Keith Berry (fighter)

Keith Berry (born October 25, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in Bellator's Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Berry has formerly fought for the WEC, Strikeforce, King of the Cage and ShoXC. Berry is also the former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion.

Background

Berry is from Murrieta, California, and attended Murrieta Valley High School where he competed in wrestling. Despite having a quiet personality, Berry got into many fights and was eventually placed in juvenile hall. Upon his release, his wrestling coach introduced Berry to boxing.^[2]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career: World Extreme Cagefighting and King of the Cage

Berry started his career in 2005 for the California-based promotions King of the Cage and World Extreme Cagefighting. On his two bouts for WEC, he won against Donny Rider and lost against Terry Martin. For KOTC, he won five bouts and the middleweight title, remaining undefeated in the organization until his light heavyweight title fight against Tony Lopez, in which he lost via TKO in the third round.^[3]

Gladiator Challenge

Between 2009 and 2010, Berry fought four times for Gladiator Challenge, obtaining four consecutive victories. Despite having lost against Brett Cooper on Lords of the Cage, in 2011 Berry signed with Strikeforce.^[4]

Strikeforce

Berry made his debut on June 24, 2011 on Strikeforce Challengers: Fodor vs. Terry against Trevor Smith. He lost via technical submission in the second round.^[5]

Berry faced Gian Villante on August 12, 2011 at Strikeforce Challengers: Gurgel vs. Duarte. He lost via unanimous decision.^[6]

Berry was expected to face Andreas Spång on November 18, 2012 at Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers. However, for undisclosed reasons he was forced out of the bout and was replaced by Willie Parks.^[7]

Berry faced Adlan Amagov on April 14, 2012 at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman. He lost via TKO in the first round. The ruling was controversial as Amagov seemed to throw a linear kick to the knee of Berry an illegal strike under the Unified Rules of MMA. The kick caused Berry to fall down. Berry then began verbally protesting to the referee Herb Dean, who interpreted this as Berry requesting to stop the fight.^[8][9]

After two victories on Xplode Fight Series, Berry signed with Bellator.^[10]

Bellator

Berry made his debut on March 7, 2013 at Bellator 92 against Richard Rigmaden. He won via submission in the first round.^[11]

Berry faced Cortez Coleman on June 19, 2013 at Bellator 96. He won via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).^[12]

Berry faced Jeremy Kimball on July 31, 2013 at Bellator 97. He was knocked out in the 2nd round of the bout.^[13]

Berry faced Eugene Fadiora on October 25, 2013 at Bellator 105. He lost via TKO in the second round.^[14]

Berry then faced Dave Vitkay on April 11, 2014 at Bellator 116. Berry lost the bout via unanimous decision.^[15]

Berry was released from the promotion on June 25, 2014.^[16]

Despite being released in June 2014, Berry returned to face Joe Pacheco on October 3, 2014 at Bellator 127.^[17] He initially won the fight by split decision. However, Berry failed his post-fight drug test and the California commission changed the result to a No Contest.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

• King of the Cage
  • KOTC Middleweight Championship (One time)^[18]
  • One successful title defense
• Xplode Fight Series
  • XFS Middleweight Championship (One time)^[19]

Mixed martial arts record

References