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Michael “The Marine” Richman lost to UK fighter Aaron Wilkinson by decision after three rounds in the first elimination round of Spike TVs “The Ulimate Fighter” Season 12.

About the first loss in his two year mixed martial arts career Mike Richman says, “I feel like I did as good as I could. I would do it again. Over and over again.”

“Don’t count me out, it’s not over. I’m a very passionate fighter, I’ll be back.”

From The Rosemount Townpages

Just two years into his career as a mixed martial arts fighter, Mike Richman is getting the ultimate opportunity to prove he was born to brawl.

Richman, a Rosemount resident and a 2003 graduate of Rosemount High School, was one of 28 lightweight fighters on screen Sept. 15 as Spike TV kicked off the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The reality competition show sets the MMA hopefuls up to live together and train together and asks them to square off week after week for a chance at a six-figure Ultimate Fighting contract.

Richman and the other fighters had to win an opening-round fight in the show’s first episode Wednesday to progress to the rest of the series.

Richman lost that first fight, but he’s still satisfied with what he has accomplished.

“I feel like I did as good as I could,” said the 24-year-old, who has an 8-0 record in matches outside The Ultimate Fighter. “I would do it again. Over and over again.”

For someone so early in his fighting career, even landing a spot on the show was a major accomplishment. Richman said he was thrilled just to have the opportunity to meet George St. Pierre and Josh Koschcheck, the MMA fighters who serve as coaches of the show’s two teams, and Dana White, the president of the UFC.

Richman hasn’t had a lot of formal training, but he’s always believed he was a natural fighter. He was a wrestler growing up, and he loved watching boxing and mixed martial arts competitions. He grew up with heavy bags in the garage of his family’s house.

Some people are born to fight, he said. They just know how to throw a punch.

“I’ve always had that feeling that I had what it took to be a fighter,” he said. “It’s more of a mental attitude. I never really was the kind of guy to get into a lot of fights. Me and my brother always scrapped and were fighting at home, but it’s more of a mentality.”

That fighter’s mentality led Richman to the Marines after he graduated from RHS. He served three combat tours as an infantryman in Iraq.

When he left the Marines in 2008 Richman jumped right into MMA training. He had his first bout just 2 1/2 months in and won, he said, largely on natural talent and determination.

Richman said his time in the Marines helped prepare him for his fighting career.

“It’s different, but the mentality is kind of the same. The toughness,” he said. “The mental toughness is the same. Being a badass in the Marine Corps. and infantry is going to help you be a badass through the tough parts in mixed martial arts.”

Richman tried out for The Ultimate Fighter on a whim. His manager told him the show would focus on lightweights for its upcoming season, so they flew to Charlotte, N.C., where the tryouts were being held. Richman was one of about 300 people who showed up to compete.

The hopefuls went through a number of competitions and evaluations.

“They kind of weed people out,” Richman said. “They want to see how you look on your feet. They’re looking for a mixture of talent and personality.”

The tryouts continued, and Richman kept getting called back for more.

“It was a little surreal after phone calls to come back and do this and do that,” Richman said. “When it all started to come together, it was crazy. It felt good. It felt really good to get where I am after a short time.”

MMA in Minnesota

Mixed martial arts fighting is growing in popularity on the local level. There are two prominent gyms in the Twin Cities that train fighters and promote fights.

There have been fights held at the Myth Nightclub in Maplewood, at the Hyatt in Minneapolis and at the Cedar Street Armory in St. Paul, where most fights are currently held.

“Every fight I’ve done, we’re talking about a 1,500-plus crowd,” Richman said “Having your fans there cheering for you, that’s the best thing. Hearing your name and then having the fans go crazy, it just fires you up.” If things go well on TV, Richman could soon have a whole lot more people cheering.

Derrick Getzel v Mike Richman

We’ve got a crowd favorite in the house. People are on their feet before the fight even begins. Richman bears an uncanny resemblance to George St. Peirre. He even has the bad boy skin trunks. Comes in with a series of lightening-quick punches. Follows with knees. His combos are quick and vicious: punch to knee to elbow to knee to knee to knee to punch. All this happens in seconds. But Getzel has a chin, just takes it and keeps going, surprises Richman with a takedown, and lands a couple elbows. Richman look solid on the ground, rotates his leg for a omoplata. Getzel moves out of it. Richman regains his feet. It’s hard to keep with the speed of this fight. Richman is lethal, but totally composed. He’s not rushing the fight. Just competing at top speed. Bam. Done. Richman ends it with a choke. He steals the show and most likely has the Strikeforce contract.

