Mark Miller (fighter) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Marcus Dennis Miller is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

. He has won MMA welterweight titles with XFO and Total Fight Challenge as well as the USKO international rules kickboxing title. A former IFL

International Fight League

The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006 and closed on July 31, 2008...

fighter, Miller was a competitor on SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom
The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom
The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom is the ninth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. It began production in January 2009, and began airing on Spike on April 1, 2009. The season featured Lightweight fighters ...

.

Early life

Miller was born and raised in Midlothian, Illinois

Midlothian, Illinois

Midlothian is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,315 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Midlothian is located at ....

; while growing up he attended Bremen High School. At Bremen, Miller competed in sports such as football, track and field. Shortly after graduating from high school, Miller enrolled in the Marines where he spent the next three and half years. After leaving the Marines, Miller worked construction before competing in MMA full time.

Mixed martial arts career

While enlisted in the marines, Miller began training mixed martial arts at Camp Pendleton. Miller fought in a number of local and regional fights before joining International Fight League (IFL) in 2007. Following a 54 second knockout win against UFC veteran Josh Neer

Josh Neer

Joshua Martin Neer is an American mixed martial artist from Des Moines, Iowa who is currently under contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championships. He trains at The LifeLine Youth Foundation and The Des Moines Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Des Moines, Iowa. Neer is formerly an MFS Elite fighter...

, Miller earned a title shot against Jay Hieron

Jay Hieron

James Thomas Hieronymus , better known as Jay Hieron, is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He is known for his wrestling base and heavy hands....

. Hieron defeated Miller for the IFL Welterweight championship on April 4, 2008.

Miller was a contestant on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship , and soon to be shown on FX. The show features unknown, professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as...

. He got on the show after defeating his full-time training partner and good friend Kevin Knabjian

Kevin Knabjian

Kevin Knabjian is an American mixed martial artist of Armenian descent. He has competed in various promotions, debuting in Shooto in 2003 and going on to fight in CFC, WEC and Bellator Fighting Championship.-Mixed martial arts career:...

. In his second fight, he took on Nick Osipczak

Nick Osipczak

Nicholas Dominic Osipczak is an English professional mixed martial artist. He is a cast member of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom. He is also a known practitioner of Sanshou and Kung Fu, and is a member of Team Rough House.-Background:Nick attended high school at...

. He was defeated in the second round via knockout from a head kick, thus knocking him out of the tournament.

Miller was going to make his debut for Strikeforce at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers

Strikeforce / M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Rogers was a mixed martial arts event held on November 7, 2009. It was the first MMA event on network television since the now-defunct EliteXC promotion broadcast its final event, EliteXC: Heat, on CBS on October 4, 2008. The event had a four-fight main card...

, but the fight was canceled due to time issues.
Strikeforce said they will move the bout to a later card. After the cancellation of the fight, Miller contemplated retirement. He looked to bounce back after his fight was canceled but he was unable to do so after being defeated by Jeremy Lang and then later LeVon Maynard.

Miller made his lightweight debut against Charles Wilson, defeating Wilson via unanimous decision. The win had earned Miller a lightweight fight on the Bellator 25 card against Josh Shockley. However, Shockley pulled out of the bout just a day before the event, leaving Miller without a fight. It was being rumored that the winner would take a spot in the fourth season lightweight tournament.

Mixed martial arts record

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Junior Assuncao

Cleuder F. "Junior" Assunção is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He competes in the lightweight and featherweight divisions.-Biography:Originally from Northeastern Brazil, Junior grew up in Miami, and now resides in Atlanta...

Gary, Indiana

Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city is in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is 25 miles from downtown Chicago. The population is 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. It borders Lake Michigan and is known...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Loss
|9-7
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United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Loss
|9-6
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Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

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|9-5
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Mike Pierce

Michael Adam "Mike" Pierce is an American mixed martial artist. He currently fights as a welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion...

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Loss
|9-4
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Jay Hieron

James Thomas Hieronymus , better known as Jay Hieron, is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. He is known for his wrestling base and heavy hands....

East Rutherford, New Jersey

East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|9-3
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Josh Neer

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|8-3
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Brad Blackburn

Brad Lavale Blackburn Jr. is an American professional mixed martial artist. He fought for the Seattle Tiger Sharks in the now defunct International Fight League...

Moline, Illinois

Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Loss
|7-3
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Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Loss
|7-2
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Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|7-1
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Amir Khillah

Amir Khillah is an Egyptian-American mixed martial artist. Amir has a professional record of 9-4, currently fighting in the lightweight division and previously in the welterweight division. He is a former member of The H.I.T. Squad, the team of former UFC welterweight champion, Matt Hughes...

Hammond, Indiana

Hammond is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 80,830 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hammond is located at ....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|6-1
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Island Lake, Illinois

Island Lake is a village in Lake and McHenry Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 8,153 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Island Lake is a village located at , lying in the far northwest Chicago suburbs....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|5-1
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Somerset, Kentucky

The major demographic differences between the city and the micropolitan area relate to income, housing composition and age. The micropolitan area, as compared to the incorporated city, is more suburban in flavor and has a significantly younger housing stock, a higher income, and contains most of...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|4-1
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Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

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|Loss
|3-1
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Racine, Wisconsin

Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|Win
|3-0
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McHenry, Illinois

McHenry is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. In 2005, its population was estimated to be 24,631. McHenry was at one time the county seat of McHenry County...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|-
|Win
|2-0
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Cicero, Illinois

Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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|-
|Win
|1-0
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Lakeland, Florida

Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.