About Me
Don Frye is a retired American mixed martial artist, actor, and professional wrestler. Frye rose to fame fighting in early Ultimate Fighting Championship events, winning the UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournaments.
Don Frye began wrestling as a freshman in 1984 for Arizona State, where he was trained by fellow future Ultimate Fighting Championship legend, then assistant wrestling coach, Dan Severn. In 1987, he won the freestyle and Greco-Roman events during an Olympic qualifier. A year later, he transferred to Oklahoma State, where he encountered another future UFC star amongst his teammates: Randy Couture.
In 1995, fighting three times in one night at UFC 8, Frye dispatched all of his opponents in just under a minute total, winning the tournament with relative ease. Instantly a fan favorite in the UFC, Frye returned at UFC 9 to take a single bout TKO victory over Brazilian Amaury Bitetti. At UFC 10, Frye returned to tournament format and defeated Mark Hall and Brian Johnston both by TKO. But in the finals for UFC 10, Frye faced his toughest challenge yet - Mark Coleman. Coleman came out on top via TKO after eleven minutes, handing Frye his first loss in seven fights.
Frye would return to his winning ways at U-Japan in November 1996, taking a submission victory over Mark Hall. Just one month later, Frye entered the UFC's Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournament, held to find the best of the best from past UFC winners and runners up. Frye took wins over Gary Goodridge, and Mark Hall (for the third time), with both wins coming by submission. In the finals of UU 96, Frye faced feared striker Tank Abbott, who landed early devastating shots, opening a cut on Frye's face, and causing swelling but Abbott lost his balance and fell, allowing Frye to secure a Rear Naked Choke, to take the title of Ultimate Ultimate 96 Champion, his second UFC Tournament Championship. After winning the Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournament, Don Frye retired from the UFC.
After leaving the UFC, Frye went into professional wrestling from 1997 to 2001. In 2001, PRIDE Fighting Championships signed The Predator to a multi fight contract. In a controversial bout at PRIDE 16, Frye faced Dutch kickboxer Gilbert Yvel, who repeatedly gouged Frye's eyes and was eventually disqualified for continuously holding the ropes. Three months later, at a joint New Year's Eve show Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001 K-1 vs. Inoki, Frye submitted Cyril Abidi by Rear Naked Choke. Frye returned to PRIDE in February 2002, facing long-time rival Ken Shamrock at PRIDE 19. After an exciting hard tough battle, Frye pulled out a decision victory. Even though Shamrock had injured Frye's ankles, later leading to dependency on painkillers, the two hugged after the fight ended, putting an end to their rivalry.
Just four months after defeating Ken Shamrock, Frye returned to face Japanese professional wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama at PRIDE 21. In a fight that many consider to be one of PRIDE's most exciting matches, Frye and Takayama clinched in a "hockey fight" pose, each holding the head and hitting, with Takayama finally going to the body after more than a full minute of unrelenting, undefended shots. This would happen three times in the fight, until the referee stopped the bout after Frye mounted Takayama, who was visibly much worse for the wear.
Don has parlayed his fight career into a successful acting career and has performed in major feature films, TV shows, commercials and voice overs. For more info on Don, please visit his personal website for a full bio http://www.thepredatordonfrye.com/history.asp
