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Mark Godbeer (born 22 November 1983) is an English bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor from 2009 until 2018, he competed for the UFC, Bellator MMA, Absolute Championship Akhmat, and BAMMA. He is a former BAMMA heavyweight champion. In bare-knuckle boxing, he is a former Valor heavyweight champion, and a BKB British heavyweight champion.

Early life

Starting training in MMA relatively late at the age of 25, Godbeer originally ran his own plastering business before focusing on mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Godbeer made his professional MMA debut on 7 August 2009 with a TKO victory over Sam Hooker. While fighting for numerous regional promotions, he amassed a record of 7–1 with all victories coming by way of knockout or submission. Following this, he was signed by BAMMA in 2012 to compete in their heavyweight division.

BAMMA and Bellator MMA

Between March 2012 and May 2016, Godbeer would remain undefeated in the BAMMA cage. During this time, he also signed on with Bellator MMA and would make a single appearance for the promotion, facing notable heavyweight Cheick Kongo on 4 October 2013 at Bellator 102. Following that loss, Godbeer would claim three straight victories in BAMMA, including winning the world heavyweight title against Paul Taylor on 13 June 2015. During this run he would announce a brief retirement from MMA due to injury, but ended that retirement in May 2016 to defend the BAMMA heavyweight title.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Godbeer signed with the UFC in September 2016.

He made his promotional debut on 19 November 2016 against Justin Ledet at UFC Fight Night 99. He would lose the bout via submission in the first round.

Godbeer was expected to face Todd Duffee on 4 March 2017, at UFC 209. However, Duffee pulled out of the fight in mid-February for undisclosed reasons. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Daniel Spitz. Godbeer got his first ufc win under coach Brian Martin Gallacher and the Scottish hit squad team by unanimous decision.

Godbeer was expected to face Walt Harris on 7 October 2017 at UFC 216 before a fight-day injury to Derrick Lewis took him out of his scheduled fight with Fabricio Werdum. As a result, Harris was moved on to face Werdum, and Godbeer was pulled from the event.

The bout with Harris was rescheduled for 4 November 2017 at UFC 217. Godbeer won the fight via disqualification after Harris hit Godbeer with a head kick following the referee called a time out due to a groin strike.

Godbeer was expected to face promotional newcomer Dmitry Poberezhets on 17 March 2018 at UFC Fight Night 127. However, it was announced on 25 January 2018 Poberezhets was injured and he was replaced by Dmitriy Sosnovskiy. Godbeer lost the fight via submission in the second round.

Godbeer was briefly scheduled to face Luis Henrique in his return to light heavyweight division on 22 September 2018 at UFC Fight Night 137. However, Godbeer pulled out of the fight in early August, citing injury, and was replaced by promotional newcomer Ryan Spann. Godbeer announced his retirement on 25 September 2018 .

Bare-knuckle boxing

Valor Bare Knuckle

Mark Godbeer, while retired from MMA, transitioned over to bare-knuckle boxing and entered Ken Shamrock's newly founded Valor Bare Knuckle for its debut event, VBK: 1. Godbeer knocked out former fellow UFC, Bellator, & BAMMA veteran Jack "The Outlaw" May. Goddbeer knocked May out in less than a minute. He then faced current Road FC Open-weight Champion Mighty Mo in the main event for the tournament championship. Godbeer defeated Mo when after a series of punches Mo was knocked down and unable to get up in time for the 10 count, winning the VBK tournament.

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship

On September 5, 2020, it was announced that Godbeer had signed with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.

Godbeer was scheduled to face Sam Shewmaker at BKFC 15 on December 11, 2020. However, after testing positive for COVID-19, Godbeer withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Bobo O'Bannon. He was then scheduled to face Mick Terrill at BKFC 17 on April 30, 2021. However, Godbeer withdrew from the fight due to unknown reasons.

BYB Extreme

Mark Godbeer was set to face Josh Burns for the Police Gazette World Diamond super heavyweight belt at BYB 9 on March 12, 2022. However, Godbeer withdrew due to unknown reasons.

Gromda

In 2022, it was announced that Godbeer had signed with Polish bare-knuckle promotion Gromda. He made his debut on June 10, 2022 against Bartłomiej Domalik for the Gromda International Openweight Championship, losing by second-round TKO.

Return to Valor Bare Knuckle

Godbeer was scheduled to face Lavar Johnson in his return to Valor Bare Knuckle at Valor Bare Knuckle 2 on October 27, 2023. However, Godbeer withdrew for personal reasons.

