Daniel "Dan" DeWayne Severn (born June 8, 1958) is a retired American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, notable for his success in the early years of Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments. Severn has fought and wrestled for many mixed martial arts and professional wrestling promotions, including King of the Cage, PRIDE FC, Cage Rage, WEC, RINGS, MFC, the IFC and the World Wrestling Federation. He holds a professional MMA Record of 101–19–7 and is a UFC Hall of Famer and a former UFC Superfight Champion.
In professional wrestling Severn is a two-time world champion, having won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship twice. As of January 2013, at age 54+, Severn still competes in professional wrestling.
In amateur wrestling, Severn was an All American at Arizona State University and a U.S. Olympic Team alternate.
Mixed martial arts
In 1994, Severn started competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championships. He was the first world-class wrestler to enter the UFC, foreshadowing the period of dominance by wrestlers such as Don Frye in UFC 8 and 9 and Mark Coleman in UFC 10 and 11. Severn entered the UFC in 1994 at UFC 4: Revenge of the Warriors, where he impressed many UFC fans by executing two impressive back suplexs on Anthony Macias. In the finals of UFC 4, Severn was defeated by Royce Gracie who secured a triangle choke for the victory. The submission loss came after Severn was in Gracie's guard for almost 15 minutes.He soon returned to mixed martial arts competition, defeating several opponents to capture the tournament championship at UFC 5: Return of the Beast. Severn's first fight was with Russian Oleg Taktarov at UFC 5. He won by TKO after the referee stopped the fight due to a cut.
After winning UFC 5, Severn was matched up with Ken Shamrock at UFC 6 to determine the first UFC Superfight Champion, but was defeated by Shamrock early in the fight via submission.
Severn then entered the UFC's Ultimate Ultimate 1995, which at the time was the toughest and most competitive tournament in UFC history, consisting of past UFC tournament champions and runner ups. Severn defeated Paul Varelans, David "Tank" Abbott, and UFC 6 Tournament Champion Oleg Taktarov all in the same night to capture the tournament title.
With this win, Severn earned a rematch and title shot against then current UFC Champion Ken Shamrock for the UFC Superfight Championship. Severn won a split decision in what most fans regard as one of the worst fights in MMA history, mainly due to legal issues surrounding the event. With the win, Severn captured his third title for the promotion.
Severn managed his friend and fellow UFC Champion Don Frye during UFC 8. In 1999, Severn founded a new mixed martial arts promotion intended to provide a platform for amateur fighters, called The Danger Zone, in which Severn has also fought. Severn has also trained and became a mentor to notable mixed martial artists including former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans, The Ultimate Fighter competitor Luke Zachrich, Sean Sherk, and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.[citation needed]
Severn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame at UFC 52.
Severn continued his MMA career on 29 January 2011 by racking up his 97th, and 8th straight, victory in a win over Scott Fraser. In doing so he won the Elite 1 Heavyweight championship. The end came at 4:59 of Round 2 as Fraser tapped to Severn's arm triangle which he has used to secure his last three victories. The event took place at the Casino New Brunswick in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.
He successfully defeated Cal Worsham again, this time via unanimous decision in the main event of Legends Collide 2 on 20 February 2011. Held under the long running Gladiator Challenge promotion in San Jacinto, California, Severn picked up his 9th straight win to improve his record to 98-16-7.
Severn earned his 100th career victory on April 16, 2011 with a submission victory over Aaron Garcia at KOTC: Texas.