This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Don Frye Turns 51
Don Frye exemplified toughness, with his bushy mustache, gruff voice and genuine mean streak. “The Predator” will celebrate his 51st birthday on Nov. 23.
Frye wrestled collegiately at Arizona State University and Oklahoma State University before transitioning to mixed martial arts. The Sierra Vista, Arizona, native made his professional debut at UFC 8 on Feb. 19, 1996 and delivered an eight-second knockout against Thomas Ramirez. It was at the time the fastest knockout in Ultimate Fighting Championship history. Frye registered 15 wins in his first 16 bouts -- only Mark Coleman defeated him -- and won two UFC tournaments, besting Gary Goodridge (twice), David Abbott and Ken Shamrock along the way. He later competed in Pride Fighting Championships, and at Pride 21 on June 23, 2002, Frye engaged in one of the most memorable and talked-about fights of all-time. For more than six minutes, he slugged it out with Yoshihiro Takayama, emerging victorious in a mesmerizing war of attrition.
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Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of November:
NOV. 1
Larry Ray (39)Manabu Inoue (38)
Will Dicke (31)
NOV. 2
Jerry Bohlander (42)Munah Holland (42)
Cub Swanson (33)
NOV. 3
Anthony Ruiz (39)Mackens Semerzier (36)
Gasan Umalatov (34)
Darrell Montague (29)
Eric Cronkhite (22)
NOV. 4
Kenji Osawa (40)Rustam Khabilov (30)
J.C. Cottrell (27)
NOV. 5
Tamdan McCrory (30)Andrew Huffman (27)
Amir Khan (22)
NOV. 6
Demian Maia (39)Isaiah Chapman (27)
Chase Sherman (27)
NOV. 7
Curtis Stout (43)Ivan Jorge (36)
Eric Albright (30)
Veta Arteaga (29)
NOV. 8
Cameron Diffley (32)Thiago Tavares (32)
Makwan Amirkhani (28)
NOV. 9
Mike Russow (40)Sean Salmon (39)
Andre Winner (35)
Marcin Tybura (31)
NOV. 10
Josh Barnett (39)Katsuaki Furuki (36)
Francis Carmont (35)
David Michaud (28)
NOV. 11
Leandro Silva (31)Lucas Martins (28)
Diego Rivas (25)
NOV. 12
Aaron Brink (42)Lee Murray (39)
Rudy Bears (38)
Thiago Silva (34)
Jorge Masvidal (32)
Arianny Celeste (31)
Emmanuel Rivera (30)
NOV. 13
John Hosman (36)Jared Hess (33)
Abubakar Nurmagomedov (27)
NOV. 14
Stephen Bass (34)Justin Gaethje (28)
Shannon Wiratchai (28)
NOV. 15
Dylan Andrews (37)Lisa Ellis (34)
Josh Shockley (27)
NOV. 16
Delson Heleno (39)Patrick Cummins (36)
Chris Jones (35)
Benson Henderson (33)
Nicolas Dalby (32)
Tatsumitsu Wada (28)
Yusuke Kasuya (27)
NOV. 17
Emi Fujino (36)Daniel Stittgen (36)
Dong Hyun Kim (35)
Ildemar Alcantara (34)
NOV. 18
Masanori Kanehara (34)DeAnna Bennett (32)
John Teixeira da Conceicao (30)
NOV. 19
Gerald Harris (37)Taro Kusano (33)
Josh Stansbury (32)
Ian Entwistle (30)
Erik Perez (27)
NOV. 20
Rickson Gracie (58)Gan McGee (40)
Chris Camozzi (30)
Kevin Pearson (30)
Delaney Owen (24)
NOV. 21
Mikhail Ilyukhin (50)Rodney Wallace (35)
Marat Gafurov (32)
Karl Amoussou (31)
Clint Hester (30)
Thiago Santos (30)
Jorge Lopez (28)
NOV. 22
Edilberto de Oliveira (34)Lukasz Klinger (33)
Daniel Weichel (32)
NOV. 23
Don Frye (51)Charles Bennett (37)
Jason Saggo (31)
NOV. 24
Mike Goldberg (52)Mitch Clarke (31)
Josh Hill (30)
NOV. 25
Rob Smith (45)Mauricio Rua (35)
Alan Jouban (34)
NOV. 26
Ediane Gomes (36)Derek Boyle (32)
Jose Rodriguez (31)
Ruslan Magomedov (30)
NOV. 27
Ryan Jimmo (1981-2016)Satoru Sayama (59)
Homer Moore (45)
Brian Ebersole (36)
E.J. Brooks (31)
Lukasz Sajewski (26)
Vicente Luque (25)
NOV. 28
Tony Lopez (43)Shane Howell (33)
Patrick Walsh (28)
NOV. 29
Ricardo Almeida (40)Costas Philippou (37)
Michal Fijalka (33)
James Hammortree (33)
Jamie Yager (33)
Max Griffin (31)
Adrian Yanez (23)
NOV. 30
Jutaro Nakao (46)Josh Koscheck (39)
Luke Caudillo (35)
Diego Nunes (34)
Klayton Mai (30)
Ivan Cole (26)
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