This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Maurice Smith Turns 60

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Maurice Smith remains one of MMA’s most overlooked pioneers. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder turns 60 on Dec. 13.

Smith was a multiple-time world championship kickboxer who befriended ground specialist Frank Shamrock—together, they formed The Alliance—and unknowingly provided one of the blueprints to the cross-training methods that now dominate modern mixed martial arts. The Seattle native made his Octagon debut at UFC 14, where, despite his middling 5-7 record, he challenged the heavily favored Mark Coleman for the undisputed heavyweight championship on July 27, 1997. Smith upset “The Hammer” by unanimous decision before a crowd of 5,000 fans inside Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama, marking the first significant victory for a striking-based fighter in what had become a wrestling-dominated landscape. He went on to retain the title with a technical knockout of David “Tank” Abbott at UFC 15 three months later before surrendering it in a contentious majority decision loss to Randy Couture on Dec. 21, 1997. Smith closed out his career with a 14-14 record, his resume highlighted by the game-changing win over Coleman and two stoppage victories against Marco Ruas. He was inducted into the pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017.

Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of December:

DEC. 1

Scott Barrett, 38
Rivaldo Junior, 38
Shinsho Anzai, 36
Chad Anheliger, 35
Weber Almeida, 34
Curtis Millender, 34
Richard Walsh, 33
Saul Rogers, 32
Kailan Hill, 27
Jamal Pogues, 26

DEC. 2

LaVerne Clark, 48
Dennis Hallman, 46
Mike Wessel, 44
Caio Alencar, 43
Vitor Vianna, 42
John Orr, 38
Billy Vaughan, 38
Ali Bagov, 31
Marlon Vera, 29
Yadong Song, 24

DEC. 3

Vernon White, 50
Robert Hitte, 46
Cristiano Marcello, 44
Seth Petruzelli, 42
Jonatas Novaes, 40
Icho Larenas, 39
Nina Nunes, 36
Murad Machaev, 35
Shoki Omichi, 34
Tomasz Narkun, 32

DEC. 4

Sean Daugherty, 46
Josh Machan, 35
Mario Soto, 35
Tyler Bialecki, 33
Bryce Logan, 32
Mike Rhodes, 32
Ryan Roddy, 32
Roldan Sangcha-an, 31
Max Holloway, 30
Gianni Subba, 29

DEC. 5

Daijiro Matsui, 49
Amy Davis, 47
Tetsuji Kato, 44
Kenichiro Togashi, 41
Roger Bowling, 39
Mats Nilsson, 38
Brendan Loughnane, 32
Brok Weaver, 30
Austin Clem, 29
Jared Gooden, 28

DEC. 6

Royler Gracie, 56
Jens Pulver, 47
Freddie Aquitania, 42
Peggy Morgan, 42
Igor Araujo, 41
Vladimir Starcencov, 39
Vanessa Marie Grimes, 37
Silvana Gomez Juarez, 37
Todd Duffee, 36
Chris Rollins, 32

DEC. 7

Juan Mott, 56
Ronaldo Souza, 42
K.J. Noons, 39
Mike Mucitelli, 38
Dongi Yang, 37
Justin Patterson, 36
Michael Chiesa, 34
Claudia Gadelha, 33
Stephen Banaszak, 31
Brandon Moreno, 28

DEC. 8

Frank Shamrock, 49
Lucio Linhares, 48
Makoto Takimoto, 47
Clay Guida, 40
Naoyuki Kotani, 40
Drew Pendleton, 38
Luiz Andrade I, 36
Steve Cantwell, 35
Billy Quarantillo, 33
Pannie Kianzad, 30

DEC. 9

Chris Guillen, 49
Derek Bohi, 42
Aaron Riley, 41
Joey Beltran, 40
Carlos Eduardo , 40
Bobby King, 38
Terrell Hobbs, 36
Maria Oliveira, 35
Frank Buenafuente, 34
Egor Golubtsov, 34

DEC. 10

John Olav Einemo, 46
Andreas Kraniotakes, 40
Zoila Frausto, 38
Jamie Varner, 37
Zarah Fairn dos Santos, 35
Flore Hani, 35
Ben Sosoli, 32
Soo Chul Kim, 30
Marilia Santos, 29
Tracy Cortez, 28

DEC. 11

Yuka Tsuji, 47
Toni Tauru, 37
Mark Drummond, 36
Amir Aliakbari, 34
Jason Ponet, 33
Anthony Rocco Martin, 32
Mateusz Gamrot, 31
Alexander Romanov, 31
Chris Disonell, 29
Uros Jurisic, 29

DEC. 12

Royce Gracie, 55
Evangelista Santos, 44
Yuki Shojo, 41
Court McGee, 37
Tristan Connelly, 36
Luke Sanders, 36
Neiman Gracie, 33
Derrick Adkins, 32
Alessio Di Chirico, 32
Spencer Jebb, 32

DEC. 13

Maurice Smith, 60
Mike Nickels, 50
Todd Brown, 45
B.J. Penn, 43
Amilcar Alves, 42
Sarah D'Alelio, 41
Garett Whiteley, 41
Dennis Bermudez, 35
Johnny Eblen, 30
Justin Tafa, 28

DEC. 14

Fernando Vieira, 38
Valdir Araujo, 37
Thiago de Oliveira Perpetuo, 35
Caio Magalhaes, 34
Amber Brown, 33
Graham Park, 33
Zach Zane, 32
Heili Alateng, 30
Ion Cutelaba, 28
Kazim Tumenov, 23

DEC. 15

Cleber Luciano, 48
Toni Valtonen, 43
Paul Taylor, 42
Guangyou Ning, 40
Yasubey Enomoto, 38
Jared Chaffee, 37
Ivica Truscek, 34
Poliana Botelho, 33
Roman Bogatov, 31
Fernando Padilla, 25

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