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts

• BAMMA
  • BAMMA World Heavyweight Champion (One time)
  • BAMMA British Heavyweight Champion (One time)

Bare-knuckle boxing

• Valor Bare Knuckle
  • Valor Heavyweight Tournament Champion (One time)
• BKB
  • BKB British Heavyweight Champion (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

Bare-knuckle boxing record

See also

• List of current UFC fighters
• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of male kickboxers

References

1. "Mark Godbeer Official UFC Profile". ufc.com. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
2. "BAMMA Sign Betran, Kee And Godbeer". thefightlounge.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
3. "BAMMA HW Champion Mark Godbeer retires from MMA following latest injury". mmamad.com. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
4. "Marc Diakiese KOs Kane Mousah in just 36 seconds to win Lonsdale title at BAMMA 25". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
5. "BAMMA Heavyweight Champion Mark Godbeer Signs with UFC". Flocombat.com. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
6. Staff (29 September 2016). "UFC Fight 99 adds Mark Godbeer vs. Justin Ledet to lineup in Belfast". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
7. Dann Stupp (19 November 2016). "UFC Fight Night 99 results: Justin Ledet swarms, taps Mark Godbeer in first". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
8. Guilherme Cruz (3 January 2016). "Todd Duffee returns against Mark Godbeer at UFC 209". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
9. Staff (16 February 2017). "Mark Godbeer says opponent Todd Duffee out of UFC 209 matchup". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
10. Dave Doyle (17 February 2017). "Daniel Spitz replaces Todd Duffee at UFC 209". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
11. Simon Samano (4 March 2017). "UFC 209 results: Mark Godbeer has the gas to outlast Daniel Spitz for unanimous decision win". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
12. Mike Sloan (2 August 2017). "UFC 216 bolstered with several bouts". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
13. John Morgan and Simon Samano (7 October 2017). "Derrick Lewis injured, Fabricio Werdum now faces Walt Harris last minute at UFC 216". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
14. Jim Edwards (9 October 2017). "Mark Godbeer and Walt Harris reschedule bout at UFC 217". mmauno.com. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
15. "UFC 217 results: Mark Godbeer takes kick to the face – and DQ win over Walt Harris". MMAjunkie. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
16. Dale Jordan (7 December 2017). "Mark Godbeer vs Dmitry Poberezhets added to UFC Fight Night 127". mmamad.com. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
17. DNA, MMA (25 January 2018). "Mark Godbeer krijgt een andere Dmitry tegenover zich tijdens UFC Londen". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
18. John Morgan (17 March 2018). "UFC Fight Night 127 results: Dmitriy Sosnovskiy stays perfect, taps out Mark Godbeer". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
19. Guilherme Cruz (25 June 2018). "Mark Godbeer and Luis Henrique move down to light heavyweight, fight at UFC Sao Paulo".
20. Camilo Pinheiro Machado, Evelyn Rodrigues and Marcelo Barone (3 August 2018). "Mark Godbeer suffers injury, and KLB faces Ryan Spann at UFC Sao Paulo" (in Portuguese). sportv.globo.com. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
21. "Four-fight UFC veteran Mark Godbeer announces MMA retirement". mmajunkie.com. 25 September 2018.
22. "Valor BK 1 Results - MMA Sucka".
23. "Welcome to BKFC Mark Godbeer!". Facebook. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
24. "Due to a positive COVID test result, Mark Godbeer is out of BKFC 14. Undefeated BKFC heavyweight Bobo O'Bannon has stepped up to face Sam Shewmaker in the main-event!". Instagram. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
25. "BKFC 17: Top 5 Fighters to Watch". MMA Sucka. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
26. "Mark Godbeer vs. Josh Burns Announced as BYB 9 Main Event". My MMA News. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
27. "Mistrz świata walk na gołe pięści oraz były zawodnik UFC Mark "THE HAND OF" Godbeer wchodzi do gry!". gromda.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
28. "Bartłomiej Domalik vs. Mark Godbeer". Tapology. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
29. "Travis Wiuff Replaces Mark Godbeer In VBK2 Main Event!". Morningstar. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
30. "Gromda 9 Results". 10 June 2022.
31. "Valor Bare Knuckle 1 Results - VBK 1 - Heavyweight tournament". 21 September 2019.
32. "Valor Bare Knuckle 1 Results - VBK 1 - Heavyweight tournament". 21 September 2019.

External links

• Official UFC Profile
• Professional MMA record for Mark Godbeer from Sherdog

• Living people
• 1983 births
• English male mixed martial artists
• Heavyweight mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing
• Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters
• Sportspeople from Taunton
• English bare-knuckle boxers
• 21st-century English sportsmen