Brian Ebersole

Background

Ebersole grew up in Bradley, Illinois. His grandfather started the Bradley-Bourbonnais Youth Wrestling Club in Illinois which served as Ebersole's introduction to amateur wrestling. He began wrestling when he was in kindergarten, was a standout wrestler in middle and high school and earned academic and athletic scholarships to Eastern Illinois University (EIU). He started training with Matt Hughes off and on during his time at EIU, which served as his introduction to mixed martial arts.

In November 2000 Ebersole was arrested following a fight with a Southern Illinois University hockey player. Although the charges were later dropped, Ebersole lost his wrestling scholarship as a result and dropped out of college soon after. Ebersole was a great student, but lost motivation to continue with his education as he could no longer wrestle, leaving with a year's worth of classes not finished. After leaving EIU Ebersole worked on a pig farm before eventually moving to California to train at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) with Jon Fitch and Bob Cook.

Ebersole is very proud of the fact that he calls the world his home, traveling across the globe for his training camps. He generally trains at Tiger Muay Thai In Phuket as he is the Head Coach and also trains at ESS performance In Melbourne, Australia.

Ebersole is known among MMA fans for his odd manscaping habits, having his chest hair groomed into designs such as arrows, stars, and even the Tapout logo at UFC 140.

Ebersole is currently the head wrestling coach at his alma mater, Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School.

Early career

In 2006, Ebersole was living in California, he worked in construction and was also working part-time as a bartender as well as fighting professionally. He claims that the inability to maintain fighting as a full-time profession affected his performances in the cage. In September of that year he took a fight against Shannon Ritch, winning the fight by submission. But the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) claimed that he and Ritch had worked the fight, and that despite dominating the bout, Ebersole had helped keep Ritch in the fight for longer than he otherwise would have been able to. The CSAC overturned his victory to a no contest and suspended Ebersole. Because of this and the lack of overall MMA opportunities for Ebersole in the US, he decided to pick up and move to Australia, where he had an impressive run on the regional circuit, running up a record of 12 wins and 3 losses over five years.

In 2007, Ebersole was on a trip in the United States to say goodbye to friends and family before setting up permanent residence in Australia. While there he decided to take a short notice fight for the IFL against Alex Schoenauer. Not only did he lose the fight via split decision, but he failed his post-fight drug test for marijuana. Ebersole claimed he had eaten marijuana brownies before taking the fight, and didn't have time to make sure they cleared his system. This resulted in his second suspension by the CSAC, and reinforced his belief in the necessity of his move to Australia to further his fighting career.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ebersole made his UFC debut against Chris Lytle at UFC 127, replacing an injured Carlos Condit. Ebersole won via unanimous decision using unorthodox strikes and ground control in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors.

In his second UFC fight, Ebersole faced veteran Dennis Hallman on August 6, 2011 at UFC 133. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Ebersole was also awarded an honorary "getting those horrifying shorts off TV as soon as possible" bonus by Dana White for defeating Hallman, who was wearing Speedos (Speedos have since been banned in the UFC).

Ebersole was expected to face Rory MacDonald on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140. However, McDonald pulled out of their fight due to injury. Ebersole instead faced Claude Patrick, where he won a close, back and forth match via split decision.

Ebersole fought TJ Waldburger on June 22, 2012 at UFC on FX 4 and won the fight via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). After the bout Ebersole said that he may try to drop down to the lightweight division. If he moves down, it will be the fifth weight class in which he has competed.

Making a quick return to the Octagon less than a month later, Ebersole replaced an injured Claude Patrick and faced James Head on July 21, 2012 at UFC 149. Ebersole received his first UFC loss to Head via split decision snapping his eleven fight winning streak and receiving his first loss since September 2008.

Ebersole made his first appearance in over a year when he fought Rick Story at UFC 167 on November 16, 2013. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Ebersole next fought John Howard on September 27, 2014 at UFC 178. He won the fight via split decision.

Ebersole was expected to face Alan Jouban on June 6, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 68. However, Jouban pulled out of the fight in late March citing injury and was replaced by Omari Akhmedov. Ebersole lost the fight via TKO after he was unable to continue after the first round due to a knee injury sustained from a kick by Akhmedov. Ebersole announced his retirement after the fight.

Ebersole would fight one more time, June 24th 2016, facing Steven Kennedy at Hex Fight Series 6. Kennedy won the main event by decision and both men retired after the match.

Mixed martial arts