Introduction
Zach Light (born February 6, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist, who fights at Welterweight. He has fought in a number of organizations including the Ultimate Fighting Championship, World Extreme Cagefighting and Strikeforce.
Biography
Light was an All-American freestyle wrestler in high school and college. After college, he worked construction and frequently got into bar fights. He then moved to California after a judge told him that he would go to prison for two years if he continued this lifestyle. He was inspired to take up mixed martial arts after seeing Tito Ortiz fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and he went on to win his first two fights before being given the chance to fight in the UFC himself. He took on Pete Spratt at UFC 37.5 and lost via submission in the first round. This would be his only UFC fight, and the first in a three-fight losing streak; he was defeated by Tony Fryklund and Jeremy Jackson later that year. In 2003, he beat Beto Ibarra before taking a 3-year hiatus from the sport.
He returned in 2006, winning against Nick Willert before being defeated by Jake Ellenberger in BodogFIGHT in his next bout. Light then notched up two wins either side of a submission loss to Toby Imada before a five-fight losing streak brought his record to 6-10. Among the fighters who beat him during this period were Tyron Woodley and War Machine.
Light was previously the wrestling coach at the Wolfslair MMA Academy in Liverpool, England where he has trained the likes of Michael Bisping, Quinton Jackson and Cheick Kongo until 2009.
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 20 matches | 9 wins | 11 losses |
| By knockout | 2 | 3 |
| By submission | 4 | 8 |
| By decision | 3 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 9–11 | Aleksey Shapovalov | Submission (rear-naked choke) | League S-70 Russia vs. Brazil | 000000002011-08-05-0000August 5, 2011 | 1 | 1:45 | Sochi, Russia | |
| Win | 9–10 | Maurice Speirs | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Extreme Challenge 187: Battle at the Ballpark | 000000002011-07-23-0000July 23, 2011 | 1 | 3:02 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States | |
| Win | 8–10 | Vic Hall | Submission (armbar) | Extreme Challenge 183 | 000000002011-01-29-0000January 29, 2011 | 1 | 1:30 | Bettendorf, Iowa, United States | |
| Win | 7–10 | Andre Kase | Decision (unanimous) | RCC 12-Hostile Takeover | 000000002010-07-24-0000July 24, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States | |
| Loss | 6–10 | War Machine | Submission (rear-naked choke) | BAMMA 3 | 000000002010-05-15-0000May 15, 2010 | 1 | 1:09 | Birmingham, England | |
| Loss | 6–9 | Tyron Woodley | Submission (armbar) | Strikeforce Challengers: Kennedy vs. Cummings | 000000002009-09-25-0000September 25, 2009 | 2 | 3:38 | Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States | |
| Loss | 6–8 | Kajan Johnson | KO (punches) | Extreme Fighting Challenge 6: Home Coming | 000000002008-10-11-0000October 11, 2008 | 1 | 2:47 | Prince George, British Columbia, Canada | |
| Loss | 6–7 | Joe Camacho | Submission (verbal) | Sparstar Promotions: Battle of the Rising Stars | 000000002007-06-08-0000June 8, 2007 | 1 | 3:44 | Montebello, California, United States | |
| Loss | 6–6 | Thomas Schulte | Submission (armbar) | Ultimate Warrior Challenge 3: Invasion | 000000002008-04-26-0000April 26, 2008 | 1 | 1:20 | Fairfax, Virginia, United States | |
| Win | 6–5 | Nino Nino | Submission (armbar) | Platinum Fighting Productions: Ring of Fire | 000000002007-12-09-0000December 9, 2007 | 1 | N/A | Quezon City, Philippines | |
| Loss | 5–5 | Toby Imada | Submission (armbar) | Total Combat 21 | 000000002007-06-08-0000June 8, 2007 | 1 | 2:35 | San Diego, California, United States | |
| Win | 5–4 | Mario Rivera | Decision (unanimous) | Bring It On - Under Destruction | 000000002007-04-28-0000April 28, 2007 | 1 | 1:57 | Oxnard, California, United States | |
| Loss | 4–4 | Jake Ellenberger | TKO (punches) | bodogFight | 000000002007-02-16-0000February 16, 2007 | 1 | 3:51 | Costa Rica | |
| Win | 4–3 | Nick Willert | TKO (punches) | Invincible: Fist of Fury II | 000000002006-11-18-0000November 18, 2006 | 2 | 2:29 | Ontario, California, United States | |
| Win | 3–3 | Beto Ibarra | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Pit-Fighting Championship | 000000002003-07-16-0000July 16, 2003 | 1 | N/A | California, United States | |
| Loss | 2–3 | Jeremy Jackson | TKO (punches) | Ultimate Athlete 4: King of the Mountain | 000000002002-09-28-0000September 28, 2002 | 2 | 0:30 | Auberry, California, United States | |
| Loss | 2–2 | Tony Fryklund | Submission (kimura) | WEC 4 | 000000002002-08-31-0000August 31, 2002 | 1 | 4:06 | Uncasville, Connecticut, United States | |
| Loss | 2–1 | Pete Spratt | Submission (armbar) | UFC 37.5 | 000000002002-06-22-0000June 22, 2002 | 1 | 2:25 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 2–0 | Royden Demotta | Decision (majority) | SuperBrawl 23 | 000000002002-03-09-0000March 9, 2002 | 2 | 5:00 | Honolulu, Hawaii, United States | |
| Win | 1–0 | Adam Copenhaver | TKO (punches) | Iowa Challenge 4 | 000000002002-03-02-0000March 2, 2002 | 1 | 7:29 | Iowa, United States |