Name Vernon White
Nickname Tiger
Association [[Lion’s Den]]
Weight Class Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.)
Height 6′ 0″ (183 cm)
Style Submission Wrestling
Birth Date December 3, 1971
Fighting Out Of Palo Alto, California
Country USA
Vernon White Pictures [http://www.vernonwhite.tv/index.php White’s Official Site]

”’Vernon Verdell White”’ is a mixed martial arts fighter who has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Strikeforce, King of the Cage (KOTC), Pancrase, and the International Fight League (IFL). He lives in Nevada, and belongs to the fighting team The [[Lion’s Den]].

While competing in the IFL, White fought on long time friend and training partner Ken Shamrock‘s Lions out of Nevada.

He holds wins over David Terrell, Vladimir Matyushenko, Jason Guida, Sam Hoger, and Marvin Eastman. Vernon has also fought many big names in MMA, including former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell, current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Frank Shamrock, former King of Pancrase Masakatsu Funaki, former King of Pancrase Minoru Suzuki, former UFC Heavyweight Champion and King of Pancrase Bas Rutten, Pedro Rizzo, and Kazushi Sakuraba. White is also a former MMA Champion, winning the King of the Cage Middleweight Championship.

== Professional Record ==

Record 26 – 34 – 2 (Win â€Â“ Loss â€Â“ Draw)
Wins 10 (T)KOs
8 Submissions
7 Decisions
1 Other
Losses 7 (T)KOs
14 Submissions
13 Decisions
Result Opponent Method Event Title Date Round Time Notes
Loss Jason MacDonald Submission (Triangle Choke) Warrior-1 MMA: Bad Blood 3/20/2010 3 2:12 Originally scheduled to face Denis Kang
Loss Lew Polley Decision (Unanimous) War Gods: War Gods 5 5/30/2009 3 5:00
Win Jeremiah Constant DQ XCC 6: Western Threat 4/05/2008 1 N/A Constant DQ’d for illegal strikes to the back of the head
Loss Marcelo Tigre TKO (Injury) X-1: Grand Prix 2007 8/04/2007 1 3:26
Loss Mike Whitehead TKO (Punches) IFL: Las Vegas 6/16/2007 2 0:54
Win Sam Hogar Submission (Rear Naked Choke) IFL: Moline 4/07/2007 2 3:25
Loss Bobby Southworth Decision (Unanimous) Strikeforce Triple Threat 12/08/2006 5 5:00 For first-ever Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship
Loss Victor Valimaki Decision (Unanimous) EF 2: The Ultimate Decision 9/29/2006 3 5:00
Loss Lyoto Machida Decision (Unanimous) WFA: King of the Streets 7/22/2006 3 5:00
Win Jason Guida TKO (Doctor Stoppage) WEC 18 Unfinished Business 1/13/2006 1 5:00
Win Alex Stiebling KO (Punch) WEC 17 Halloween Fury 4 10/14/2005 2 0:09
Loss Matt Horwich Submission (Rear Naked Choke) SF 12: Breakout 9/16/2005 2 2:38
Win Justin Burgin Decision (Unanimous) Valor Fighting: Medford Mayhem 7/16/2005 3 5:00
Win Chris Peak TKO Valor Fighting: Home of the Brave 7/02/2005 1 N/A
Loss Chuck Liddell KO (Punch) UFC 49 Unfinished Business 8/21/2004 1 4:05 Post-fight White had surgery for fractured bone near eye socket
Loss Marvin Eastman Decision (Unanimous) KOTC 32: Bringing Heat 1/24/2004 3 5:00 Eastman avenged first career loss
Loss August Wallen Decision (Unanimous) FE 4: Fighter Extreme 4 9/28/2003 N/A N/A
Draw Ian Freeman Draw (Split) UFC 43 Meltdown 6/6/2003 3 5:00 White was late replacement for Ken Shamrock; Scorecards: 30-27, 28-29, 29-29
Loss Jeremy Horn Decision (Unanimous) KOTC 23: Sin City 5/16/2003 5 5:00 Lost KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship
Win Mike Rogers Decision (Split) KOTC 16: Double Cross 8/02/2002 3 5:00 Defended KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship
Win James Lee Submission (Heel Hook) KOTC 11: Domination 9/29/2001 3 1:00 Defended KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship
Win Joe Priole TKO WMMAA 1: MegaFights 8/10/2001 2 N/A
Win Marvin Eastman Decision (Split) KOTC 8 Bombs Away 4/29/2001 3 5:00 Defended [[KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship | KOTC Light Heavyweight Superfight Championship]]; Renamed KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship
