Charles Williams

Charles Nathaniel Williams (born April 17, 1989), more commonly known as Chris Williams, and was nicknamed "Hammer" (formerly "The Davenport Nate"), was American Professional Motocross racer, racing from since 2013, former Amateur boxer and mixed martial artist from 1995 to 2014 again from 2015 to 2016 and made a three-fights comebacks in 2018 and since in 2019, and currently with perfect undefeated record of 38–0. He is known for his fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner.

He is also known as a highly successful trainer and coach, having founded Williams Fighting Systems. This camp is considered one of the most successful in MMA history and has produced several world champions. On July 6, 2014, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Williams began his professional motocross career in 2013 (at age 26). In his debut racing match, he defeated John Josephs at the 2013 FIM Motocross Championship. He than won the next four races until he lost to Pieter St-Georges. The following year in 2016, Williams' comeback after defeating Paul von Nurnberg at 2016 AMA Championship and won the championship; he will than lose the championship to Paul Mason Jr.. Williams was than won two victories; Mark S. Calaway at the 2017 Rivalry of Championships in Houston, Texas and Maxime Desprey at the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship in Villars-sous-Écot, France. Williams recently defeated José Butrón on 27 November 2017. After the loss against Danny W. Ford at X Games Aspen 2018, Williams defeating Jean-Pierre Tortelli (twice), Oscar De La Santa, Ryan Anderson Jr. and Justin Parker.

Early life and amateur boxing career
Williams was born Charles Nathaniel Williams on April 17, 1989 in Davenport, Iowa. His father was former military veteran Daniel John Williams and his mother Mary June-Williams was an bartender. He graduated from Davenport High School, later receiving his college degree in business from Iowa University.

Before Williams' career in MMA, he tried boxing with straight 4 wins in Boxing. He begin boxing at age of 20. His made his professional debut against Tunney Hunsaker on October 29, 2007 and won via Unanimous decision in the six round. The following year, Williams than defeated Luís Arias on December 27, 2008 in Technical knockout on the fourth round. Williams confirmed that he will fight against Seth Francis on January 17, 2008, but he won by Technical knockout in the third round. He returned by fight against Jack Morrison on Feburary 7, 2009, but Williams defeated Morrison in the first (eight) round by knockout.

Williams returned to fight in the MMA to become one of the successful fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship from 2009 to 2017. Recently, Williams retired after winning a comeback at UFC Fight Night 124 against John Pickle. After his retirement from MMA, he return to professional motocross and maybe return to amateur boxing for the first time in 8 years. Finally, Williams making his amateur boxing return and was scheduled for boxing match on 3rd of October, four days after his motocross race match on September 30th. Williams will be having a match with undefeated Japanese amateur boxer Maniwa Tsuruki (11–0–0; 6 by KO) at Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, which Williams defeated Tsuruki by Technical knockout in the seventh round.

On September 2, 2018, Williams' renewed his boxing license and agreed to have and 2-3 matches per month (or once it depends of his racing matches). A month later on November 2nd, Williams fought against Mexican Oscar Duarte at the GIECO Music Stage in Aspen, Colorado. In front of 150,000 people, the match went well for both men but it ends with an split draw. Week later, Williams vs. Duarte re-match planning to rumor and it's not that long that rumors last; The APA Promotions announced that the re-match confirmed for November 14th fight, while Williams announced that he will retired from amateur boxing after the bout which he wanted to contunine his pro motocross career and that he will not going to be professional.

On November 5, Williams announced that his amateur boxing career that come to an end, and that his final boxing match were Oscar Duarte in an re-match for November 14 fight, which it were pervious fight will held on December 3rd, but it pushed backwards. During the bout, Williams defeated Duarte in an Tactical knockout in the fourth round. After the fight, Williams announced his retirement saying, "I've undefeated in MMA, 30 wins and 0 losses, and now I've been retire undefeated in amateur boxing. I hope my opponent and congrats for his success in boxing."

