# Matt Ghaffari

Siamak "Matt" Ghaffari (/ɡəˈfɑːri/ gə-FAR-ee; Persian: سیامک غفاری, Persian pronunciation:; born November 11, 1961, in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran) is an Iranian-born American Greco-Roman wrestler, MMA Fighter and professional wrestler. Ghaffari was a two-time USA Olympic team member, obtaining a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. Ghaffari finished his career with the most Greco-Roman World and Olympic medals by a United States wrestler. Ghaffari is considered the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler in American history, and is regarded as the standard for Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States.
In all, he won six national championships, four World Cups, two Pan-American Games, seven Pan-American championships (including titles in 1990 and 1992 in freestyle wrestling), and 13 Grand Prix tournament titles. He further represented his adopted country six times in World Championships and was twice named the United States Olympic Committee Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year, in 1996 and 1998.

## Early life

Born in Tehran, Iran, Ghaffari came to the United States at a young age, he attended Paramus High School in Paramus, New Jersey.

## Greco-Roman wrestling career

He was runner-up to Aleksandr Karelin at the 1995 Karelin Cup. While representing the United States at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games and 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games, Ghaffari reached the final of the heavyweight Men's Greco-Roman 130 kg division at the latter, where he lost 0–1 to Russian overwhelming favorite Aleksandr Karelin in overtime. Ghaffari was a six-time United States wrestling champion and a two-time USA Olympic Committee Greco-Roman Athlete of the Year, in 1996 and 1998. Ghaffari ended with a 0–23 record against Karelin.
Ghaffari is currently the only American to win a combined four World and Olympic medals in Greco-Roman. Also, he holds 3 American Records the Most World and Olympic total medals, plus he was 4-time World Cup Champion, also 9-time Pan-American Champion. Ghaffari is the 2-time US Olympian and 2-time US Olympic team alternate.
In 2013, Ghaffari was inducted in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member.

## Mixed martial arts career

In 2002, Ghaffari fought in the Tokyo Dome in front of 28,000 spectators at a mixed martial arts bout in UFO- Universal Fighting-Arts Organization against judo Olympic Silver Medalist Naoya Ogawa. Ghaffari managed to take Ogawa down and attack him with a brief ground and pound, but back to standing, Ogawa landed a punch which shifted Matt's left eye contact lens and forced him to quit.

### Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown :
| 1 match | 0 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 0 | 1 |
| By submission | 0 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 0–1 | Naoya Ogawa | TKO (punch) | UFO Legend | August 8, 2002 | 1 | 0:56 | Tokyo, Japan | |

## Professional wrestling career

In 1996, Ghaffari was scouted by professional wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling and was featured in several vignettes, but did not sign up with the company.
After his stint in MMA, Ghaffari started to work in the Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE, where he won the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship with Tom Howard on December 15, 2002, by defeating Shinya Hashimoto and old opponent Naoya Ogawa. They held the championship until April 29, 2003, when they lost it to Hashimoto and Ogawa.
In 2004, Ghaffari made an appearance for HUSTLE, pinning Ogawa after a beatdown from the heel faction Monster Army (Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Dusty Rhodes Jr., Giant Silva and Dan Bobish). He retired from wrestling in 2004.

### Championships and accomplishments

* Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE
** NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tom Howard
** ZERO-ONE O-300 Super Heavyweight Championship (1 time)