Win David Dodd KO (Flying Knee) KOTC 6 Road Warriors 11/29/2000 2 3:43 Defended [[KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship | KOTC Light Heavyweight Superfight Championship]]
Win Marcos da Silva Submission IFC: Battleground 2 9/30/2000 1 N/A Defended IFC World Heavyweight Championship
Loss Allan Goes Decision (Unanimous) PRIDE 9 New Blood 6/04/2000 2 10:00
Win Todd Medina KO (Punch) KOTC 3 Knockout Nightmare 4/15/2000 1 0:09 Won [[KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship | KOTC Light Heavyweight Superfight Championship]]
Win Vladimir Matyushenko Decision (Split) IFC: Montreal Cage Combat 10/09/1999 1 25:00 Won IFC World Heavyweight Championship
Win David Terrell Decision (Unanimous) IFC WC 4: Warriors Challenge 4 8/07/1999 3 5:00
Loss Kazushi Sakuraba Submission (Armbar) PRIDE 2 3/15/1998 3 6:53
Win Brian Gassaway Submission (Ankle Lock) WPC: World Pankration Championship 1 10/26/1997 1 1:26
Loss Vladimir Matyushenko Submission (Neck Crank) IFC 5: Battle in the Bayou 9/05/1997 1 5:44 IFC 5 Tournament Opening Round
Loss Mario Sperry Decision (Unanimous) Caged Combat 1: Australian Ultimate Fighting 3/22/1997 3 5:00
Loss Pedro Rizzo KO (Kick) WVC 2: World Vale Tudo Championship 2 11/10/1996 1 6:30 WVC 2 Heavyweight Tournament Finals
Win Iouri Oulianitski KO (Kick) WVC 2: World Vale Tudo Championship 2 11/10/1996 1 1:21
Win Cees Bezems Submission (Heel Hook) WVC 2: World Vale Tudo Championship 2 11/10/1996 1 2:10
Loss Osami Shibuya Decision (Lost Points) Pancrase: Truth 7 10/08/1996 1 20:00
Win Kazuo Takahashi KO (Kick) Pancrase: 1996 Anniversary Show 9/07/1996 1 19:43
Win Minoru Suzuki Decision (Majority) Pancrase: 1996 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2 7/23/1996 1 15:00
Loss Masakatsu Funaki Submission Pancrase: Truth 6 6/25/1996 1 2:34
Draw Takaku Fuke Draw Pancrase: Truth 5 5/16/1996 1 10:00
Loss Ryushi Yanagisawa Submission Pancrase: Truth 3 4/07/1996 1 12:47
Win Kazuo Takahashi Decision (Lost Points) Pancrase: Truth 3 4/07/1996 1 10:00
Loss Frank Shamrock Submission (Achilles Lock) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 7 12/14/1995 1 5:23
Loss Katsuomi Inagaki Decision (Majority) Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 6 11/04/1995 1 10:00
Loss Gregory Smit Decision (1-0) Pancrase: 1995 Neo-Blood Tournament Opening Round 7/22/1995 1 10:00
Loss Manabu Yamada Submission Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 5 6/13/1995 1 10:26
Win Larry Papadopoulos Submission Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 3 4/08/1995 1 9:54
Loss Takafumi Ito Submission Pancrase: Eyes of Beast 2 3/10/1995 1 7:26
Loss Masakatsu Funaki Submission Pancrase: King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round 12/16/1994 1 5:37
Win Leon Dijk Submission Pancrase: King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round 12/16/1994 1 3:45
Loss Todd Bjornethun Decision (Lost Points) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 5 10/15/1994 1 15:00
Win Richard Saar KO Pancrase: Road to the Championship 4 9/01/1994 1 3:25
Win Katsuomi Inagaki Submission Pancrase: Road to the Championship 3 7/26/1994 1 4:15
Loss Remco Pardoel TKO (Lost Points) Pancrase: Road to the Championship 2 7/06/1994 1 14:24
Loss Bas Rutten Submission Pancrase: Pancrash! 3 4/21/1994 1 1:16
Loss Masakatsu Funaki KO Pancrase: Pancrash! 2 3/12/1994 1 1:13
Loss Andre Van Den Oetelaar Submission Pancrase: Pancrash! 1 1/19/1994 1 6:22
Loss Ryushi Yanagisawa TKO (Lost Points) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 4 12/08/1993 1 8:55
Win Katsuomi Inagaki TKO (Doctor Stoppage) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 3 11/08/1993 1 22:04
Loss Minoru Suzuki Submission (Leg Scissor Choke) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 2 10/14/1993 1 2:36
Loss Takaku Fuke Submission (Armbar) Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1 9/21/1993 1 1:19

