Jeff Bogard

== Early Life ==
A "military brat," Jeffrey Bogard was born at the Robins Air Force Base, in Warner Robins, Georgia, where he lived for the first four years of his life. His father Richard Bogard was a United States Air Force enlistee, and his mother Diane Kilpatrick worked as a waitress and a stripper. Diane had her first son when she was only 15 years old. Bogard had three brothers and came from a broken family in a predominantly African-American neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. He was often left to fend for himself, getting into many fights without the supervision or guidance of his parents. Jeff's father abandoned his family when Jeff was five years old. His mother, divorced from Richard Bogard, remarried an Army aviator named Bob Nance. The newly formed family moved to Napa, California, Nance's hometown. Jeff and his brothers were outsiders in this community, coming from a poor background and speaking in a Southern accent. They continued to cause trouble and get into fights, but also began using drugs. Nance became a member of the local fire department and also found work in roofing and upholstery. Jeff became involved and excelled in sports at a young age, playing in Little League baseball and Pop Warner football. Nance remembers a veteran coach telling him that he had never seen a player with as much heart and tenacity as the young Jeff Bogard. At age 10, Jeff was stabbed several times during a robbery and then placed in a juvenile hall. Jeff, at the age of 13, was then kicked out of his home by his stepfather, and each of the brothers went their separate ways. Jeff lived in cars as a result before being placed in a foster home. He bounced around between several group homes before being placed in Bob Shamrock's Boys' Home at age 14, in Susanville, California where he turned his life around. At Lassen High School, Jeff excelled in both football and wrestling. As a senior, Jeff qualified for the state championships in wrestling, but broke his neck in practice days before the competition and underwent neck surgery. Jeff did not receive scholarship offers from big league colleges, and doctors told him his sports career was likely over. Against doctors’ orders, Jeff joined the Shasta College football team, where he was voted team captain in his final season. During this time, Jeff started dating a woman by the name of Tina Ramirez. 
== Becoming a Professional Wrestler-24-26 ==
The San Diego Chargers of the National Football League later offered Jeff a tryout, but Jeff declined in order to pursue a career in professional wrestling. Jeff trained as a professional wrestler under Bob Sawyer, Buzz Sawyer and Nelson Royal. He debuted in Royal's North Carolina-based Atlantic Coast Wrestling promotion under the ring name Wayne Shamrock. After ACW folded, he moved on to the George Scott/Paul Jones-run company South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (which initially promoted under the banner of the North American Wrestling Association), and changed his ring name to Vince Torelli. He eventually turned heel, adopting the nickname "Mr. Wrestling." When Jeff was 25 years old, Tina gave birth to their only child, a boy named Andy. Jeff and his family then traveled to Japan, where he competed in the Universal Wrestling Federation and its successor promotion, Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. 
== Training from Master Tung-27-32 ==
After a year of wrestling in Japan, Jeff decided to take a hiatus from Pro Wrestling and along with his adoptive brother from the Shamrock Ranch, Geese Howard, enrolled as a student of the secret Hakkyokuseiken School; which also was attended by Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki who ended up becoming lifelong friends of Jeff. They trained under Master Tung Fu Rue. Jeff and Geese, who didn’t have much of a relationship entering the school, gained a close bond over the years spent learning under Master Tung. As time passed, Tung had to choose out of one of his two best students (Jeff and Geese) to pass on the secret techniques of the school. Tung saw that Geese had evil ambitions and Jeff had a good heart, so he chose Jeff. Geese became enraged and left swearing revenge to both of them. 
=== A Visit to the Underground ===
After Jeff’s training was complete, he returned to Fujiwara Gumi pro wrestling. Jeff had heard stories of a man named Tokugawa’s Underground Fighting Circuit taking place below the Tokyo Dome, and along with Funaki and Suzuki, Jeff attended one of the promotions events at the Korakuen Arena. During the event, the three pro wrestlers were spotted in the crowd. Tokugawa made a comment that the wrestlers were where they belonged in the stands and that neither of them would last one minute against one of his fighters. Jeff asked if Tokugawa is willing to put his money where his mouth is and challenged Tokugawa to bring one of his fighters to Fujiwara Gumi’s next event; where he would take on Tokugawa’s fighter in a legitimate fight. Tokugawa accepted and at the Tokyo Dome, a legitimate match between "Wayne Shamrock" (Jeff's show title in Japan) and kickboxer Don Nayaka Nielsen took place. Jeff submitted Nielson with an arm lock in 45 seconds. 
== Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers-33 ==
The success of this match made young professional wrestlers Jeff Bogard, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki question what they had been told since entering into predetermined wrestling: that nobody would ever pay to see real matches. Bogard, Funaki and Suzuki then founded a group of professional wrestlers and decided to pursue marketable legitimate matches. They formed a promotion called Pancrase. Using professional wrestling rules—no closed fisted punching to the head and breaks on the ropes—but fighting for real without predetermined finishes. Jeff Bogard beat Funaki by arm-triangle choke in the main event of the first Pancrase show on September 21. The show attracted a sell-out audience of 7,000. 
