Dan Severn is best known for his success in the early years of the UFC where he became the first UFC Triple Crown champion in history by winning the UFC 5 tournament, Ultimate Ultimate 1995, and UFC Superfight Championship.
101 Facts About Dan Severn
2.
In professional wrestling, Dan Severn is a two-time world champion by winning the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship twice, with his first reign lasting for over four years, and an NWA Hall of Fame member.
3.
Dan Severn is the first man to compete in UFC and WWF at the same time and held the NWA and UFC championships at the same time.
4.
Dan Severn is a world record holder for holding 13 championships.
5.
Dan Severn was born and raised in mid-Michigan, living in both Montrose and Coldwater, and grew up farming.
6.
Dan Severn learned a lot on the farm and "got his hands dirty".
7.
Dan Severn was influenced in sports from a young age.
8.
Dan Severn says that the coach approached him to fill in for a weight class in amateur wrestling after a sickness had gone around his school and led to a shortage of competitors, Severn signed to compete for the high school amateur wrestling team and received training.
9.
Dan Severn has a long history in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling.
10.
Dan Severn's amateur wrestling career started in high school and according to many was an "absolute machine" at 191.5 pounds.
11.
Dan Severn won both sports' national championships in 1976 and was named the "Outstanding High School wrestler in the nation".
12.
Dan Severn was inducted into Arizona State University's wrestling hall of fame at the end of his collegiate career.
13.
Dan Severn was a two time All-American at Arizona State University, the original Sunkist Kid of the Sunkist Kids, and a wrestling coach at both his alma mater Arizona State and Michigan State.
14.
Dan Severn won a gold medal at the 1985 National Sports Festival, and a berth on the US World team.
15.
Dan Severn failed to win in Olympic trials in 1984 and 1988, and was a finalist in the trials.
16.
Dan Severn was often introduced to the UFC Octagon as holding more than 100 in total.
17.
Dan Severn held the US national record for victories by pin from 1976 to 1992.
18.
Dan Severn secured 13 National AAU wrestling championships during those years.
19.
Dan Severn has been profiled in the press around the world in such publications as USA Today, People, Karate and Kung Fu Illustrated, Black Belt Magazine, MAD, Full Contact Fighter, and many of the pro wrestling publications.
20.
Dan Severn has developed a 10,000-square-foot training facility on his property called "Michigan Sports Camps" in Coldwater, Michigan.
21.
Dan Severn started cross-training in Judo in college, in an effort to improve his wrestling skills.
22.
In 1994, Dan Severn started competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
23.
The submission loss came after Dan Severn avoided Gracie's submission efforts for 15 minutes, the longest UFC fight up until that time.
24.
Dan Severn was the first world-class wrestler to enter the UFC, foreshadowing the period of dominance by wrestlers such as Don Frye in UFC 8 and 9 and Mark Coleman in UFC 10 and 11.
25.
Dan Severn soon returned to mixed martial arts competition, defeating several opponents to capture the tournament championship at UFC 5: Return of the Beast.
26.
Dan Severn's second fight was with Russian Oleg Taktarov at UFC 5.
27.
Dan Severn won by TKO after the referee stopped the fight due to a cut.
28.
Dan Severn then entered the UFC's Ultimate Ultimate 1995, which at the time was the toughest and most competitive tournament in UFC history, consisting of past UFC tournament champions and runners-up.
29.
Dan Severn defeated Paul Varelans, David "Tank" Abbott, and UFC 6 Tournament Champion Oleg Taktarov all in the same night to capture the tournament title.
30.
Dan Severn won a split decision in what most fans regard as one of the worst fights in MMA history, mainly due to legal issues surrounding the event.
31.
When Dan Severn made his entrance in his fights, he would carry the National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Championship out of his respect and passion for professional wrestling.
32.
Dan Severn has trained and became a mentor to notable mixed martial artists including former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans, The Ultimate Fighter competitor Luke Zachrich, Sean Sherk, and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
33.
In 2000, Dan Severn returned to the UFC for UFC 27, quickly losing to Pedro Rizzo after a kick to the knee.