Williams retired and finished his career, undefeated with 7 fights, all of them won; 5 by KO.

Bettendorf Fights
Williams started his MMA training at 18. Before this, Williams trained at Tarpein's Dojo with Grand Master Nick Tarpein, where he learned much of what he knows about karate, and was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) for the very first time. With Williams's wrestling background, Jiu-Jitsu came naturally to him. When Miletich coupled BJJ with his strong foundation in boxing/karate, he realized where his fighting career should go; MMA. After learning the foundations of BJJ in Tarpein's Dojo, Miletich decided to branch out and learn BJJ full time. A friend from Chicago got him into a Renzo Gracie seminar. After training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) for a year, the same friend then got him into the Battle of the Masters, an MMA tournament held in Chicago in 1995.

Bellator and ONE Championship
After going 8 fights with no defeats, Williams announced that he will announced his contract at Bellator and he become his debut on Ryan Thomas at Bellator 14, in Chicago, Illinois on April 15, 2010. He on the debut and won the bout against Thomas by technical submission in the first round. Williams and Thomas fought again on May 20 at Bellator 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas. At the bout, Williams won by submission. Williams faced Dan Hornbuckle at Bellator 22 on July 17, in Kansas City, Missouri. Williams won the fight by submission in the third round.

Williams' next fight that he faced the Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good at Bellator 33 in October 21. He won the fight by submission, making his first championship title. Williams' next fight is an non-title defense against Nick Thompson at Bellator 40 on April 9, 2011, in Newkirk, Oklahoma. He won the fight by submission in the second round.

After the fight, Williams announced he will defend his championship, he later soon faced Jay Hieron on October 29, 2011 at Bellator 56, in Kansas City, Kansas. Williams successfully defended his championship and won the fight submission. At Bellator 64, Williams faced Douglas Lima in Windsor, Ontario, Canada on April 6, 2012. Williams also successfully defended his championship by submission.

On January 24, 2013, Williams faced Karl Amoussou at Bellator 86 in Thackerville, Oklahoma, and announced that he will also defended his championship again. At the bout, Williams defeated Amoussou by technical knockout in the second round which doctor stoppage. Williams faced Marcos Ferdinand at Bellator 97 on July 31, 2013. He won the fight by technical knockout in fourth round. After the fight, Williams was relased from Bellator, that Williams' experience was "happy and enjoyable".

Now consecutive 17 wins with no losses, Williams signed with ONE Championship on November 7, 2013. His first fight was his debut at the ONE FC: Honor and Glory, where he faced Jeremy Colbert on May 24, 2014, which he won the fight by submission in the first round. Williams' next fight is challenged Nobutatsu Suzuki, the current ONE Welterweight Champion in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He later captured the championship by technical knockout in fourth round.

He defends the championship, when Williams faced Luis Santos on April 24, 2015 at ONE Championship: Valor of Champions in Pasay, Philippines, which he won the fight by technical knockout in first round. While in Pasay, Philippines, Williams then faced Paul Martin at ONE Championship: Global Warriors, in Pasay City on April 15, 2015, which Williams won the fight by submission. On May 26, 2015, Williams faced Agilan Thani at ONE Championship: Dynasty of Heroes in Kallang, Singapore to defended his championship. He won the fight in the first round by submission. His next title defense was at he faced Zebaztian Kadestam on September 2, 2015 at ONE Championship: Shanghai in Shanghai, China. Williams won the fight by technical knockout in the second round.

Williams' last fight in ONE was at ONE 63: Immortal Pursuit, when he faced Shinya Aoki on November 24, 2015 in Kallang, Singapore, which he announced his last title defense. At the bout, Williams defeated Aoki by technical knockout in first round.

Early fights
Williams agreed to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in an contract, where in his UFC's debut in UFC Fight Night 82 where he defeated Nathan Polk, to improved his record to 26–0. Three fights later Williams fought in UFC 16 and won the first UFC Welterweight tournament.

