David Terrell
 |
Name | David Terrell |
| Nickname | The Soul Assassin | |
| Association | Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu / NorCal Fighting Alliance | |
| Weight Class | Middleweight (185 lbs.) | |
| Height | 6' 0" (183 cm) | |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | |
| Birth Date | January 9, 1978 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Santa Rosa, California | |
| Country | USA | |
| David Terrell Pictures | Official Website |
David Michael "The Soul Assassin" Terrell is a retired American mixed martial artist from Santa Rosa, California. A black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie, no one has scored a point against Terrell in a grappling match, though he is not undefeated in the sport. He has fought as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) before being released from his contract.
Professional Record
| Record | 6 - 2 - 0 (Win – Loss – Draw) |
| Wins | 2 (T)KOs 4 Submissions 0 Decisions |
| Losses | 1 (T)KOs 0 Submissions 1 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Scott Smith | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | UFC 59: Reality Check | 4/15/2006 | 1 | 3:08 | |
| Loss | Evan Tanner | TKO (Punches) | UFC 51: Super Saturday | 2/05/2005 | 1 | 4:35 | For UFC Middleweight Championship (Vacant) |
| Win | Matt Lindland | KO (Punches) | UFC 49: Unfinished Business | 8/21/2004 | 1 | 0:24 | UFC debut; Became #1 contender for Middleweight title |
| Win | Osami Shibuya | Submission (Choke) | Pancrase: Brave 3 | 3/29/2004 | 1 | 3:04 | |
| Win | Yuki Sasaki | KO (Punch) | Pancrase: Hybrid 11 | 12/21/2003 | 2 | 0:15 | |
| Win | Marcos da Silva | Submission (Exhaustion) | IFC WC 11: Warriors Challenge 11 | 1/13/2001 | 1 | 7:02 | |
| Win | Joey Villasenor | Submission (Armbar) | IFC WC 9: Warriors Challenge 9 | 7/18/2000 | 1 | 2:24 | |
| Loss | Vernon White | Decision (Unanimous) | IFC WC 4: Warriors Challenge 4 | 8/07/1999 | 3 | 5:00 | |
Mixed Martial Arts Career
In his UFC debut, he scored a stunning knockout victory over top middleweight Matt Lindland. The victory instantly thrusted Terrell into title contention, as his next fight was against Evan Tanner for the vacant UFC Middleweight Championship title in February 2005. Despite locking Tanner in a tight Guillotine Choke, Terrell lost the hold and eventually lost the match by technical knockout in the first round.
Plagued by recurring injuries, Terrell's next fight did not come until UFC 59 in April 2006, where Terrell submitted his opponent, Scott Smith, with a Rear Naked Choke in the first round. Controversy surrounds the victory, though, as questionable officiating by referee Marco Lopez led Smith to file a complaint to the California State Athletic Commission. At UFC 62 Terrell was supposed to fight Yushin Okami but withdrew the bout due to a sinus infection. The fight with Okami was then rescheduled to UFC 66, but Terrell again pulled out of the fight citing an elbow injury suffered during training.
Despite an early report which claimed that Terrell was planning to move to light heavyweight, Terrell was scheduled to fight Ed Herman in a middleweight contest at UFC 78 in November 2007. However, he was dropped from the card due to injury. Canadian Joe Doerksen took his place against Ed Herman.
Hiatus from MMA
Terrell then took a hiatus from the sport, nearly four years, but on a February 2010 edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), Terrell said he's considering a comeback. He also detailed the gruesome (yet little-known) ailment that led to the quick descent of one of the sport's most promising careers.
- "I trained really hard for my fights, but I was getting these sinus infections and a lot of ear problems," said Terrell, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Cesar Gracie who's now the NorCal Fighting Alliance head trainer. "It finally got to the point that these infections weren't going away, so I had to get a surgery on my ear where they kind of carved out the infection. It was just a pain in the butt. They stapled the ear back on after they pealed it off. They like filleted the back of the ear."
- "I thought then I was good, but I kept having to drain puss and nasty stuff (from the ear), so [the doctor] put me on every antibiotic you can imagine for about a year. I finally said, 'This isn't right'. So I got a second opinion and another MRI, and the guy said there was still a pretty bad infection in my head."
Terrell had a second surgery about back in 2009. He was told he was good to go, but soon, the leaking started up again. He just couldn't shake the ailment. After getting a referral, though, Terrell finally hooked up with a doctor at the University of California-San Francisco who really tackled the problem.
- "The guy's been doing a good job fixing it," Terrell said. "He's actually been cauterizing it. He puts this powder in my ear that burns. He explained it the first time. He said, 'This is going to feel like an icepick.'"
Terrell would get the cauterization procedures once a month, but the process would be finalized by the spring of 2010. In the meantime, he's been back to training and helping his students – such as Nate Loughran, Emily Thompson, Kyle Pimental and Bellator Featherweight Champ Joe Soto – get ready for their fights.