34.
Dan Severn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at UFC 52.
35.
Dan Severn continued his MMA career on January 29,2011, by racking up his 97th, and 8th straight, win over Scott Fraser.
36.
Dan Severn successfully defeated Cal Worsham again, this time via unanimous decision in the main event of Legends Collide 2 on February 20,2011.
37.
Dan Severn earned his 100th career victory on April 16,2011, with a submission victory over Aaron Garcia at KOTC: Texas.
38.
Dan Severn is one of only two fighters with over 100 wins in mixed martial arts.
39.
Dan Severn has beaten the other fighter, Travis Fulton, and drew against him in the rematch.
40.
On January 1,2013, Dan Severn announced his retirement from MMA competition.
41.
Dan Severn was scheduled to face fellow mixed martial arts veteran Ken Shamrock on March 20,2016, in a MMA match for the upstart URFight promotion.
42.
Dan Severn later appeared at the event and articulated his plans to continue his fighting career and his hopes to fight at a future URFight event.
43.
Dan Severn later released a statement condemning Shamrock's actions and casting doubt upon his injury claims.
44.
Thesz would later become a fan of Dan Severn after watching him compete in UWFi and UFC, praising Dan Severn's wrestling skills.
45.
Dan Severn originally started competing in professional wrestling in 1992 for UWF-I under the Union Of Professional Wrestling Force.
46.
On February 14,1993, Dan Severn was defeated by Nobuhiko Takada.
47.
On January 28,1994, Dan Severn began to wrestle for All American Pro Wrestling and faced Shinobi in a winning effort.
48.
Dan Severn began to branch out to other promotions such as Border City Wrestling and Continental Championship Wrestling.
49.
On February 18,1995, Dan Severn was the number one contender against Bruiser Bedlam for Midwest Territorial Wrestling Heavyweight Championship at a Midwest Territorial Wrestling event.
50.
Dan Severn entered the National Wrestling Alliance in 1995, making his debut for the governing body at an event on January 6, by defeating Johnny Johnson in a "wrestler versus boxer" match.
51.
Dan Severn defended the title on various NWA promotions, with most of his title defenses taking place in NWA New Jersey.
52.
Dan Severn returned to SMW, retaining the title against Bobby Blaze twice, at Charlotte Memories and Superbowl of Wrestling.
53.
Dan Severn toured Japan, competing for International Wrestling Association at Kawasaki Dream where he defeated Tarzan Goto to retain the title in front of a massive 28,000 fans at the Kawasaki Stadium.
54.
Dan Severn was ranked No 4 for the "most inspirational wrestler" award and No 35 on the PWI 500 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1995.
55.
Dan Severn continued to retain the title in 1996, against the likes of Jim Neidhart, Ghetto Blaster, Repo Man, and Geza Kalman, Jr.
56.
Dan Severn defeated his trainer Al Snow at the First Annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl.
57.
Dan Severn retained the title throughout 1997 against Harley Lewis, Jimmy Cicero, Johnny Paradise, Devon Storm and Typhoon.
58.
Dan Severn defended the title against the legendary Dory Funk Jr.
59.
The match ended in a double count-out, resulting in Dan Severn retaining the title.
60.
Dan Severn held onto the title throughout 1998, retaining against Franz Schuhmann at the Third Annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl.
61.
Dan Severn's reign was the longest reign in over two decades and the third-longest reign in the history of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
62.
Dan Severn made his first appearance in the WWF with the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship on June 23,1997, to join the color commentary team.
63.
Dan Severn had not signed a contract with WWF by this point.
64.
Dan Severn commentated on Ken Shamrock's match against Rockabilly.
65.
Dan Severn wrestled on NWA territories at the same time during his tenure with the WWF.
66.
Dan Severn was first seen attacking The Headbangers when they were feuding with Bob Holly and Bart Gunn, who were a part of the NWA invasion.
67.
Dan Severn was briefly managed by Jim Cornette who commentated during his matches and helped "get him over".
68.