UFC Welterweight Champion
At UFC 17.5: Ultimate Brazil, Williams defeated Mikey Burnett to become the first UFC Welterweight Champion. In his fifth title defense at UFC 31 he lost to Carlos Newton by submission. This was his first UFC defeat. His next fight was a KO win over Shonie Carter at UFC 32. After this fight, Williams moved up to the Middleweight division. This was partly due to encouragement by UFC management and because his teammate, Matt Hughes, defeated Carlos Newton to win the UFC Welterweight Championship. Williams returned to fight at his new weight at UFC 36, but quickly lost to Matt Lindland. Williams decided to take some time away from professional fighting and recover from numerous chronic injuries. Williams was scheduled to fight Frank Trigg at WFA 3 but pulled out due to injury. He returned in September 2006 to fight Renzo Gracie in an IFL superfight, and submitted to a guillotine choke in the first round. Williams spoke briefly after the fight about re-aggravating his old neck injury before the Gracie fight. Williams's last fight was in December 2008 where he scored a second-round KO over Thomas Denny that was televised on the HDNet network. Williams return to MMA and than fight next three straight wins over Nathan Polk in 2015 at UFC 189, Jim Miller at UFC 196 on March 2016 and UFC 206 on December 2016.

Williams holds a third-degree black belt in Shuri-ryu karate. He has also trained with Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Sergio Monteiro and was awarded his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt by Oswaldo Alves.

Final fight, departure and first retirement
Williams returns to MMA, and will be making a comeback after a year of retirement. His opponent was John Pickle at UFC Fight Night 124 in St. Louis, Missouri on January 14, 2018. On December 5th, Williams announced his final MMA match and preserved his motocross career, at the interview, Williams said, "You know, I love Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), I really do. As an former Professional boxer and currently Professional motocross racer, I'm really looking forward to move forward to have a future in motocross. This will be my last match in MMA and I got a perfect dancing partner [John Pickle] to end my MMA career." At the bout, Williams defeated Pickle, ending his undefeated streak by technical knockout in second round. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night.

After the match both Williams and Pickle hugged in the ring, as Pickle emotional farewell. "You always a great champion." Pickle said. "I hope you have a wonderful retirement and I will be rooting for you in your professional motocross career." Following his victory bout against Pickle, Williams announced his retirement.

Return to Bellator
After his completion with UFC, a possible return of Williams on few weeks of February 2018. On March 4, 2018, Williams confirmed that his comeback for a comeback-fight against Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 200 in London, England in May 25, for the Bellator Middleweight World Championship. After scoring a takedown early, Williams used ground and pound to win the fight via TKO in the first round. Williams became the first fighter to win a world title in both UFC and Bellator MMA.
 * Williams vs. Carvalho

Welterweight
Williams made his first title defense against current Bellator Welterweight Champion Rory MacDonald on September 29, 2018 at Bellator 206. Williams stuffed MacDonald's takedown attempt and delivered ground and pound, eventually winning the fight via technical knockout in round two.
 * Williams vs. MacDonald

Then Williams faced Matt Mitrione in the semi-finals at Bellator 207 on October 12, 2018. He won the fight via unanimous decision. After the fight, a possible fight between Williams and veteran Fedor Emelianenko for the vacant Bellator Heavyweight World Championship in the main event at Bellator 214 on January 26, 2019. It was later confirmed on November 2, 2018.
 * Williams vs. Mitrione

At the bout, Williams claimed the title by winning via knockout just 35 seconds into the first round, thus becoming the first ever simultaneous two-weight champion in Bellator history. The fight had earned, The Fight of the Night. Williams announced his final retirement for good on February 2, 2019, and that he contuning his professional motocross and stated that Williams' experience in Bellator from 2010 to 2013 and from 2018 to 2019 is one of most loved and best friends in MMA career.
 * Williams vs. Emelianenko

Champion and departure

 * Williams vs. MacDonald 2

On the possibility of his final retirement, Williams considered to be into the Middleweight division. But Williams' made his staying into the Welterweight division.

