Cuban Olympic wrestler and mixed martial artist
Michel Batista Martínez (born April 20, 1984) is a Cuban freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist. He competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the heavyweight division and currently competes in M-1 Global.
Wrestling
Batista competed for Cuba men's heavyweight wrestling category.[1] He won a gold medal for his division at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, defeating Venezuela's Luis Vivénes.[2]
Batista represented Cuba at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 96 kg class. He received an automatic free pass from the preliminary round of sixteen after U.S. wrestler Daniel Cormier had been withdrawn from the competition due to complications related to excessive weight cutting.[3] He lost the quarterfinal match to Kazakhstan's Taimuraz Tigiyev, who was able to score three points in two straight periods, leaving Batista without a single point.[4] Because his opponent advanced further into the final match, Batista offered another shot for the bronze medal by defeating his former opponent Vivenes in the repechage round. He progressed to the bronze medal match, but narrowly lost by a fall to Georgia's Giorgi Gogshelidze.[5]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Batista amassed a record of 4-0 prior join the TUF 28.[6]
The Ultimate Fighter
In August 2018, it was announced that Batista was one of the fighters featured on The Ultimate Fighter 28, competing in the heavyweight division.[7]
In the quarterfinals, Batista defeated Josh Parisian via technical knockout in the second round, allowing him to move on to the next stage of the competition.[8] In the semifinals, Batista faced Justin Frazier. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.[9]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Batista faced Maurice Greene on November 30 at The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters Finale.[10] He lost fight via a triangle choke in round one.[11]