See Entire Article on City Pages Blotter

Sept 13, 2009

On Saturday night in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ambition Promotions unveiled their first in a series of events dubbed “The Crucible,” an eight man tournament with the winner getting a contract with Strikeforce.

The main event of the evening was an exciting three minutes of action, with the crowd at their loudest for the bout’s entirety.

Mike Richman came out the uber-aggressor in this one…..

…..throwing bomb after bomb to a resilient Derrick Getzel. Getzel took the punishment and got in for a takedown and nearly got to mount before Richman countered and got back to his feet. Getzel again went for a takedown, but this time Richman sprawled nicely, locked on a choke and rolled through with it to finish off Getzel and take the final spot in the semifinals.

Ambition Promotions is the promoting arm of Ambition Training Academy, home to Strikeforce’s Brett Rogers. This card on Saturday was their first ever event, and as raucous crowd throughout the night could attest, the first event was a success.

“We met our expectations,” said Joey Clark, Co-Owner of the Ambition Training Academy. “This is the beginning of something way bigger. As long as we can get a certain amount of activity this thing can springboard even further.”

The Academy just opened their doors in Eagan this May, and many were surprised by the speed in which this event was put together with a Strikeforce contract on the line, no less. But as Clark stated, “it’s because this has been in the works for a long time.” Clark said the idea for the tournament has gone back a ways, and the gathering of minds that they put together at Ambition helped bring it to fruition.

The fights themselves on Saturday night were all exciting, albeit quick. Only one fight on the card went past the first round, but most fights were competitive while they lasted.

The event got off to a hot start on the undercard with a pair of featherweight bouts. In the first fight of the night, Pat Schilling got Dusty Burford to the ground and pounded Burford into giving up his back, allowing him to get the rear naked choke and take the submission victory.

The second fight of the night saw the only blood on this card, as Randy Kittleson threw a number of elbows to Nick Tolsma as Tolsma lifted him up and slammed him to the ground. Though it was Tolsma bleeding, it was also him above Kittleson landing a number of shots as Kittleson could only cover up, forcing the ref to step in and stop the fight.

The third fight of the night was over really quickly, as Brandon Rossback locked in a standing guillotine on Sean Williams and dropped to guard to lock it in immediately, choking Williams out cold. There was a bit of a scary scene as Williams twitched and finally came to, but he recovered and was alright to walk out of the cage.

Perhaps the most dominating performance of the night came from lightweight Cody Pasquale on the final undercard bout, as he dropped his opponent Matt Eason with a flurry off the bat and punished him with elbows and punches from top position until the ref stepped in.

The final bout before the tournament saw another one-sided fight as Jeremy Hamilton unleashed a vicious assault of knees in the clinch and against the cage before the stoppage. It was Silva vs. Franklin-esque with the knees in the clinch and Hamilton took home the win.

The Crucible tournament was then set to get underway. The first round match-ups saw Gabe Walbridge against John Case, Dan Coop against Brandon Bergeron, Dustin Petron against Dane Smith, and Derrick Getzel against Mike Richman.

John Case became the first fighter to move on to the semifinals in the tournament in one of the better back and forth fights of the night. Case got a takedown and moved to mount, but Walbridge countered and got into Case’s guard. Once there, however, Case grabbed hold of a guillotine and choked Walbridge out.

The best fight of the night was also the only one to make it out of the first round. Dan Coop and Brandon Bergeron put on a very good show in the first round, a close one that was extremely hard to score. But in the second, Bergeron took over and picked up the TKO victory to move to the semifinals himself.

The third quarterfinal bout saw another submission victory on the card, as Dustin Petron made quick work of Dane Smith. Smith got caught with his head down as he shot in and Petron locked the guillotine in. Smith tried to hold on but Petron rolled over him and forced the tap.

After a great first night of action, Ambition Co-Owner Lonnie Markwell laid out the plan for the next set of events. Coming in late October/early November will be the semifinals at event number two, with the finals to take place in late December/early January.

Original Article on MMATorch

MNLB says, “I’ve made a few calls to try and find out what happened, because I personally was very much looking forward to seeing Richman fight again. Just thought I’d let all you Richman fans know, that if you were hoping to see the “Ultimate Assassin” in action on February 13th, you’re in luck. Richman will be fighting across town on the same night at Myth Nightclub for Brutaal MMA.”

It will be no-holds barred action on Friday night, June 27, as Elko Speedway and Champions Entertainment Centre will play host to a full night of ultimate fighting known as Cage Combat.

Local fighters include Burnsville’s Mike Richman.