Immediately on March 2, 2019, the day of Williams-Pickle exhibition fight, there's possible re-match between Williams and Rory MacDonald. On April 8, 2019, it been confirmed that MacDonald's will defending his Bellator Welterweight World Championship and the re-match was set on April 27, 2019, at the event of Bellator 220, in San Jose, California.

At the event, Williams defeated MacDonald of just 25 seconds left of the first round by TKO, and Williams won the championship. Two days after the fight, Williams make his departure from Bellator and vacanted the Middleweight title.

Exhibition

 * Williams vs. Pickle 2

After his win over Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 214, Williams announced that he return to the octagon, but this time he will do the exhibition fights from now on. On February 19, 2019 weeks after, Williams announced that he become an free-agent and will due an million-dollar deal and will fight John Pickle in an re-match, which later that day Pickle accepted the exhibition fight. A day later, the fight will took place at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California on March 3, 2019. At the event, Williams defeated Pickle in the second round by knockout, and while rivalry is two to nothing.

The following depature from Bellator, Williams announced that he signed with the Arkansas Fights, even though the exhibition fight betwwen Williams and Pickle in a rematch, that made a trilogy match between the two.

Debut and early fights

 * Williams vs. Pickle 3

Williams is expected to trilogy fight John Pickle on May 25, 2019, at the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and which Williams' first fight in the Arkansas Fights, after he sighed with the company. At the event, Williams defeated Pickle in the first round by knockout. During the fight, Williams, who already been dominating Pickle during their two fights.


 * Williams vs. Vale

On May 30, 2019, five days after the fight, Williams announced that he will be fight Michel Vale for the Arkansas Heavyweight Championship at the Arkansas Fights 63. The date was set for June 12 (which the date was soon to be replaced for June 6th), and place of the bout is at the Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York.

Legacy in Mixed marital arts
Following his departure from the UFC, Williams was one of the most undefeated and the youngest MMA fighter of all time, with 30 wins with no defeats.

Williams has a style that could be described as 'swarming', with fast strikes, leading that his 16 KOs in his fights. He moves forward constantly, giving opponents very little room to land clean strikes, all while utilizing powerful and extremely swift punching combinations. He typically starts with a jab, follows up with a hard straight right, and then adds hooks and uppercuts as the fight progresses. He is strong in the clinch, where he throws long combinations that typically end in a takedown.

If Williams knocks his opponent to the ground during a fight, he often uses grappling skills to maintain a dominant position while he continues to strike from above. He does not usually attempt submissions. All of his wins have either come by striking from punches, or by decision.

Williams has also been praised consistently for his cardiovascular training; he has tremendous endurance that allows him to continue to fight aggressively after his opponents have become exhausted, earning him the nickname 'Hammer' for his striking power and 'The Davenport Nate. Williams's strong cardio also allows him to throw more strikes. As of July 2013, he was ranked Number 1 for the most strikes landed per minute in the UFC, surpassing Cain Velasquez.

Racing career


Williams been ride dirtbike since the age of two, but stopped together to become Boxing and MMA careers and turned professional when he was 26 years old. He had a record of 26-2 as an amateur and currently has a record of 55-1-1 as a professional, with 41 by Grand Prix.

"Many of you know me as a legendary racer, and I'm proud of that," he said. "However, that journey was not always easy. When I was younger, I became a fighter in the MMA because I had to survive. I had nothing. I had no one to depend on except myself. I realized that motocross was something I was good at, and I trained hard so that I could keep myself and my family alive."

Williams made history by being the first boxer ever to win world titles in four classes divisions in the history of the sport, having won multiple major world titles, as well as being the first boxer to win the lineal championship in five different class divisions. Williams is also the first racer in history to win major world titles while being an Mixed martial artist. He is also known for his speed, behind James Stewart Jr. and Danny W. Ford. He become an three-time X Games gold medalist in July 2018, October 2018 and January 2019, and first-time silver medalist against Danny Tucker in January 2018.