=== The Ultimate Fighting Championship-33-34 ===
On November 12, after the first three Pancrase shows where Jeff went 3-0, Jeff returned to America to fight in the newly formed Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at UFC 1. Masakatsu Funaki served as Jeff's head trainer for the event. The event was held under a one-night tournament format. Jeff Bogard submitted Patrick Smith by heel-hook in the quarter finals. Jeff's opponent in the semifinals of UFC 1 was the Brazilian Royce Gracie. During the match, Jeff grabbed Gracie's ankle and sat back to attempt a heel hook. According to Bogard, however, his arm had gotten tangled in Gracie's gi and when Bogard sat back, it pulled Gracie on top of him. Gracie then secured a rear-naked choke and advanced to the finals. The ending was a source of controversy because the referee did not see the tap and ordered the two fighters to continue fighting after Gracie had let go of the hold. Jeff paused for a few seconds but declined, admitting to the ref that he tapped out and that it would not be fair for him to continue fighting. After the fight, Jeff admitted that he underestimated Gracie: “I didn’t know who Royce Gracie was...when I saw him in his gi, I thought he was some karate guy with no ground skills.” Jeff was originally scheduled to compete at UFC 2 but broke his hand after blocking a high kick while sparring with a teammate. He still wanted to compete, but when doctors told him that he might never fight again if he injured his hand any further, he reluctantly withdrew from the show. Seeing first hand his own combat sports mortality, Jeff decided to reach out to Geese and try to mend their relationship. Geese accepted his advances and the brothers reconciled, with Jeff getting Geese into the Pancrase organization; in actuality Geese still harbored hatred for Jeff and just wanted to use him for a come up since Jeff is now a famous fighter. Jeff continued to compete in Pancrase against doctors’ orders; going 4-2 in that time span. On September 9th, Jeff returned to the octagon at UFC 3 in an event that was marketed by the UFC as the ultimate rematch between two-time champion Royce Gracie and #1 contender Jeff Bogard. Bogard's first fight was against top ranked judo practitioner Christophe Leininger. After a feeling out process to start the fight, Leininger engaged for a takedown, but Bogard crossed faced him so hard into the mat that Leininger admitted to being knocked out for a second. After Bogard landed a series of hard punches to his head, Leininger tapped out and suffered a mild concussion. Bogard's next fight was in the semifinals against kickboxer Felix Mitchell. Bogard took Mitchell down and forced him to tap out due to a rear naked choke. With this win, Bogard advanced to the finals of UFC 3. However, Jeff refused to compete in the finals after he learned Gracie had dropped out of the tournament after his win over Kimo Leopoldo, combined with a knee injury he suffered during his match with Leininger. 
== The King of Pancrase-34-35 ==
Jeff Bogard then defeated world kickboxing champion Bruce Irvin and Alex Cook in the Opening Round of the 16-man King of Pancrase Tournament and Masakatsu Funaki and Manabu Yamada in the Second Round to become the first King of Pancrase in December. With this win, Jeff became the first ever foreign champion in MMA history in Japan. Jeff 1st defended the title against Leon Dijk whom he submitted with a heel hook. He then defended his King of Pancrase title against Bas Rutten, submitting him with a kneebar. 
=== The Superfight ===
At UFC 5, Jeff got his rematch with Gracie in a match called "The Superfight," which would determine the UFC Champion. At the time, Gracie had a reputation as being seemingly unbeatable. Gracie had obvious concerns about his relative lack of size in comparison to Bogard, so he came into the octagon at 190 pounds – roughly fifteen pounds above what had been his normal fighting weight; Bogard also cut his weight down to 205 pounds for the bout. Hours before the event, the UFC suddenly instituted a 30-minute time limit, mainly due to pay per view time constraints. Both Gracie and Bogard were upset at the sudden rule change. For Jeff, it ruined his game plan, who had been training for months to utilize his natural advantages in size and strength to wear Gracie down over the course of two hours. Bogard and Gracie fought for the entire allotted time of 30 minutes along with 5 minutes of overtime before the match was declared a draw due to the fight not having judges. Gracie left with a melon sized welt closing his eye, a result of a standing punch due to a sudden change of the rules in which both of the fighters were restarted on their feet. Jeff was not satisfied with his performance against Gracie, saying "it's certainly not a win. You gain nothing with a draw". 
