Dave Menne

David Jeremy Menne (born July 29, 1974) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He was the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion and has also competed for Cage Rage, Bellator, Shooto, ADCC and RINGS.

Background
Menne was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and grew up in Forest Lake, Minnesota, attending Forest Lake Area High School where he excelled in wrestling. Menne continued wrestling at the collegiate level at the University of Iowa while studying philosophy. He found Muay Thai while in Santa Fe, New Mexico before returning to Minnesota to train at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy in Shooto.

Early career
Menne made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 1997 and compiled a record of 23-5-1 with notable wins over Dennis Hallman, Jutaro Nakao, Chris Lytle, and also fought to a draw against Shonie Carter. After Menne lost to Kiyoshi Tamura at the 1999 Rings: King of Kings tournament, he signed with the UFC.

UFC
Menne made his UFC debut at UFC 24 against Fabiano Iha on March 10, 2000 and won via decision. In his next fight, outside of the UFC, he defeated Jose Landi-Jons via majority decision to become the World Extreme Fighting Cruiserweight Superfight Champion. Menne then re-signed with the RINGS organization in Japan.

RINGS
Menne made his RINGS debut against Ryuki Ueyama and fought to a draw. He fought again at an event in Hawaii, a decision loss, before winning his next two fights for the organization against Wataru Sakata and Roberto Traven, respectively. On February 8, 2001 Menne competed in the Shidokan Jitsu - Warriors 1 Tournament and defeated future UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton in the opening round, before later going on to win the tournament. In his last appearance for RINGS, Menne was defeated by Hiromitsu Kanehara via TKO.

Return to UFC
Menne returned to the UFC at UFC 33 to face Gil Castillo for the first UFC Middleweight Championship and won via unanimous decision. In his first title defense at UFC 35, Menne was defeated by Murilo Bustamante via TKO. In his next fight for the UFC, Menne faced Phil Baroni at UFC 39 and was knocked out in only 18 seconds.

After UFC 39, Menne went 9-4 in his next 13 fights before returning to the UFC at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28, 2006 against Josh Koscheck and lost via unanimous decision. Menne then fought at UFC Fight Night 7 on December 13, 2006 against Luigi Fioravanti and lost via TKO.

Bellator
Two years after his last UFC appearance, Menne picked up a win before being signed by Bellator Fighting Championships. He made his debut for the organization at Bellator IV against Norman Paraisy in the quarterfinals of the Bellator Season One Welterweight Tournament on April 17, 2009. Though the underdog coming into the fight, Menne won via third round rear naked choke submission. Less than a month later, Menne faced Omar de la Cruz at Bellator 7 on May 15, 2009. Menne lost via TKO. He left the organization in late 2009.

Post-Bellator
In his first fight since being released from Bellator, Menne fought and defeated Adrian Miles at XKL Evolution 2 on April 24, 2010. He then defeated Eric Davila via guillotine choke at UWF 1 on November 26, 2011. Menne's most recent fight is a rematch with mixed martial arts legend Murilo Bustamante, the man he lost his UFC Championship to. He lost by unanimous decision.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * UFC Middleweight Championship (One time; first)
 * HOOKnSHOOT
 * HOOKnSHOOT Lightweight Tournament Champion
 * HOOKnSHOOT Lightweight Championship (One time; first)
 * World Extreme Fighting
 * WEF Cruiserweight Superfight Championship
 * Shidokan Jitsu Warriors War 1
 * Tournament Winner