He become the Racer of the Year in 2018. He was named Racer of the Decade for the 2017 by the Racing Writers Association of America (EWAA), ONO, and WRO. He is also a three-time Track magazine and BWAA Fighter of the Year, winning both awards in 2014, 2015, and 2018; and the Best Fighter ESPY Award in 2009 and 2011. BoxRec ranks him as the greatest fighter of all time.

Williams was long rated as the best active racer in the world, pound for pound, by most sporting news and boxing websites, including ESPN, Racer X Illustrated, Sporting Life, Yahoo! Sports, About.com, BoxRec, and The Ring, beginning from his climb to lightweight until his losses at 250cc in 2018. He is also the longest reigning top-ten active boxer on The Ring ' s pound for pound list. Over the course of his decorated career, Williams has defeated more than 20 world champions - Antonio López Severino, Matthias Walkner, Dennis Ullrich, Jeremy van Horebeek, Tom Johansson, Eckart Kleinfeld, Kungawo Zuma, Mark S. Calaway, Maxime Desprey, José Butrón, Jean-Pierre Tortelli (twice), Oscar De La Santa, Ryan Anderson Jr., Justin Parker, James Ryan, Adrián Navarro, Jake Nicholls (fourth), Ken De Dycker, Julián José Pérez and Tommy Washington (twice), Rustem Nurbekov, Charles D. Kennedy (twice), Yuta Suzuki and Seth Jones.

Williams has also generated approximately 19.6 grand in pay-per-view buys and $1.2 grand in revenue from his 10 pay-per-view bouts. According to Forbes, he was the second highest paid athlete in the world as of 2015.

On January 26, 2018, after his second defeat to undefeated racer Danny W. Ford, Williams said: "I love this sport and until the passion is gone, I will continue to race for God, my family, my fans and my country."

He continued to race for currently on his 26-winning streak, and won the vacant (Super) OnO Champion title and the vacant 250cc FIM champion title against Agustín Secada Reyes on November 2018, won the 150cc (Super) ONO title against Rustem Nurbekov on May 1, 2019, and won the FIM, lineal MX titles against Charles D. Kennedy on June 2, 2019, and recently won the 85cc (Super) ONO after Williams defeating "The King of Suzuki" Yuta Suzuki on June 11, 2019.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * UFC Welterweight Championship (One time, first)
 * Four successful title defenses
 * UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner
 * UFC Viewer's Choice Award
 * UFC Hall of Fame
 * Sherdog
 * Mixed Martial Arts Hall of Fame
 * '''National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum
 * George Tragos Award
 * '''Resurrection Fighting Alliance & AXS TV
 * Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Professional Motocross
 * 2013 One-on-One Championship (one time, first)
 * 2014 One-on-One Championship (second time, first)
 * 2015 One-on-One Championship (third time, second/first; but loss the championship month later)
 * 2018 One-on-One Championship
 * International Motorcycling Federation (one time, first)
 * The Track (one time, first)
 * Lineal MX championship (one time, first)

Personal life
He met Marisa McCarson in February 2014, and married in 29 August 2017; and have three children, Daniel (born March 11, 2017), Melissa (born February 27, 2018) and Michael (born July 3, 2018). The Williams' moved from Charles' native Iowa to Fort Smith, Arkansas in late 2018; after his retirement from Mixed Martial arts with undefeated record of 30 wins with no losses, above from Khabib Nurmagomedov's record of 27 wins with no losses.

Williams is huge fan of boxing; taking his amateur career in boxing in 2013 (for his record and career; see above...) and fan of Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney and "Sugar" Shane Mosley. He was also an fan of Motocross and Supercross, including Bob Hannah, Chad Reed, Ryan Dungey, Adam Cianciarulo and Danny Ford.

Legacy
Williams have 150cc class (1-2014 1-2015 1-2017) and 250cc (1-2013 4-2014 3-2015 5-2018).