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.
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