Shannon Ritch

Shannon Grey Ritch (born September 27, 1970) is an American professional mixed martial artist, boxer, professional wrestler and kickboxer, known for being the former Gladiators Challenge Heavyweight Champion and KOTC Middleweight Champion also current RUF Interim Heavyweight Champion and IFC Middleweight Champion. A professional competitor since 1998, Ritch has competed for the MFC, Pancrase, K-1, PRIDE, Rebel Fighting Championship, King of the Cage and the WEC. Ritch has also has been featured in two episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger as a Biker Gang Member and a character named Knight, Choke in 2011 as an extra, CSI Las Vegas as Thug #2, an episode of iCarly as a MMA Fighter, an episode of Numbers in 2010, an episode of Ultimate Soldier Challenge on the History Channel representing a military contracting company and most recently in 2017 the direct to DVD film, directed by Robert Parham, Bullets, Blades and Blood and upcoming in 2018 No Way Out directed by Jeffrey D. Parker. Shannon claims he has over 200 professional MMA fights 112 wins, 88 losses and 2 draws, some fights going undocumented and dating back as far as 1991. His documented record of fights goes back to 1998 with a record of 56 wins, 81 loses, and 4 draws. Shannon also holds a 2-1 record in professional boxing and a 25-2 record in bare knuckle boxing with all of his wins coming by way of knockout, in 2017 he was inducted into the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame and also plans to round out his boxing career in 2018 against boxing superstar Bobby Gunn. Ritch is also an occasional professional wrestler, recently in mid 2017 main eventing a card in Guyana. Shannon has also found success as a grappler winning multiple NAGA, Grapplers Quest and Abu Dhabi Combat Club competitions, most recently winning a gold medal in the super heavyweight division at the Grand Canyon 2017 BJJ Open in Arizona and a silver medal at the '17 Arizona State BJJ Championships. Ritch is also an avid golf player, winning 1st place in many state and pro am competitions held within his native Arizona as recent as 2017.

Contents

• Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt pride fc shannon ritch russian sambo heel hook
• Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt pride fc shannon ritch sambo leg attacks
• Background
• Early career
• PRIDE
• King of the Cage
• References

Background

Ritch is from Coolidge, Arizona and was raised "dirt poor" on a farm in Randolph. Ritch began learning karate from a young age and also competed in high school wrestling before becoming a professional kickboxer beginning as an amateur sometime in 1988. Ritch attended Central Arizona College and also had a brief stint enlisted in the US Army, later ending in the early 1990's before being employed by the private military organization Blackwater. With Blackwater, he was deployed to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan which served as a launch pad for his training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and later transition to a career in professional mixed martial arts. Ritch still trains military personnel in mixed martial arts and is a mainstay at the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

Early career

Ritch claims to have made his professional debut in 1991 at an event in Mexico, but like much of his fighting career this was undocumented. Ritch's officially documented professional debut was in 1998.

PRIDE

Ritch compiled a record of 13-16 (1) before being signed by the PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan. He made his debut in the organization on October 31, 2000 at Pride 11 against the legendary Japanese fighter Kazushi Sakuraba. Ritch lost via Achilles lock submission only 1:08 into the fight.

Ritch made his next appearance for the organization at Pride The Best Vol. 2 on July 20, 2002 against Daisuke Nakamura and lost via armbar submission in the first round.

King of the Cage

Ritch holds a record of 2-14 in 16 fights for King of the Cage and despite his record within the promotion is a former KOTC Heavyweight Champion.