Don Frye

**Donald "Don" Frye** (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, amateur and professional wrestler, UFC Hall of Famer and actor. In MMA he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and he had instant success, winning the UFC 8 and Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournaments and finishing as runner-up UFC 10 in his first year of competition. Despite his accomplishments, he retired from MMA in 1997 to pursue a career in professional wrestling with New Japan Pro Wrestling and quickly became one of the company's leading heels. After spending four years as one of Japan's top gaijin wrestlers, Frye returned to MMA with the Pride Fighting Championships in September 2001, much more muscle-bound and sporting an American patriot persona in response to the September 11 attacks. After developing a reputation for toughness and fighting spirit, mostly due to his legendary bouts with Ken Shamrock and Yoshihiro Takayama during his two-year stint in Pride, Frye departed the promotion to compete in K-1 and Hero's in 2004 but returned for the final Pride event in 2007. Frye was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2016.

After leaving the UFC, Frye went into professional wrestling and was trained by Brad Rheingans and Curt Hennig. He debuted for New Japan Pro Wrestling in August 1997, defeating Kazuyuki Fujita in his first match. Frye wrestled his final match on March 17, 2013, at an event held by AJPW in Tokyo.

Don Frye began acting in movies with Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), playing the role of Captain Douglas Gordon.

2005 turned out to be a busy year for Frye as he made several appearances. In Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy, he played Rocco Piedra, the father of a wrestling family who dreams on marrying their child off to a famous wrestler. He also appeared in No Rules and starred in Nagurimono. In 2006, he made an appearance as an Aryan Brotherhood member in Miami Vice, lent his voice for The Ant Bully, and appeared in the Rob Schneider prison comedy Big Stan, along with fellow mixed martial artists Randy Couture and Bob Sapp in 2007.

He played Clarence Hurt, a Texas Ranger, in Public Enemies, by director Michael Mann.

Since he competed in Pride FC, he has also appeared in several commercial ads in Japan. The latest one is a television ad for a yakisoba product named "UFO" produced by Nissin Foods (an executive officer was a fierce fan of Frye). His significant popularity in Japan in the 2000s might be attributed to his "good old tough fuddy-duddy" character reminiscent of sheriffs in some 1960s American movies.

Frye appeared in an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia entitled "The Gang Wrestles for the Troops," in which he played a professional wrestler that was getting pummeled by Roddy Piper's character, "Da' Maniac". He is credited on IMDb for the role as "Wrestling Opponent".

Frye also appeared in a new AT&T mini-movie advertisement for the Blackberry Bold 9700 entitled "Stay One Step Ahead" during the 2009 holiday season.

Frye provided the voice for the main villain Matt Ninesister in the third installment of the Stick 10: Even More Swag animated specials, The United League of Stereotypes.

## Dream Cast Roles

* Warrior, Boxer (Heavyweight), MMA Fighter (Heavyweight), Gangster, Enforcer, Club-Goer, Father, Mayor, Police Officer, Chief, Manager, Gym-Goer, Beach-Goer, Mutant, Supernatural.

## External links

* Don Frye Profile #1
* Don Frye Profile #2