Trigg/Marcelo Aguiar: Trigg fought for the Shooto Organization in Japan on three occasions. He faced Brazilian fighter Marcelo Aguiar, the same man who fought Hayato Sakurai twice. Trigg escaped an armbar by pounding Aguiar on the mat and wound up punishing Marcelo in the corner of the ring to prompt a referee stoppage.
Trigg/Jean Jacques Machado: Frank was invited back to take part in the annual Japan Open Vale Tudo event and his opponent was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Jean Jacques Machado. The combatants clashed for 20 minutes and in the third round Trigg saw his opening. He caught Machado coming in with a lazy shoot and answered it with a knee to the head as well as a number of well-placed strikes. Machado had been opened up and was bleeding profusely. The bout was called as Jean Jaques left splatter patterns on the mat.
Trigg/Fabiano Iha: A trip to Pride and a bout against jiu-jitsu stylist Fabiano Iha was next. Trigg worked over the significantly smaller Brazilian and crumbled him in the corner, scoring a TKO victory.
Trigg/Hayato Sakurai: In Shooto, Frank battled the event’s top competitor at the time: Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. Trigg dominated the first round, even pounding Sakurai so severely in the corner that Hayato slid out through the ropes to avoid sustaining damage. Frank was in control and taking it to their champion. However just minutes into the second round, Sakurai connected with a left to the head that sent Trigg to the mat. He was able to get up but Sakurai followed with a knee that sent him back down. Trigg admits he was mentally out of the fight at this point but he tried to clear his head. A second decisive knee sent him reeling and the referee stepped in to stop the contest.
Trigg/LaVerne Clark: Frank fought in WFA 1 against UFC veteran and Miletich Fighting Systems combatant LaVerne Clark and stopped him with strikes in the third round of a competitive battle.
Trigg/Dennis Hallman: The controversial WFA 3 title bout. Hallman was controlling the stand-up game until Trigg threw an apparent groin strike that momentarily crippled Dennis. Hallman was unable to continue and Trigg was crowned WFA champion due to “fighter abandonment.” They reviewed and appealed the decision but Trigg is still champion.
Trigg/Matt Hughes: Trigg gets the early takedown and they trade positions frequently until Trigg winds up on top. They continue to grapple and when Trigg stands, Hughes picks him up for a slam. It’s a humorous sight as it looks like Trigg is adjusting Hughes’ shorts prior to the slam to the mat. The slam is less than spectacular and it allows Trigg to get a Kimura armlock. Hughes avoids the danger and grabs Trigg’s head. From a front headlock, Trigg is able to push Hughes back and free his head, pushing Hughes to the canvas and tagging his face. A scramble takes place that sees Trigg working for the arm again but Hughes seizes his back. Frank stands and Matt gets both hooks in. As he tries to defend, Hughes sinks the choke and Trgg taps falling backwards to the mat. An incredible finish to a hard fought bout.
Also worthy of note, Trigg faced: Dan Gilbert (win/submission), Ray Cooper (win/submission) and Jason Medina (win/submission).
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: Frank’s wrestling skills are his key to success. Working with the RAW team, he’s been able to incorporate all of his world class skills with his penchant for punching people in the head. If you have to narrow down a weakness, it may be his lack of submission wins against top opponents. He’s won with chokes before but against top-shelf talent, he usually pounds them out. Of course there’s nothing wrong with staying with your strength. He might just be able to “flesh out” his game a little by working with a real submission guy.
HOW HE CAN BEAT HALLMAN: With strikes on the mat. Good ol’ G-n-P should do the trick. Hallman can strike and has TKO and KO wins to his name but his true game is submission and you need to be on the mat without someone’s hand in your face to pull one off. Trigg’s wrestling gives him the opportunity to put Hallman in some bad positions and punish him.
DENNIS HALLMAN: American submission fighter; 1994 Washington State Wrestling Champion; Ultimate Ring Challenge promoter; former AMC Pankration fighter training with Matt Hume, Josh Barnett, Aaron Riley, Lance Gibson, Anthony Hamlett and others; has trained with Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland and Evan Tanner and members of Team Quest; currently trains with Benji Radach, Paul Purcell, Joey Guel, Eddy Ellis and the rest of the Victory Athletics team; with a record of 50-8-4 in MMA; making his 3rd appearance (1-1) in the UFC.
