This is the 20th of a 50 part series documenting the history and the current state of MMA for each of the 50 states in the United States of America. See the whole series to date here. Each part will chronicle the history of MMA as well as several notable fighters and camps in each state. This is the history of Maryland MMA. Be sure to check out the previous part on Maine.
History of Maryland MMA
Maryland, the seventh state to join the Union, has yet to really make its mark on the MMA world. The state has only hosted one major organizational event but has contributed a few solid fighters. The state is home to a very successful regional organization though.
Maryland State Athletic Commission
The Maryland State Athletic Commission is an eight-member board who is responsible for sanctioning all MMA events within the state. The Maryland State Athletic Commission has been quite in its history on the MMA front but had quite the ordeal to handle in the boxing world in 2017. The commission had to suspend a cornerman for his actions after a bout. The incident occurred after the conclusion of the interim super middleweight champion Andre Dirrell and Jose Uzcategui on May 20, 2017. Leon Lawson Jr, trainer and uncle of Dirrell, was indefinitely suspended for punching Uzcategui in the face after the bout was called to an end. For his actions, Lawson was actually wanted by local authorities.
Major Organizational Visits to Maryland
Bellator has yet to make an appearance in The Old Line State. The sport’s biggest organization, UFC, has made one appearance. A very successful regional organization, Shogun Fights, holds many events in Maryland. Their owner was also instrumental in legalizing MMA in Maryland.
UFC Makes a Visit
The sole UFC event to visit Maryland was UFC 172: Jones vs. Teixeira. The 13,000 plus crowd on hand in the Baltimore Arena witnessed Jon “Bones” Jones defend his light heavyweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Glover Teixeira. Luke Rockhold also appeared on the card pulling off an impressive kimura victory on Tim Boetsch. Anthony Johnson defeated Phil Davis by decision in the co-main event. Arguably the highlight of the night came in the lone Fight Pass fight with Chris Beal winning with an epic flying knee knockout against Patrick Williams.
Shogun Fights
Shogun Fights hold events at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore. The first event held by the organization was on October 24, 2009. Currently, Shogun Fights just held Shogun Fights 19 in June 2018. Robert Watley, who is currently competing in this season’s PFL, has competed on five Shogun Fights cards in his career.
John Rallo is the creator of Shogun Fights. The Renzo Gracie black belt was also very instrumental in helping the state work toward legalizing MMA. Rallo has continued to build a staple of amazing talent to provide an amazing show after show in the Maryland area. Shogun Fights 8 is particularly important as it hosted the first sanctioned women’s MMA bout within the state. The event took place on April 13, 2013. Gabrielle Holloway and Rosanna Garcia competed in the co-main event spot with Holloway taking the unanimous decision win.
Fighters and Camps In/From Maryland
One of the most popular women’s MMA fighters among fans is Angela “Overkill” Hill. Hill is from Clinton, Maryland but trains with Alliance MMA in California. After a rough initial run in the UFC, Hill transitioned to Invicta FC going 4-0 and winning the Invicta FC strawweight title along the way. Since her return to the UFC, Hill is 2-2 but is coming off of a win against Maryna Moroz at UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Stephens.
The Hulk of D.C.
Mike “The Hulk” Easton is another Alliance MMA fighter who is from Maryland. Though he was born in Washington DC, for the sake of the series we will consider DC apart of Maryland. Maryland donated land in the late 1700’s for the area DC now sits on. The Lloyd Irvin BJJ Blackbelt was a seven-time veteran of the UFC. He won a Fight of the Night award alongside Brad Pickett in his split decision loss. Easton has most recently competed for the aforementioned Shogun Fights based in Maryland.
Team Lloyd Irvin
Irvin is a fourth degree BJJ black belt, who runs arguably the most successful fight team in Maryland. Irvin has had a who’s who from the grappling world attend his school at one time or another. Some of those names include Keenan Cornelius, Brandon Vera, Phil Davis, Dominick Cruz, JT Torres, and Ryan Hall to name a few. Events in the past few years have caused many fighters to cut ties with Irvin.
Part 21 of the 50 states series will be the state of Massachusetts. Check back with MMASucka to keep up with the series.
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