first round, Kerr lost to Yamamoto after inadvertently knocking himself out by driving his own head into the mat while attempting a double leg take down. With his third straight loss under the PRIDE FC banner, Kerr quit PRIDE.

Speaking of Kerr's time fighting in Japan, Mark Coleman said, "Every time a fight came around he was pretty scared. He was intimidated by the whole situation and that is probably what led to him using pain killers."

Later career

After his loss to Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Kerr was supposed to make his comeback against Wes Sims in the American Championship Fighting (ACF) on May 6, 2006 at the Denver Coliseum, but was not medically cleared to fight due to a hand injury.

On February 11, 2007, Kerr fought Mustafa Al Turk at Cage Rage 20: 'Born 2 Fight'. Kerr lost his footing after an attempted roundhouse kick and he was mounted, stunned with a series of blows and submitted within the first round. Kerr was supposed to fight Sean O'Haire on August 17 in the Global Fighting Championships first show at the Mohegan Sun Arena but was cancelled due to his high blood pressure and his license was suspended indefinitely.

Mark Kerr fought in the World Cage Fighting Organization (WCO) in November 2007, winning his bout against Steve Gavin by Americana after 1:39 of the first round.

Kerr competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship (ADCC), a world class submission wrestling tournament. In 2000, Kerr won the ADCC Open Weight Absolute Tournament. Among the fighters he defeated at ADCC were Carlos "Carlão" Barreto, Sean Alvarez, Ricco Rodriguez, Mike Van Arsdale, Josh Barnett and Tony Netcler. It was quite notable at the time when Mark Kerr, Mario Sperry and Royler Gracie were dominating the ADCC each in their own weight classes.

Kerr is an avid powerlifter, reportedly able to bench press 425 lb (192.5 kg) and squat 550 lb (250 kg).

In 2008, Kerr launched a comeback. In March, Mark beat Chuck Huus by Submission (Keylock/Americana) at CCCF – Battle on the Border. In April, he lost to Oleg Taktarov in one round by kneebar. Two months later, Kerr was choked out in the opening round by deaf fighter Tracy Willis at a C-3 Fights show in Cocho, Oklahoma. On July 26, Ralph Kelly stopped Kerr in the first round at Xp3. On September 27, 2008 Kerr lost to fellow heavyweight Jeff Monson by rear-naked choke, in a battle of former ADCC champions.

On July 28, 2009, Kerr faced fellow wrestler Muhammed Lawal at an M-1 Global event. Kerr was taken down and subsequently pounded into unconsciousness in just 25 seconds, receiving several blows to the head after he was clearly unable to defend himself. This led the event's TV commentators to openly speculate that Kerr's fighting career was over. Guy Mezger, in the post-fight discussion, suggested that it was time for Kerr to "find another vocation". Kerr has only won four of his 15 fights since 2000 and has lost each of his last five fights.

Kerr considers himself "99.9 percent" retired and is pursuing a degree with an eye on pharmaceutical sales.

In 2003, HBO aired a documentary titled The Smashing Machine, directed by John Hyams, which dealt with the life and career of Mark Kerr. The program chronicles Kerr's addiction to painkillers and the "no holds barred" aspect of early mixed martial arts competition. Kerr's then-girlfriend, Dawn Staples, and mixed-martial artists Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Kevin Randleman and Mark Coleman also appear in the film. Bas Rutten states clearly during the documentary that due to Kerr's ability to end fights quickly, the tournament directors were removing all of Kerr's 'weapons' (notably head-butts and knees to the head of a grounded opponent) in an attempt to make the fights last longer for television and crowd satisfaction.

Collegiate wrestling

• NCAA Division I Collegiate Championships
  • 1992 190 lbs 1st Place champion

Freestyle wrestling

• FILA World Championships Freestyle Results
  • 1993 220 lbs 7th Place
• USA Senior Freestyle Championships
  • 1994 220 lbs 1st Place champion

Grappling credentials

• ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships
• ADCC 1999
  • 99 kg+: 1st Place
• ADCC 2000
  • 99 kg+: 1st Place
  • Openweight: 1st Place
• ADCC 2001 Superfight championship: Defeated Mario Sperry.
• ADCC 2003 Superfight championship: Lost to Ricardo Arona.

Mixed martial arts

• World Vale Tudo Championship
  • WVC 3 Heavyweight tournament winner
• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC 14 Heavyweight Tournament Winner
  • UFC 15 Heavyweight Tournament Winner