== Biography ==
Before he was “Tiger,” Vernon White was born in Palo Alto, California, at Stanford University Hospital, on December 3, 1971. His training in early adulthood included taekwondo, and in an effort to expand his horizons as a martial artist, he entered the [[Lion’s Den]] in Lodi, California, a training center run by wrestler/submission artist Ken Shamrock that would one day become legendary in its own right.

As part of his apprenticeship, Tiger would go through a strenuous daily regimen that included 500 push-ups and squats, not to mention full contact drills with Shamrock himself that left Vernon, in his own words, “beat up.” At the end of the day, he then had to clean out the gym. Such a schedule may seem demeaning on the surface, but it was a way of life at the [[Lion’s Den]], where over the course of time, aspiring fighters acquired a very unusual level of discipline and toughness.

Shamrock had been competing in professional wrestling in Japan, and one of his objectives at the [[Lion’s Den]] was to prepare fighters to travel to Japan to compete in a newly-formed organization called Pancrase that would engage in “shoot-fighting,” which can best be described as a catch-as-catch-can, no-holds-barred brand of fighting/wrestling that, unlike some forms of pro wrestling, was not choreographed and did not have a pre-determined victor.

== Mixed Martial Arts Career ==
White fought in the very first Pancrase event in September of 1993 – the same one where Shamrock choked out the great Masakatsu Funaki. This event actually preceded the first-ever event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As Shamrock joined up with the UFC and started to develop a reputation in America through those events, White stayed with Pancrase. As he was getting his sea legs, so to speak, White took some early lumps in Japan, but eventually became a mainstay of the Pancrase promotion, fighting for over three years there, competing with such legendary figures as Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock (Ken’s adopted brother), along with Funaki and numerous others who were dominant in the Far East.

Subsequently he competed in the World Vale Tudo Championship, and from there he fought a memorable match in Australia in March of 1997. At “Caged Combat 1,” White encountered one of the great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu masters in the world, Mario Sperry. The “Tiger” fought Sperry at least on even terms and indeed had the edge over Sperry in the opinion of most of the people who were in attendance. The fight went a full 15 minutes (three 5-minute rounds) and the judges, who reportedly were pre-disposed to prefer the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, gave the points decision to Sperry in a verdict that drew a chorus of boos from the crowd.

There was some winning in losing, however, as Vernon “Tiger” White was given the opportunity to fight for the International Fighting Council (IFC) six months later. What resulted was another defeat that carried with it some controversy, as rules favored his opponent, Russian Vladimir Matyushenko, who eventually won the fight on a neck choke after five minutes and 44 seconds.