Cornette stated that "He has so many titles he keeps some at home because he can't take them in the airport", which is why Dan Severn brought his most prestigious championships.
69.
Dan Severn feuded with old MMA rival Ken Shamrock, where the WWF played up their history in UFC.
70.
Dan Severn would take part in the 1998 King of the Ring tournament, defeating D'Lo Brown and Owen Hart before losing to The Rock in the semi-finals.
71.
On July 28,1998, Dan Severn competed against D'Lo Brown for the WWF European Championship.
72.
Dan Severn was part of the 1999 Royal Rumble, being the 8th entrant and lasting almost 6 minutes before being eliminated by Mabel.
73.
Dan Severn refused to do this, telling the company that he was uncomfortable with the nature of the storyline.
74.
Dan Severn said he noticed this when they referred to him as "Mr Severn" and thought it was a "rib" as well as wrestlers avoiding him.
75.
In 2006 Dan Severn wrestled on AWE, the television series which had 1 season and 7 episodes on the fight network.
76.
In 2015, on Great North Wrestling Dan Severn faced Hannibal for the Great North Wrestling Canadian Championship in a losing effort.
77.
In May 2016, Dan Severn signed with AIW for a promotional deal.
78.
Dan Severn was put into a championship tournament named the "JT Lightning Invitational Tournament 2016" Severn advanced by defeating Colin Delaney.
79.
On February 4,2017, Dan Severn was inducted into the War Wrestling Hall of Fame in Lima, OH.
80.
On May 12,2017, Dan Severn competed at Gladiator Championship Wrestling against Brent Myers in a winning effort via his Beast Choker finishing submission move.
81.
On March 17,2019, Josh Barnett announced via Twitter that Dan Severn would be participating in Game Changer Wrestling's Bloodsport, an event that features worked matches presented in a shoot style.
82.
Dan Severn competed in the titular match, entering at number two and was eventually eliminated by Minoru Tanaka.
83.
Dan Severn returned to NWA by appearing at a NWA Florida event February Fury on February 20,2001.
84.
Dan Severn founded Midwest Wrestling Alliance with Mark Pennington, based out of Coldwater, Michigan in June 2004.
85.
Dan Severn competed many times in PoG against the likes of Jimmy Jacobs, N8 Mattson, CJ Otis, Jack Thriller and more.
86.
Dan Severn was a referee for Price of Glory 17: Merry Massacre in 2005.
87.
Dan Severn returned to NWA at its United Kingdom-based territory NWA UK Hammerlock, where he defeated Johnny Moss on February 16,2006.
88.
In 2010, Dan Severn was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame.
89.
Dan Severn has starred in various movies and television series, starting in 1993 with Rudy, in which he played a football player.
90.
Dan Severn then appeared in two episodes of Nash Bridges in 1998 and 1999.
91.
In 2010, Dan Severn acted as an applicant for the movie Minor League: A Football Story directed by Clenet Verdi-Rose.
92.
Also in 2010, Dan Severn acted as "The Beast" in the action movie called Kill Factor directed and written by Leo Fong.
93.
In late 2010, Dan Severn played himself in Tetherball: The Movie directed by Chris Nickin.
94.
In 2012, Dan Severn acted in the amateur wrestling movie Win by Fall directed by Chris Nickin, as the character called Coach Winters.
95.
In 2016, Severn acted as a referee in Beyond the Game which is an action movie directed by Erken Ialgashev and written by J Stephen Maunder and David Mitchell.
96.
Dan Severn is featured on the front covers of many martial arts magazines such as the Tae Kwon Do Times and Karate Kung-fu.
97.
Dan Severn was born in Coldwater, Michigan, and went to high school at Hill McCloy HS located in Montrose, Michigan.
98.
Dan Severn has four brothers, all of whom were All-American wrestlers in high school and college.
99.
Dan Severn's son, David Severn, is a professional and amateur wrestler.
100.
Dan Severn has won two state championships in his home state of Michigan.
101.
Dan Severn owns his own mixed martial arts camp in Coldwater, Michigan.