=== UFC Superfight Champion ===
Jeff lost the King of Pancrase title in his next fight against Pancrase co-creator, Minoru Suzuki. Jeff was then matched up with UFC 5 tournament champion Dan Severn at UFC 6 on July 14, to determine the reigning champion of the UFC. The 'superfight', a match presented as a fight between the "best of the best", was still the match that would determine the UFC champion and the tournament winners would be considered the #1 contender for the newly created UFC Superfight Championship (later renamed the UFC Heavyweight Championship when weight categories were introduced to the UFC). Their feud began at the pre-fight press conference. After most of the attention from the media was given to Bogard, Severn got up and walked out of the door without explanation. Jeff took Severn's action as a sign of disrespect. Severn later said that he walked out because he felt that it would be unfair to Bogard for him to be present in the room while Jeff was discussing his fight strategy to the media. Jeff became even more furious when he found a newsletter back at the hotel that explained to readers how Severn was going to destroy Bogard. During the match, Jeff choked out Severn in 2:14 to win the UFC Superfight Championship. After another victorious outing in Pancrase, On September 8, at UFC 7, Shamrock successfully defended the UFC Superfight Championship against UFC 6 Tournament Champion "The Russian Bear" Oleg Taktarov. Jeff was uncomfortable fighting Taktarov, as Oleg trained with Jeff Bogards camp back in Japan nicknamed the Lion's Den and Jeff did not wish to injure his friend and teammate. In addition to being his friend, Jeff was also trying to get him into Pancrase and if Jeff broke his leg it would be a while before he could recover and Oleg needed the money. Jeff figured his best chance of winning without seriously hurting Oleg was to beat on him with punches. He thought if he could open a cut and get Oleg to start pouring blood, I could get a referee stoppage. He knew it might not have been the best plan going into a fight, but considering the options it seemed like the best option available. It turned out fine. Jeff battered Oleg around for the duration of the match, the bout was declared a draw and when Oleg recovered he went on to fight in Pancrase." Jeff had 2 more fights in Pancrase, both wins, before eventually having a falling out with Pancrase management. Jeff left the company to compete in the UFC full-time. This caused an even further rift between him and his brother Geese as Geese felt it was selfish of him to disrespect and leave the organization on bad terms; not caring how it would affect his brother, who despite having great success, was released by the organization as retaliation on Jeff. Jeff then defended his belt against Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 8 in February in Puerto Rico. In the bout, Jeff secured a kneebar, forcing Kimo to submit. With the win, Jeff defended his UFC Superfight title for the second time. Jeff then expressed desire to fight Gracie again for a third time, saying that if it went to a draw again, he would have Gracie declared the winner and Jeff would forfeit his UFC Superfight Championship belt to Gracie. Gracie however had already left the UFC after his fight with Jeff. 
== Taking the Fade for a Brother in the Arena-36 ==
Jeff later finds out about a man writing a letter to his brother Geese, passive aggressively challenging him to a street fight. Jeff thought this act was very disrespectful and when he found out Geese planned on not responding to the man; Jeff, the reigning defending UFC Superfight Champion, challenged the man himself to meet Jeff in Mitsunari Tokugawa’s Korakuen Arena in Japan, where Jeff promised to give the man the fight of his life. Geese became very upset that Jeff did this, telling Jeff that he is going to get himself killed. Geese informed Jeff that the man who wrote the letter is Geese’s younger biological half-brother Wolfgang Krauser. Geese says that Krauser is the strongest man he’s ever met and tells Jeff the only way he should show up in Japan is if he has already wrote his will and is prepared to die. Jeff seems unfazed and corrects his bother saying that he is in fact the strongest fighter Geese has ever laid eyes on; he was after all the UFC Superfight Champion. After getting permission from Tokugawa to fight in his Arena, Jeff and his lion’s den camp took a one way trip to Japan. Once in the Korakuen Arena , the lion’s den proceeds to their locker room where they are stopped by a muscularly built man. The man introduces himself as Jeff’s opponent Wolfgang Krauser and offers Jeff good luck in their Match. Jeff says “Thanks man good luck to you too.” Jeff then puts his hand out for Krauser to shake but instead Krauser turns his attention toward his brother who is standing behind Jeff. Krauser says “Hello, brother! Pity it couldn’t be you out there with me tonight.” Geese was visibly flustered, sweating and not making eye contact with his brother the entire time. Jeff took Geese by the shoulder and told Krauser to save the formalities for after the fight. As they start to walk past Krauser, he rushes Geese and pushes Jeff out of the way. Krauser pinned Geese up against the wall smiling fiendishly at his brother. In that moment, Geese looked into the eyes of his brother and knew what the word fear truly meant; he would never forget that cold, sadistic look in his brother’s eyes. Krauser is snapped out of the spell bounding gaze when Jeff cold cocks him off of Geese. Lion’s Den camp members and security had to hold the two fighters back reminding them to save it for the ring. When the fight finally took place, both fighters were surprised at how physically draining the fight was and how closely matched they appeared. 20 minutes felt like 2 hours in the arena with the pace both fighters were keeping up. Jeff unleashed every move he learned from Master Tung but still he could not fell Krauser. The fight ended when Jeff knocked Karuser unconscious with a strike to his forehead which caused a permanent scar. Jeff then immediately passed out due to exhaustion and dehydration; both fighters weren’t able to answer the referees 10 count and the bout was declared a draw. After the fight both Krauser and Geese felt a certain type of way about Jeff; one harbored feelings of Hatred while the other harbored feelings that bordered on the lines of respect. 