HISTORY: Dennis Hallman did much of his early MMA competition in the small local shows in the Washington area (many assembled by former trainer Matt Hume) and then began fighting in the Extreme Challenge events. Dennis stopped UFC/Shooto veteran Phil Johns in less than four minutes at EC 21 and then returned to win an eight-man tournament at EC 22.
In the semifinals he blasted Shannon “The Cannon” Ritch, beating him in just 25 seconds and faced Matt Hughes for the first time in the final. Hughes had just gone the 15-minute distance to win a decision over Dave Menne and was likely still feeling the effects. However it didn’t last long enough to matter, as Hallman guillotine choked Matt and won his title in just 17 seconds. Hallman returned at EC 23 and lost a decision before making the trip to Japan to face Dave Menne in the Shooto 10th Anniversary show. Hallman tried to pull out a win in round three and was active standing and on the ground but Menne was sharper and more aggressive throughout and won the decision. He returned again to Shooto to face one of the organizations rising stars, Kaoru Uno.
The losing streak continued as yet another decision went against the Pankration fighter, making it four bouts in a row. Dennis made a stop at HOOK’n’SHOOT to KO UFC veteran Paul Rodriguez, pummeled a local fighter at the Return of the Gladiators show and then it was on to the Octagon itself. He was in the winner’s circle again now and facing an opponent he’d already beaten. As he had done before, Hallman came in and immediately attacked a weakness in Hughes’ game, scoring the submission win in 20 seconds. It was back to Washington for a win at the Return of the Gladiators 2 show and then a match with school-boy rival Jens Pulver.
Hallman’s loss to Pulver by decision was just one in a long night of bouts going to the judges. He then faced UFC veteran and Carlson Gracie Team Member Amaury Bitetti in a losing effort at the Shogun show. A string of wins in smaller shows (Ultimate Athlete, Maximum Fighting Championships and the United Full Contact Federation) brought him to King of the Cage. Dennis battled Betiss Mansouri at KOTC 16: Sudden Impact at the beginning of the month. Mansouri was 3-0-1 in KOTC and has solid submission skills. Hallman however, known as a submission guy, unveiled a serious stand-up game and worked until the triangle choke was in. Dennis went on to face Frank Trigg, Ronald Jhun and Ray Cooper and racked a number of victories in smaller shows prior to his return to the UFC on Saturday night.
Hallman/Matt Hughes: Hallman made a brief appearance in UFC 29 where he armbarred Miletich Martial Arts fighter Matt Hughes in just 17 seconds. It was Hallman’s second victory over Hughes, having beaten him two years earlier in just 20 seconds. You just have to chalk that up to “sometimes someone just has your number."
Hallman/Denis Kang: Kang scored a slam early in this one and pounded him, bloodying Hallman’s lip from the guard. Hallman was able to bring it to the ground in the second round but Kang kept him close so he couldn’t strike comfortably. In an unintentional illegal move, Kang kicked an unsuspecting Hallman in the chin from the mat and flash KO’d him. Hallman was ready to hurl and spent some time on the mat to recover. It was declared a No Contest and in a class move Kang made a public apology for the illegal tactic.
Hallman/Dave Menne: After a short exchange standing, Menne takes them to the mat, working for a knee bar and staying on Hallman’s back. He moves to side mount but they eventually stand and trade knees in the clinch. Menne gets another takedown and the highlight of the first round was Hallman sticking his tongue out at the camera while in guard. In round two, Hallman employs knees and foot stomps. They lock up in the corner and trade knee and leg strikes. Menne scores another takedown and gets more aggressive with his striking to the head and body from inside Hallman’s guard. Hallman comes out striking to start the third but Menne is more effective and continues to score takedowns. From the mat, Hallman attempts a number of leg locks but Menne avoids them and pounds him with strikes from the guard. Menne finds himself on his back and attack’s Hallman’s legs but Dennis moves to side mount and you can notice some blood trickling from his nose. Hallman ends the round on top but Menne takes a unanimous decision.
