Carlos Newton
Carlos Newton (born August 17, 1976) is an Anguillian-born Canadian retired mixed martial artist. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion and Pride FC Japan MMA Legend. Known as "The Ronin", he competed worldwide in the biggest MMA organizations including UFC, Pride FC, IFL, K-1, Shooto and most recently W-1. He is a 3rd Degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt alongside his coach Terry Riggs under Renzo Gracie, at Warrior MMA in Newmarket, Ontario. Newton has always been considered a fan favourite and a "Submission Master" and has dubbed his personal fighting style — an amalgam of Brazilian  Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wrestling, Karate, and Boxing — as "Dragon Ball Jiu-Jitsu" in tribute to Dragon Ball, a Japanese manga and anime franchise. As a testament to his worldwide popularity, Newton is one of only a few MMA athletes to ever be allowed to compete in the UFC and Pride FC at the same time. In Canada he is respected as a mixed martial arts pioneer, he was the first Canadian UFC Champion at UFC 31 (Welterweight) defeating Pat Miletich. Early life. Carlos Newton was born in Anguilla and moved to Canada at a young age. He attended Westview Centennial  Secondary School in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto, Ontario. Newton competed in numerous Jiu-Jitsu and BJJ competitions in Canada and across the world, starting under the legendary Tom Sharkey. Notably the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates against Rodrigo Gracie of the legendary Gracie family. Newton started his Jiu-Jitsu competing career out of the Samurai Club in Toronto. Shortly after, in 1996, Terry Riggs founded Warrior Mixed Martial Arts in Newmarket, Ontario, which was Canada's first official MMA Academy; Newton followed his long time training partner and made it his  home. Out of Warrior MMA, Newton's career flourished under the coaching of Terry Riggs and Everton McEwan. Newton, a Toronto's York University student, did his study on geriatric medicine, having done research at Baycrest Hospital, one of the world leaders in geriatric care. Mixed martial arts career. Newton's professional mixed martial arts career began at the early age of 19, as the youngest no-holds-barred extreme fighter ever. His first match was one of the most memorable "David vs Goliath" NHB fights in history, with Newton giving up over 100 lbs to a much larger Jean  Rivière on the Extreme Fighting 2 card in April 1996. After dominating much of the fight, it ended with a submission loss due to sheer exhaustion for Newton, however, the spectacle of the brave smaller fighter launched his career. Newton competed in the world's top mixed martial arts organizations such as Shooto, K-1 and Pride Fighting Championships in Japan, UFC in America and W-1 in Canada. Pride FC and Shooto Japan. Newton started his famed Japan fight career with a win over Erik Paulson to become the Vale Tudo Japan World Champion. After a few dominating fights in the  Shooto organization he then moved on to PRIDE FC considered to be the top MMA show in the world along with the UFC. In June 1998, Newton lost a technical bout in Pride Fighting Championships against Kazushi Sakuraba. The Sakuraba vs. Newton fight is remembered today as a classic and one of the best MMA fights ever for submission grappling fans. This legendary fight propelled both fighters to MMA superstardom. Newton went on in the PRIDE Japan to rack up wins over Daijiro Matsui, Naoki Sano, Johil de Oliveira, all on his way to a spectacular armbar victory over "Pelé  José Landi-Jons at Pride 19 in February, 2002. After this win Pride President Naoto Morishita declared, Newton is considered the unofficial PRIDE middle weight Champion". In October, 2003 Newton further solidified his place in history with a split-decision victory over the estimable Renzo Gracie at Pride Bushido 1. Ultimate Fighting Championships. Newton's fourth and fifth fights marked his UFC debut at UFC 17, defeating Bob Gilstrap and losing a controversial decision to Dan Henderson on the same night for the middle weight tournament title. Newton's greatest professional accomplishment in his career was capturing the UFC Welterweight  Championship from Pat Miletich in May 2001. The reign was short lived however, as Newton lost his first title defense in November of that same year at "UFC 34" against accomplished wrestler Matt Hughes. Newton had a triangle choke locked in on Hughes, but Hughes picked up Newton, walked him to the corner and dropped Newton to the mat as he fell unconscious, causing Newton to hit his head and also lose consciousness. Both Hughes and Newton were unconscious, however John McCarthy only saw that Newton was unconscious Newton and awarded Hughes the victory despite Hughes asking "what happened?" in  a confused state after regaining consciousness. K-1 HEROs. Newton was set for a comeback fight at K-1's HEROs MMA promotion against Melvin Manhoef at the Ariake Coliseum on August 5, but had to pull out of the fight at the last minute due to a torn ligament in his knee. He made a second attempt at a comeback in K-1 HEROs, this time facing Tokimitsu Ishizawa. Newton made short work of the Japanese fighter, needing only four punches to score the TKO victory in just 22 seconds. He then faced Shungo Oyama at Hero's Korea 2007 where he  lost by submission due to punches. International Fight League. Newton and Riggs were the coaches of the Toronto Dragons in the IFL in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Based out of Warrior MMA in Newmarket, the Dragons were made up of international notable fighters such as Claude Patrick, Wagnney Fabiano, Brent Beauparlant, Rafael Cavalcante, Leo Santos and Dennis Hallman. The Dragons made the play offs in 2006 season and went on as far as the semifinals round. Wagnney Fabiano from the team qualified and won the IFL Lightweight Championship. Newton fought in a superfight that year and lost to Renzo  Gracie by way of an extremely controversial split decision at the IFL Championship Final. Gracie himself questioned the call after the fight. W-1. Carlos, motivated by a chance to compete in Canada, made a return to MMA again 2009 at Warrior-1: Inception. He scored a first round victory by way of KO against Nabil Khatib, this was Carlos's first fight on Canadian soil in 13 years. He again returned to action on October 10, 2009 against former UFC veteran "Mr. International" Shonie Carter at Warrior-1: High Voltage. The bout was to be for the Warrior-1 Welterweight Championship, but because  Newton did not make weight, it was a non-title bout. Newton beat Carter by unanimous decision after three rounds. In 2009, after his win over Shonie Carter, he stated in an interview to Sherdog that he was anticipating his return to fighting abroad with particular interest in Japan. However, after one more fight in Australia, Newton decided, that after a successful fight career that spanned 14 years, it was finally time to take a break and focus on coaching. Following his retirement, Newton had coached at his home gym, Warrior Mixed Martial Arts, in Newmarket, Ontario, until he eventually  opened and begun coaching at his own gym, Newton Mixed Martial Arts, in Pickering, Ontario.