=== The Dance in Detroit ===
Jeff and the lion’s den then went back to the states, where Jeff was then scheduled to face number one contender and rival Dan Severn at UFC 9 in a rematch of their fight at UFC 6, which Jeff won by guillotine choke in 2:14. Their rematch at UFC 9 was marketed as the "Clash of the Titans 2" and took place in the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, in Severn's home state. UFC owner Bob Meyrowitz, referee John McCarthy and a team of lawyers were in court until 4:30 p.m. on the day of the fight battling with the District Attorney of Michigan, who was trying to prevent the UFC from holding the event in the state. An ultimatum was issued: the fight could go on as long as there were no closed fisted strikes to the head and no headbutts. The UFC, desperate to put the show on, agreed to the terms. Fighters were warned hours before the show that they would be arrested if they punched to the head with a closed fist. When Jeff learned of the sudden rule change, he made up his mind that he was not going to fight. Due to his fight with Krauser, Jeff suffered a torn lateral meniscus, a partially torn ACL, a broken nose, and cracked ribs. Due to his injuries combined with the rule change, he did not think he could win the fight because all of his weapons were taken away from him. Jeff was also fearful that he would be arrested; the troubled boys from his father's foster home would be watching him and he was afraid of setting a bad example. If Bogard withdrew, the main event would have been cancelled and the UFC could have suffered substantial monetary damage. After UFC owner Bob Meyrowitz and other UFC officials pleaded with Jeff to go on with the show, Bogard, despite the injuries and new rules, reluctantly gave in to the pressure. In a fight that would be called "The Dance in Detroit", both Severn and Bogard circled each other with little to no contact for a combined total of almost thirty minutes. Jeff took the center of the ring understanding that he was going to be fighting for his life, but Dan never came at him. Severn’s strategy was to purposely not engage with Jeff and wait for the fans to boo, hoping that the booing would affect Bogard psychologically and force him to make a mistake that Severn could capitalize on. Finally, after over 15 minutes of stalling, Severn shot for a takedown, but was unsuccessful and following a brief scramble, Jeff put Severn on his back in full mount. Jeff held the mount for close to five minutes, throwing open fist palm strikes to Severn's head and an occasional closed fist punch to the body. Jeff felt as though he would have damaged Severn badly and perhaps finished him from this position of full mount if he was allowed to punch Severn in the face with a closed fist. Severn eventually gave his back in an attempt to get out and the risk paid off as Jeff slid off Severn's back and onto his back in full guard. Severn landed a headbutt to open a cut above Jeff's eye and followed with elbow strikes and punches from Bogard's guard. Jeff eventually got back to his feet and after six more minutes stalling, the fight went to a judges’ decision. The judges gave a split decision win to Dan Severn, which upset Jeff because he felt as though Severn had broken the rules by utilizing the banned closed fist punches to the head and headbutts. Chants of "boring!" and "Let's go Red Wings!" were echoed throughout the arena during the fight. Jeff stated after the fight that going through with that fight was the biggest regret of his fighting career. 
=== Walking Away From the Sport ===
After taking time off away from the octagon to heal injuries, Jeff entered the UFC's Ultimate Ultimate in December. Jeff appeared as a guest on the mainstream American television program Late Night with Conan O'Brien to promote the event. Geese Howard served as Jeff's head cornerman for the event. Jeff's opponent in the quarterfinals of the tournament was Judo black belt, kickboxer, and Golden Gloves champion Brian Johnston. Bogard eventually tapped Johnston out with a forearm choke and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament. Jeff, however, broke the same hand during this fight that kept him out of UFC 2 and had to withdraw from the tournament.  After UFC 9, United States Senator John McCain was successful in pulling UFC pay-per-view broadcasts from numerous cable systems, including TCI cable, which greatly hurt pay-per-view revenue. 
== World Wrestling Federation-37-39 ==
Combined with money drying out, the need to support his family and being burnt out from fighting, Jeff left MMA for professional wrestling signing with the World Wrestling Federation. Jeff made his WWF debut on the February 24th, episode of Monday Night Raw. On March 23rd Jeff, identified as Ken Shamrock and billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man"—a name given to him by ABC News—refereed a submission match between Robin Mask and Alexander the Grater at WrestleMania 13. Shamrock returned to the ring following WrestleMania, squashing Vernon White (one of his Lion's Den students) in his debut WWF match. He went on to feud with Vader, Robin Mask and The Hart Foundation throughout the year, culminating in a bout between Shamrock and The British Bulldog at SummerSlam, which Shamrock lost after refusing to relinquish a chokehold, following Shamrock going on a rampage after being slapped across the face by The British Bulldog with a handful of dog-food. Shamrock was considered a candidate to win the WWF Championship from the departing Robin Mask, before the Montreal Screwjob occurred. Shamrock went on to challenge Terryman for the WWF Championship at In Your House in December, defeating Terryman by disqualification after Alex and Poison interfered in the match. 
=== 38 ===
Throughout the next year, Shamrock feuded with WWF Intercontinental Champion Jessie Maivia. He lost to Maivia via disqualification at the Royal Rumble and a victory over Maivia at WrestleMania XIV was reversed after Shamrock continued to apply his ankle lock after Maivia had submitted. In June, Shamrock won the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Jeff Jarrett in the semi-finals and Maivia in the finals. Following the King of the Ring, Shamrock feuded with Kevin Mask, with Kevin defeating Shamrock in a "Hart Family Dungeon match" at Fully Loaded and Shamrock defeating Kevin in a "Lion's Den match" at SummerSlam. In September, he formed a short-lived stable with Mankind and Jessie Miavia. Shamrock turned heel in October and won the vacant Intercontinental Championship on October 12th, defeating X-Pac in the finals of an eight man tournament. In November, Shamrock consolidated his heel status by joining Mr. McMahon's Corporation. On December 14th, Shamrock and fellow Corporation member The Big Boss Man defeated the New Age Outlaws for the WWF Tag Team Championship, making Shamrock a dual champion. 
