Photo credit: Mike Jackson/LFA | Design: Ben
Duffy/Sherdog
On Friday,
PFL Challenger Series 6 will
feature one of the sport’s most interesting heavyweight free
agents.
Brett
Martin presents with a record of ten wins, a single defeat and
one no-contest. The 27-year-old “Big Dog” will fight for a place in
the
Professional Fighters League regular season
when he locks horns with Brazil’s
Giacomo
Lemos. The combined record of Martin’s opponents consists of 79
victories, 57 losses, and a draw, a win rate of 58%. In victory,
Martin has upended his foes on the scorecards four times and scored
as many stoppages. He has also recorded two wins by
disqualification, following his illegal strikes by his
opponents.
As a junior college All-American wrestler at Muskegon Community
College in Michigan, Martin always knew that his destiny was to
fight in a cage at some point in his life. He started his
transition to mixed martial arts in 2015, and his fighting style
reflects his past as a 285-pound wrestler. Martin relies heavily on
his grappling skills, moving the action to the canvas as soon as
possible and hammering his opponents there. Over the years, he has
implemented a few submissions in his arsenal, but the biggest
improvements have been seen in his striking game. In his latest
fights, he looked more comfortable on the feet as he showed some
muay Thai and boxing refinement.
In his first professional MMA bout, Martin opted not to cut to the
265-pound heavyweight limit and fought at super heavyweight. On
that occasion, he finished his opponent in 43 seconds. Following a
no-contest, Martin scored three consecutive victories, which earned
him the chance to fight for the Warrior Xtreme Cagefighting
heavyweight belt at WXC 73. That night, Martin faced
Bellator MMA alum
Leroy
Johnson. Much to everyone’s surprise, Johnson outmatched Martin
at his own game, wrestling, en route to a unanimous decision
victory. All three scorecards read 50-44 in favor of Johnson.
Learned the harsh lesson and suffered his first defeat, Martin
bounced back on track by taking home a decision himself against
Ryan
Pokryfky. In the subsequent fight, “Big Dog” imposed his will
on current
Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter
Josh
Parisian, who was coming off a highlight-reel knockout victory
on
Dana White's Contender Series. In their clash,
Martin forced Parisian to tap to a quick kimura 68 seconds out of
the gate.