Lyle Beerbohm

Lyle Beerbohm (born February 5, 1979) is an American professional mixed martial artist who has fought for Strikeforce, the World Series of Fighting, EliteXC, and King of the Cage.

Background

Beerbohm, who was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, was an accomplished wrestler. He attended John R. Rogers High School where he became the first ever freshman to qualify for the state tournament before later transferring to Mead High School, placing sixth at 141 pounds in his junior season. Beerbohm was academically ineligible for part of his senior season, being .1 GPA points away from the 2.0 mark, but went undefeated. It was also during his senior year when Beerbohm began using methamphetamine, which also led to a gambling addiction, and he dropped out before subsequently spending a year at Washington State Penitentiary in addition to several other stints in jail for drug-related crimes. Beerbohm, who was also involved in many street fights, cites a viewing of The Ultimate Fighter while incarcerated for piquing his interest in mixed martial arts. He has said in multiple interviews that his career in mixed martial arts started the day he left prison and credits the sport with saving his life, saying "MMA literally saved my life. When I got out prison, I wasn't cured. I traded one addiction for the other and MMA became my new meth."^[1][2][3]

Mixed martial arts career

On the day of his release, Beerbohm had his father stop at a Brazilian jiu-jitsu training center in Spokane, Washington.^[1] Beerbohm later had his first amateur MMA bout after a week of training. As an amateur, he went undefeated with a record of 10–0. Lyle only spent 23 months learning and training in MMA before going pro.^[1]

Beerbohm made his professional debut in April 2007 and amassed an undefeated record of 6–0 before signing with EliteXC in 2008. He then went undefeated 2–0 in the organization before it was dissolved.

Following the closing of EliteXC, Beerbohm fought for both King of the Cage and Strikeforce. In October 2009, he signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce.^[4] He scored the biggest win of his career in May 2010 over heralded BJJ practitioner Vitor Ribeiro by split decision on the Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery card. On February 18, 2011, Beerbohm lost the first fight of his career via unanimous decision to MMA veteran Pat Healy at Strikeforce Challengers: Beerbohm vs. Healy.

Beerbohm quickly returned to action and faced Shinya Aoki on April 9, 2011, at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley.^[5] He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

Lyle defeated former PRIDE and UFC fighter Marcus Aurélio in his ShoFight debut after signing a one fight contract with the promotion.

In September 2012 Beerbohm signed a contract with the Las Vegas based promotion World Series of Fighting, the owner of WSOF, K-1 kickboxing legend Ray Sefo, personally met with Lyle to secure the multi fight contract in his home state of Washington. Lyle was set to take on UFC vet Jacob Volkmann at WSOF 3 on June 14th. He lost via unanimous decision.

Television and film

Beerbohm stars in Fight Life, an award-winning documentary on the sport of MMA. The film documents his life inside and outside the cage from 2008-2012, the film is directed by James Z. Feng and released in 2013.^[6]

Personal life

Beerbohm is engaged and has two children. Beerbohm received his nickname, "Fancy Pants" due to the unusual multi-colored and form-fitting shorts that he wears during his fights. They are personally made by his mother.^{[7] [8]}

Mixed martial arts record

^[11]

Entrance music

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for Lyle Beerbohm from Sherdog