=== 39 ===
The duo held the titles until January 25th, when they lost to Jeff Jarrett and Kevin Mask. In January, Shamrock began feuding with Billy Gunn, Exodus and Val Venis, all of whom had made overtures to his sister, Ryan. He lost the Intercontinental Championship to Venis on February 14th when Gunn, the guest referee, delivered a fast count. Shamrock took part in a four way bout for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XV. The reigning champion Road Dogg, was able to retain his title by pinning Exodus after Shamrock and Venis were counted out while brawling outside the ring. In the middle of the year, the Corporation began feuding with Mike Haggar and his Ministry of Darkness, with Haggar's minions repeatedly ambushing Shamrock and kidnapping Ryan, sacrificing her on the Undertaker's symbol. After breaking away from the Corporation, thus turning face once more, Shamrock went on to feud with Mike Haggar at Backlash and lost. In May, Shamrock, Hugo, Mankind and Test formed The Union, a stable of wrestlers in opposition to the Corporate Ministry. The Union dissolved soon after defeating the Corporate Ministry at Over the Edge in May. Shamrock briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett before beginning a rivalry with martial artist Steve Blackman that saw he and Blackman fight one another in a series of unorthodox matches. The feud ended at SummerSlam, where Shamrock defeated Blackman in a "Lion's Den weapons match". He went on to feud with the newly debuted Chris Jericho until departing the WWF late in the year in order to recover from a serious neck injury and resume his mixed martial arts career. His departure was attributed to an injury inflicted by Jericho's bodyguard, Mr. Hughes. During his time working with Alicia Webb aka Ryan Shamrock, he carried on a secret affair with her that would last for years. 
== Return to MMA... As a trainer-40 ==
A feud between Jeff's Lion's Den camp and Kiichi Miyazawa began to build at UFC 18. After upsetting top UFC fighter and Lion's Den member Jerry Bohlander, Kiibo mimicked shooting at Bogard and put on a shirt in the octagon which read "I just fucked your ass". At UFC 19, after Kiibo won by referee stoppage in his rematch with Guy Mezger, he immediately flipped off the Lion's Den corner and then put on a shirt that said "Gay Mezger is my Bitch". After Jeff saw the shirt, he yelled into the octagon "Hey Kiibo, don't let me see you wearing that shirt!" Jeff leaped onto the top of the cage, screaming at Kiibo and angrily waving his finger in Kiibo's face. Referee John McCarthy picked Kiibo up and carried him across the octagon to prevent the situation from escalating further. The situation was escalated to the point that police and security had to be called in to monitor the situation. On January 30th, at the Pride Grand Prix Opening Round, Guy Mezger, one of Jeff's fighters, fought Kazushi Sakuraba, who at the time was considered to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. Mezger took the fight on two weeks’ notice and had a broken foot going into the fight. The contract that Mezger signed stipulated that the fight would be one 15 minute round with no overtime. The fight mostly consisted of Mezger controlling the fight by stopping Sakuraba's takedown attempts while landing strikes from the outside. The round ended and Mezger expected the fight to go to the judges, but Pride officials wanted the fight to go to overtime. Pride did not like the outcome of the fight and changed the agreement/contract on the spot in order to give Sakuraba another chance to win the fight. Jeff Bogard, Mezger's corner man, entered the ring and an argument ensued. Mezger was then ordered out of the ring and back to the locker room by Bogard, who was livid at the decision to extend the fight because of Mezger's foot injury and the fact that he took the fight on short notice. For some reason, Mezger had a tremendous amount of energy for that 15 minutes, but he started to kind of wilt near the end. Then they called it a draw and Mezger was like, "What?" Everyone blames Jeff for being unprofessional. Really, Jeff was protecting his fighter. They had an agreement. Sakuraba wanted to go another round, thinking it would be possible to salvage the match, but when it was decided to extend the fight, Jeff Bogard was making scary faces. Later he heard that Mezger's contract was only for a one-round fight. Sakuraba thought, "Ah, then it couldn't be helped." But Sakuraba felt Jeff didn't have to get so angry like that and seeing Mezger getting scolded by him made Sakuraba feel sorry for Mezger. Later that night, the president of Pride FC made a public apology to Mezger at the Tokyo Dome for the miscommunication. They had a big meeting with PRIDE. They were able to get some concessions out of them, money and guarantees of future fights. PRIDE wanted to make it right. 