Hallman/Betiss Mansouri: Hallman comes out kicking, throwing two head height roundhouse kicks. He continues to keep it standing and delivers leg kicks and a good left uppercut-right cross combo that leads to a clinch. Mansouri scores a single leg takedown but they land in an awkward pretzel-like position and Hallman eventually escapes to the standing position. Dennis punches down at Betiss from inside his guard. They scoot toward the cage and Hallman seizes Mansouri’s back. Betiss is able to avoid an armbar attempt and roll him to half mount but falls quickly into a triangle choke. Dennis “Superman” Hallman beats Betiss “Super” Mansouri with his own favorite submission in the first round and wins the battle of the “supermen."
Hallman/Jens Pulver: These two had a longstanding grudge since their high school days. Plus there was the matter of Hallman taking out Pulver’s teammate Matt Hughes twice in under a minute. Hallman is on Pulver immediately and after some scrambling on the feet, he falls to guard. Dennis has an arm bar halfway through the round but Jens pulls out. They work the mat and the round ends with Pulver on the mat in guard. It goes right back to the ground in the second round and stays there all five minutes. Jens heats up in round three and unloads two lefts to answer a pair of high kicks from Hallman. Dennis quickly brings them to the mat.
Pulver sits up in Hallman’s body triangle and pounds down at him but they stay on the canvas. Round four starts with Hallman initiating the exchange but taking Pulver down and looking for a leg lock. They stand with Hallman on Pulver’s back but they go back to the mat yet again. The pace crawls and the crowd boos to end the round. In the fifth and final round, despite Hallman’s rolling takedown attempts, they stand for the entire round. Pulver had his opportunities to finish him late and connected cleanly in the final seconds but he could not put him away. Jens keeps his lightweight title by unanimous decision.
Hallman/Frank Trigg: Discussed under Frank Trigg bio
Hallman/Ray Cooper: This was a quick one. Hallman defeated Jesus Is Lord member Ray “Bradda” Cooper by guillotine choke just 50 seconds into the first round.
Also worthy of note, Hallman faced: Leigh Remedios (win/submission), Phil Johns (win/submission), Shannon Ritch (win/submission), Caol Uno (loss/decision), Paul Rodriguez (loss/KO), Amaury Bitetti (loss/decision), Betiss Mansouri (win/submission) and Ronald Jhun (draw).
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: Hallman has solid submission skills and is a serious threat on the mat at any time. He is always ready to submit the ground fighter and rock the striker on his feet. He works his stand-up with UFC veterans Benji Radach and Aaron Riley and it shows. Dennis will keep it standing until he’s in danger and then bring it to the floor where he’s naturally more comfortable. He has shown the ability to kick in the head and do serious damage to an opponent’s lower body with strikes so he is by no means one dimensional. As for a weakness, I guess you could say leaving it up to the judges. Dennis does not fair well when it comes to decisions. He needs to close out his opponent and leave no question as to the victor.
HOW HE CAN BEAT TRIGG:,, , , , By submission. If Trigg gets overconfident because of the last battle, he may get sloppy and enjoy his work. Hallman is dangerous when you don’t focus on defending the submission. Hallman should be able to weather an early storm standing and bring Trigg down to his world.
MY PICK: Very tough call, especially given all of the trash talking between these two as of late. I’m going with Hallman. He has to stick to his game though. Frank has fought submission guys before in Fabiano Iha and Jean Jaques Machado but Iha never made it the ground with Trigg. As for Machado, he had just started fighting MMA and would likely perform better today. Dennis by far has more MMA fight experience than both of those fighters and he should be able to control the pace. I feel it will be Hallman by submission (likely a triangle choke that Trigg will try to punch out of) late in the 2nd round.
DOWN THE ROAD:
Hallman/Hughes: It’s as good as signed if they both win. Can lightning strike three times?
Hallman/Jason Black: Just one more name on the long list of forgotten men. But how do you forget a guy who is 16-0-1 with wins over Alessio, Menjivar and Berger? Then again, we already have a pretty tough fighter from the Miletich camp in the welterweight division.
Trigg/Nick Diaz: This guy KO’s Robbie Lawler and his name has not been spoken since. He’s 2-0 in the UFC, bring him in and let him take it to someone else … like Trigg.
Trigg/Luis Firmino: No one on this continent even mentions “Buscape.” What a bad ass. Just wait until they see him, they won’t shut up him then.