White got the chance at revenge over Matyushenko in October of 1999, again in the IFC, this time in Montreal. In a grueling match that lasted 25 minutes, Tiger handed Matyushenko the first defeat of his pro career and in the process captured the IFC’s World Heavyweight Championship. That was great, but Tiger White had some more work to do.

In his very next fight, Tiger added more prestigious hardware to his mantle when he blasted Todd Medina, a protege of legend Carlson Gracie, in just nine seconds to win the middleweight championship of King of the Cage (KOTC). It was without a doubt one of the fastest knockouts in championship competition in the history of mixed martial arts. That gave Vernon two titles, in two different weight divisions, in a period of a little more than six months, and came in the midst of a period where he won nine out of 10 bouts, fighting in four different promotions, defending his two titles a total of five times.

After the KOTC Middleweight title had been re-classified as a Light Heavyweight title, White stepped in with Jeremy Horn in May of 2003 with belt in hand. When he walked out 25 minutes later, he had lost a decision – and the title – to Horn in what was considered by scores of veteran MMA observers to be one of the biggest highway robberies in the history of the sport. Tiger, undeterred, was in the octagon just three weeks later, fighting for the UFC as a late substitute for his mentor, Ken Shamrock, against Ian Freeman, whom he fought to a three-round draw. White had gone into battle with two rough-and-tumble opponents, fighting 40 excruciating minutes and taking the measure of both, within a period of 21 days, and had come through that without a victory to show for his efforts.

More controversy followed White into his next UFC appearance, against Chuck Liddell in August of 2005. In the first round, Liddell’s blows caused damage that was going to be difficult to correct. X-rays would later show that one of Liddell’s fingers went into Tiger’s eye, creating a painful injury that still bothers him a bit to this day. After the fight, which ended at the 4:05 mark, Liddell headed to a UFC light heavyweight title fight (which he won over Randy Couture), while White headed for surgery to repair a bone that was fractured near the eye socket.

White’s career experienced a rebirth in the International Fight League (IFL), a well-organized, innovative new mixed martial arts organization that utilizes the team concept, while at the same time preserving the individuality of each fighter. White became a member of the Reno-based Nevada Lions, coached by his longtime friend and teacher, Ken Shamrock.

Tiger’s IFL debut was in April of 2007 – a win over UFC veteran and former “Ultimate Fighter” competitor Sam Hoger, whom he choked out in the second round. Vernon went into that fight with a back injury, but “toughed it out” nonetheless.

The future looks good for Vernon “Tiger” White. he anxiously awaits a rubber match with Matyushenko, who also competes in the IFL (A third fight was supposed to have been held between the two in the year 2000, but Matsyushenko pulled out).

His intention is to fight for at least five more years, something that is quite possible given his work ethic and strict training regimen at the [[Lion’s Den]] under Shamrock, as well as a bag of tricks that only a grizzled veteran can possess. On the personal front, Tiger was married in April of 2007 to the former Melissa Cline, an occupational therapist (which comes in handy, he jokes) and lives in the state of Nevada.

White was scheduled to face off against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on July 19, 2008 at Affliction Banned, but the bout was scrapped. According to K.O. Dynasty Sports Management, White recently competed in a regional show and tested positive for a diuretic that he didn’t know was a banned substance. The fight in question took place May 31, 2008 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas as part of an Xtreme Fighting Association event. White defeated Anthony Brown via unanimous decision. Edwin Dewees ended up replacing White to face Nogueira.

White’s only fight of 2009 took place at a War Gods’ event, where he faced ECC Light Heavyweight Champion Lew Polley, where he lost a Decision (Unanimous).

== Pro Wrestling ==
White appeared on the April 7, 1997 airing of the World Wrestling Entertainment program Raw is War, losing a worked ‘shoot fight’ to Ken Shamrock.

== Personal Life ==
Vernon and his wife Melissa Kline were married on April 30, 2007.[3] The couple had their first child, a son, on May 31, 2008.