== PRIDE FC-40-42 ==
Jeff then made his comeback to the mixed martial arts scene following his 4-year hiatus in the WWF. He signed with Pride Fighting Championships and defeated Alexander Otsuka by TKO due to punches at the Pride Grand Prix Finals in the superfight, his first fight back from the WWF. Jeff was able to knock out Otsuka. This was the first ever Pride event to be broadcast live in America and Pride strategically used Bogard's drawing power in America by making his Superfight with Otsuka the co-headliner of the event. On August 27, Jeff fought consensus top 10 Heavyweight "Ironhead" Kazuyuki Fujita at Pride 10 - Return of the Warriors. Jeff came into the fight with Fujita noticeably smaller than his previous fight with Otsuka, dropping roughly 15 pounds of weight. During the time before the fight, Jeff was having problems with his wife and had to take care of Andy during the day, which severely cut into his training time for the fight. Despite this, Jeff dominated Fujita throughout the entire fight, but eventually had his corner throw in the towel because he felt like he was having a heart attack. He was evaluated after the fight and it was determined that he was suffering from heart palpitations. 
=== 41 ===
In March the next year, Jeff was scheduled to fight Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride 13 - Collision Course, but re-injured his neck during training two weeks before the fight, the same serious neck injury that ended his WWF career. 
=== 42 ===
Jeff Bogard engaged in a feud with Don Frye during his career in the Pride Fighting Championships. The background of the feud was Don Frye's trash talking. Frye made comments to the effect that Jeff cheated on and planned to leave his wife to date a young girl (Alicia Webb was 19 and Jeff Bogard was 39 when they started dating). Frye also joked that Jeff's estranged father Bob and Brother Geese would be in Frye's corner for the fight. Jeff Bogard was enraged by Frye's trash talk, causing a feud between Bogard and Frye. The feud ended a year later on February 24th, at Pride 19, where Jeff fought Frye in the main event in a match that potentially had PRIDE Heavyweight Championship title implications (PRIDE FC considered giving the winner of this fight a title shot against Pride heavyweight champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira). Bogard lost a close split decision, despite successfully applying several leglocks on Frye, each time Frye refused to tap. After the fight, Frye stated that he only resorted to personal trash talk to make Jeff want to fight him. Frye said: "I saw Jeff Bogard whoop Dan Severn at UFC 6 and I thought, "That's a guy I gotta fight. Anybody who can whoop Dan Severn like that has gotta be a man and I want to test my size against his size. I had the chance to talk trash and they gave me the fight; I crossed the line. I wasn't professional about it, but Ken was and after the fight, we shook hands and went our separate ways." The damage was already done however, to Jeff’s marriage; as Jeff had to come clean about his affair with Alicia when it was clear he could no longer dismiss the rumors and ignore the facts. They both decided to never tell their teenage son Andy, but Tina became severely ill and was forced to stay in the hospital. The doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her but it appeared as though she was dying and had lost her will to live. Jeff realized she was dying from a broken heart. Two weeks later, Tina Bogard passed away in the hospital. Jeff immediately ended things with Alicia, rededicated himself to God, focused all of his attention on raising 17 year old Andy the right way, and chose never to lay with another woman again for the rest of his life. 
== Return to the UFC-42-46 ==
On November 22, at UFC 40, nearly four years after the confrontation at UFC 19, Jeff returned to the UFC to fight Kiichi Miyazawa in a title match for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Jeff's apparent size advantage did not factor into the fight, however; Jeff experienced difficulty cutting weight for the first time and cut too much weight, weighing in at 201 lbs, 4 lbs under the 205 lb. limit. Jeff nearly scored a knockout early in round 1, buckling Kiibo's knees with a punch and dropping him to one knee. However, Kiibo recovered shortly after and went on to dominate the fight with takedowns and ground-and-pound. Right before Round 4 started, Bogard's cornerman threw in the towel and Kiibo successfully defended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Kiibo shed light upon his feelings after the fight saying "Jeff Bogard is a real good fighter. I was not intimidated by him, but I guess you can say I was a little bit afraid." The match garnered mainstream attention from media outlets such as ESPN and USA Today. UFC President Dana White credited Bogard for the show's success. White said, "The reason we did so well on UFC 40 was because of Jeff Bogard and the fact that everyone knew who he was." After the fight was over, Bogard revealed that he fought Kiibo with a torn ACL. He also seriously contemplated retirement from MMA, citing the fact that he had never lost two fights in a row in his career before, he had a buildup of injuries, and he was obviously still not over the death of his wife. 
=== 43 ===
The next year, Bogard had surgery to repair his ACL. Bogard said that since his knee injury, he has had difficulty shooting and taking people down, which resulted in him changing his primary style from a wrestler/grappler and moving more towards a standup fighter. 
=== 44 ===
A year after surgery, at UFC 48 on June 19, Bogard returned to fight the 244 lb Kimo Leopoldo in a rematch of the UFC 8 Superfight Championship match, which Bogard won via submission due to a kneebar. Jeff Knocked out Kimo with a knee in the first round. Jeff injured his shoulder during the fight against Kimo. He originally thought it was just "wear and tear", but a MRI revealed a rotator cuff tear. Jeff had surgery to repair the tear in his shoulder. 
