| Dane Sayers | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dane Sayers March 5, 1988 Moorhead, Minnesota |
| Other names | "iit ka soo tah sii," (Red Horse) |
| Residence | West Fargo, North Dakota |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 13 st) |
| Division | Lightweight Welterweight Middleweight Light Heavyweight |
| Reach | 71.0 in (180 cm) |
| Style | Mixed Martial Arts Kung Fu |
| Fighting out of | West Fargo, North Dakota, United States |
| Team | Academy of Combat Arts, Fargo, North Dakota |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 11 |
| Wins | 9 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Website | www.facebook.com/MMA.redhorse |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Dane Sayers is a Native American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division. Sayers mostly competed in the regional circuit, before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championships to appear on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.
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Growing up, Dane Sayers was always interested in martial arts, but his hometown of West Fargo, North Dakota didn't provide him with many training centers. Instead, Sayers took advantage of what sports were available to him at his high school. While attending West Fargo High School, Dane excelled in wrestling, track and field, and even played football on West Fargo's State Champion team.
"Ethan Boyle began training Sayers in his basement and soon he was fighting professionally. After hurting his shoulder during a fight, however, Sayers had to take some time off in order to heal. Unable to train and earn money fighting, he temporarily took a position as a computer technician. While adjusting to his new lifestyle behind the computer screen, Sayers quickly put on additional weight and before he knew it was well over his normal fighting weight. But needing money, Sayers got back into the fight scene and, despite his rust he took a fight four week outs at 205lbs. against Shane DeZee. He was able to hone his skills at the Academy of Combat Arts to earn a first round submission victory by guillotine. Since that fight he has continued to train at the Academy of Combat Arts and has gradually been moving down weight classes, until settling on 155."
With six of his seven wins coming via first round submission, Sayers developed into a submission specialist from guillotine chokes, rear-naked chokes, and keylocks.
Proud of his Chippewa and Blackfoot Native American roots, Dane was given the Native American name, "iit ka soo tah sii," translated to "Red Horse" by Chief Earle Old Person of the Browning, Montana Blackfoot Nation.
Dane often wears red trunks in the cage along with his signature red mohawk.
A few years after graduation, at age 20, Sayers decided to train in martial arts and found a traditional Kung Fu school near his home. Learning the basics of Kung Fu at the dojo, Sayers started to train himself at a gym in the area. While working out on a punching bag, he was discovered by a local boxer, who then introduced him to mixed martial arts fighter Miguel Cooley. Rather impressed with Sayers raw talent and athleticism, Cooley introduced Sayers to his own MMA trainer, Ethan Boyle, who began his future on the road of mixed martial arts.
Sayers became popular nationwide when he was featured on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck, eliminating Ariel Sexton (via submission) to move into the house. Coach George St. Pierre noted that though Sayers lacked in experience, he was the heaviest hitter of his team and had a good amount of potential. St Pierre also commented that he intended for Sayers to fight the last first round fight (Episode 7), using the time to make Sayers' skills better rounded. Sayers was set against Sako Chivitchian, and lost by unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18). Though Chivitchian won in two rounds, many members of the Team GSP and viewers of the show felt that there should have been a third round. Opposing coach Josh Koscheck was shown telling Chivitchian that there would be a third round. It was shown that Chivitchian had grabbed the fence multiple times, but the referee did not penalize him with the usual point loss. Teammate Michael Johnson observed that had Chivitchian not grabbed the fence, Sayers would have had a take down and probably would have won the match. Many participants and coaches stated that they were surprised by Sayers' strong performance and expected him to take a wild card spot; St. Pierre was shown telling Sayers that he would fight for him.
On the same episode, controversy surrounded the wild card picks on the show when Marc Stevens was chosen for a spot despite Sayers' strong performance in his loss to Chivitchian. Prior to Sayers' match, Stevens quickly lost his match against Cody McKenzie in 17 seconds via submission to guillotine. It was stated by UFC President Dana White that Stevens was chosen because he had more potential and skill than he had been able to show. Many participants on the show, as well as viewers, felt that White had backtracked on his previous comments that he wanted to see them "fight their hearts out," in which case Sayers would have been an obvious pick. In an interview, Team GSP's Kyle Watson commented that "the criteria changed to the best chance to win over who fought hard." Coincidentally, Stevens went on to lose to fellow Team Koscheck member Aaron Wilkinson in the second round via submission to guillotine. For the rest of the season, Sayers mostly seen prepping Watson several times for his matches against Wilkinson and Jonathan Brookins.
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 11 matches | 9 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 1 | 0 |
| By submission | 8 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 2 |
| Draws | 0 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 9-2 | Andrew Urban | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Crowbar MMA - Rumble at the Greater Grand Forks Fair | June 25, 2011 | 1 | 2:04 | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States | |
| Loss | 8-2 | Marcus Levesseur | Decision (unanimous) | Seconds Out/Vivid MMA - Showdown at the Sheraton 1 | February 4, 2011 | 3 | 5:00 | Bloomington, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 8-1 | Wayne Hajicek | Submission (punches) | Crowbar MMA - Winter Brawl | December 10, 2010 | 2 | 2:15 | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States | |
| Loss | 7-1 | Indalecio Tat Romero | Decision (split) | Max Fights 8 - Elimination | January 23, 2010 | 5 | 5:00 | Fargo, North Dakota, United States | Championship Fight |
| Win | 7-0 | Tom Van Kley | Submission (guillotine choke) | Max Fights 7 - Proving Ground | November 14, 2009 | 1 | 2:27 | Fargo, North Dakota, United States | Championship Fight - Light Heavyweight |
| Win | 6-0 | Terence Joseph Medrud | Submission (keylock) | MF 6 - Max Fights 6 | August 29, 2009 | 1 | 2:55 | Fargo, North Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 5-0 | Dominick Oliver | Submission (rear-naked choke) | MF 5 - Max Fights 5 | May 30, 2009 | 1 | 3:18 | Fargo, North Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 4-0 | Shane DeZee | Submission (guillotine choke) | EB - Beatdown at 4 Bears 4 | March 21, 2009 | 1 | 1:12 | New Town, North Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 3-0 | James Miltenberger | TKO (punches) | EB - Beatdown at 4 Bears 3 | October 11, 2008 | 1 | 3:09 | New Town, North Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 2-0 | Travis McCullough | Submission (rear naked choke) | EB - Beatdown at 4 Bears 2 | May 10, 2008 | 1 | 2:39 | New Town, North Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 1-0 | Nick Thiele | Submission (rear naked choke) | MF 3-Max Fights 3 | April 26, 2008 | 2 | 1:38 | Fargo, North Dakota, United States |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Lose | 1-1 | Sako Chivitchian | Decision (Unanimous) | The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck | 2 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Preliminary bout | |
| Win | 1-0 | Ariel Sexton | Submission (Standing Rear-Naked Choke) | The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck | 2 | Las Vegas, Nevada | Elimination bout |
http://www.ultimatefighter.com/fighter/dane-sayers http://www.facebook.com/MMA.RedHorse
Professional MMA record for Dane Sayers from Sherdog
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