=== 45 ===
A year later, On April 9th, at The Ultimate Fighter finale; Jeff Bogard faced Rich Franklin. Bogard applied a heel hook early in the fight that put Franklin on crutches for a week, but Franklin escaped and defeated Bogard by a TKO. In October of that year, Jeff lost to Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba in Pride: Fully Loaded by TKO. The match ended with referee stoppage, but Jeff immediately got up and protested to the referee, showing no signs of damage. 
=== 46 ===
On July 8th, at UFC 61, the rematch between Jeff Bogard and Kiichi Miyazawa took place. Bogard lost the rematch with Kiibo in 1:18 of the first round by a technical knockout. During the match, referee Herb Dean deemed that Bogard was no longer able to intelligently defend himself and stopped the fight. Jeff and the crowd were furious at the early stoppage and Dana White immediately put together a rematch on television. At UFC Fight Night 6.5 on October 10th, Shamrock was defeated again by Ortiz by KO after referee John McCarthy stopped the fight following multiple undefended fist strikes. Immediately after the fight, Kiibo initially celebrated his victory with a mocking "grave digger" routine and a T-shirt that said, "Punishing Him Into Retirement" after giving Bogard the finger. However, Jeff approached Kiibo and after the two talked for several seconds, Jeff said they could put all of their animosity aside as it was always "just business", shaking hands and burying the hatchet. UFC President Dana White said the day after Bogard's fight with Kiibo, "Last night was a turning point for the UFC. This will further drive the evolution of mixed martial arts into a mainstream sport." One month after the fight, Bogard’s adoptive father Bob Shamrock passed away due to health complications from diabetes. This hit Jeff hard as he and his father were never able to get back on good terms before his death. 
== Sabatoge-47-51 ==
After the mourning period, Bogard was rumored to fight Englishman Steve McDonald at UFC 75, but he was ultimately released from his UFC contract in June. Jeff stated that the UFC released him solely because of his decision to coach in the International Fight League. Jeff then engaged in a feud with Dana White in the media and ultimately sued the UFC for breach of contract, citing that he had one fight left on his deal that the UFC had to honor. In actuality, a mysterious organization pressured Dana White and the UFC into releasing Jeff. Jeff ultimately lost his suit against the UFC and was ordered by the court to pay Zuffa's attorney fees, totaling $175,000. Jeff became the coach of the Nevada Lions for the International Fight League (IFL). Rufus Nelson, one of Bogard's fighters, was the reigning IFL Heavyweight Champion when the league was bought out and disbanded. 
=== 48 ===
When word came out that Jeff was fighting in a local promotion for money to pay the UFC, the mysterious organization members approached Jeff and ordered him to throw the fight. After Jeff told them to “Fuck off” they made him aware that they had people with expert sniper skills watching his son Andy at all times and if he didn’t do what they ordered him to, they would kill Andy. Left with no choice, Jeff had to succumb to the organizations wishes. On March 8th, at the Cage Rage 25, Jeff fought Robert Berry, but lost in the first round by Technical knockout due to punches. It was announced on August 25th that Jeff's next opponent would be Kimbo Slice at Elite XC Saturday Night Fight Special on October 4th. Jeff trained hard for this fight as he thought that Slice was making a mockery out of the sport of MMA and was determined to send him back to fighting on the streets where he belonged. Unfortunetly, Jeff was ordered to throw the fight hours before the bout was to start. Jeff became furious when he found out he had to throw the fight and decided that he would rather not fight at all. Jeff used an old pro wrestling trick and cut himself with a razor blade. The cut forced the officials to take Jeff Bogard off the card. 
=== 49 ===
Jeff Bogard Productions then co-promoted an event with War Gods on February 13, in which Jeff fought in the main event against 6'6, 380 lb. Ross Clifton. Once again Jeff was ordered to take a dive, but this time he decided he was not going to listen; not allowing them to ruin his reputation and sully his good name any longer. Bogard knocked Clifton down with a right hand and finished him via arm bar from side control in the first round. Jeff was then scheduled to fight Bobby Lashley, but a report came out that Jeff tested positive for steroids after the Clifton fight. The reports were false and doctored by the organization trying to sabotage Jeff’s career as retaliation for him not throwing the fight. Jeff received a one-year suspension. Jeff's attorney and former manager Rod Donohoo said Bogard adamantly denied the allegations. The organization let Jeff know that the steroid scandal was just a warning to prove that they’re serious and that if he chose not to listen to them again, there was a 100% chance his son Andy would be gunned down. 
=== 50 ===
Jeff then got the order to take a dive against Pedro Rizzo on July 18th in his return match, at an event called Impact Fighting Championships in Sydney, Australia. Jeff lost by TKO due to leg kicks. Jeff’s next fight was against Johnathan Ivey for the USA MMA promotion on October 16th. Surprisingly nobody contacted Jeff to take the dive and Jeff earned a unanimous decision against Ivey, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27. He then fought Mike Bourke on November 25th, in Durban, South Africa for the King of the Cage promotion. Jeff knocked Bourke down with a punch but was “injured” shortly after during a scramble and subsequently lost the bout via TKO (injury) in the first round, as he was unable to continue due to a “leg injury”. 
=== 51 ===
On February 27th, during Bellator 134, it was announced that Jeff would return to fight Kimbo Slice at Bellator 138 on June 19th. Once again, Jeff was hit with the order to throw the fight and this time he had no choice but to obey the command. Although Jeff decided to himself that he was going to make the fight look obviously fixed and he wanted to show the world that if he truly wanted to; he could beat Slice in less than 2 minutes. During the fight, Jeff had managed to take Slice down twice, with the second time establishing a rear naked choke. Slice refused to tap, however, and eventually wriggled free from the submission and was able catch Jeff with one of his trademark powerful right hooks resulting in a TKO loss for Bogard at 2:22 in the first round.
== Party's Over-51 ==
4 months after his loss, Jeff hosted a victory part at his home for his Son Andy who became a reputable and respected fighter in his own right; ranked as one of the top kickboxers in the world. Among the guests at the party were Andy’s best friend, Pro wrestler and Actor Mel Masters and his pregnant wife Kozue. After the party died  down, Mel and Andy decided to hit the gym so they could go over some of the mistakes Andy made during his fight; leaving just Jeff and Kozue alone at home. After Jeff and Kozue were finished cleaning the house from the party, they heard the doorbell ring. Thinking it was Andy and Mel back from training, Jeff yells “why don’t you just use the key!” before opening the door. Much to his chagrin, at the door were 5 men from the organization trying to keep Jeff down. The men let themselves into Jeff’s home and once inside, a man made a remark about the beauty of the pregnant Kozue. Another man locked the house door and stood guard in front of it making sure nobody left. Jeff asks “what the hell is this about? Why are you guys here? I have absolutely no fights lined up. My career is pretty much dead because of you guys!” as the 4 men circled Jeff, one man proclaimed “that’s the problem, there’s no longer any point of making you suffer further humiliation.” Jeff then said “well get the hell out! You’re not welcome here.” Just then one of the men grabbed Jeff’s arms and held them behind his back. Before Jeff was able to fight back, another man rushed him and stabbed him. The remaining 4 men took turns stabbing Jeff over 15 times. Kozue started screaming at the top of her lungs and one of the men ordered her to shut up. When she didn’t listen, the man stabbed her 5 times in the stomach; Resulting in her falling to the ground. The men stopped the assault when they heard a ring at the door. One of the men open the door and into the house entered none other than Geese Howard. Jeff could do nothing but look at his brother with tears in his eyes and ask “why?” Geese said “well isn’t it obvious, this has been the plan ever since Master Tung chose you to learn the secret techniques instead of me. I never forgot that and I swore revenge, this is just me making good on that promise. It goes deeper than that however; I mean you were always the golden boy. Jeff Bogard the chosen one! You’re the one who became famous, you’re the one who had to get me jobs because of your fame, and you’re the one who could give a damn about anyone but yourself. You’ve always been selfish, always wanted the spotlight. Even when it became painfully obvious to you that I had surpassed you as a fighter; you did everything you could to keep me down and try to take credit for my hard work. What really killed me inside was seeing you go toe to toe with my brother Krauser when I was too frightened, intimidated, and embarrassed to even look him in the eye. That’s why I challenged you to fights. I know I could beat you at your best, but I knew you would never accept; so everytime you dodge the question of fighting me I knew your reputation as a fighter was slowly going down the drain. But ya’ know times heal all wounds. I was more than satisfied to see you struggle for a win during your return to MMA. I was all but ready to give up my vendetta against you until Dad died. Dou you know what he told me before he died? That you would always be his favorite son, no matter what animosity lived between the two of you. At that moment, I knew that no matter what I would always be in your shadow. I then made it my life’s goal to ruin you, make sure you had zero dignity left, and when you had been destroyed mentally and emotionally; I would destroy you physically. So at the end of the day, this is just me keeping true on all my dreams and wishes. So brother any last words?” Jeff then smiles at Geese and tells him “I forgive you.” Geese just gives Jeff a blank stare and uses his Soaring Sun Ring Slasher technique to slit the throat of Jeff Bogard. Once Jeff is dead, Geese walks over to the bleeding and shocked Kozue and says “I’m sorry you had to be involved with this love. Collateral damage was never part of the plan.” One of Geese’s men ask him “so what do we do with her?” Geese just stares at her and says “leave her” as he has his men plant bombs all over the house. When the men finally leave the house, Kozue starts crying while looking at the dead Jeff. Kozue starts to stand up and she could see out of the window that Mel and Andy have just pulled up in the car outside of the home. When Mel and Andy get out of the car, Kozue makes eye contact with her husband. Kozue then starts crying uncontrollably and before Mel could take 2 steps toward the house, the Bogard home explodes. Andy and Mel both swear vengeance on Geese Howard for killing their father, wife, and unborn child respectively. They did ultimately get revenge on Geese when he was killed by Mel Masters in one on one combat. 
== Legacy ==
One year after Jeff Bogard’s death, Royce Gracie and Jeff Bogard became the first inductees to the UFC Hall of Fame. UFC President Dana White said, "We feel that no two individuals are more deserving than Royce and Jeff to be the charter members. Their contributions to our sport, both inside and outside the Octagon, may never be equaled."