Born and raised in California, Phan began training in Tae Kwon Do at the age of four. A few years later, Phan began karate and did that for eight years earning his black belt. By the age of 16, he had earned a second degree black belt in Việt Quyền Đạo, a Vietnamese combat martial art. Phan then began studying Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the year 2000 earning his black belt [2] He is also a professional boxer with a record of 3-8-1.[3]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Phan made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Jason Maxwell in October 2001, and won due to a second-round TKO. He then won his following three fights also, before tasting defeat at the hands of Rob McCullough in April 2003. In December 2006, and now with a 12–2 record, he made his promotional debut with Strikeforce against Josh Thomson at Strikeforce: Triple Threat. He lost via unanimous decision, however, and was also defeated in his next, and last, Strikeforce fight against Billy Evangelista at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson.
He then won the Extreme Fighters World Championships by defeating Shad Smith via TKO at 1:11 of the first round on October 6, 2007.
In the preliminary fight, Phan fought Spencer Paige, winning via unanimous decision to give Koscheck's team their first win. The first round was closely contested until the final seconds where Phan got a takedown, ground and pounded, and then applied a kimura. In between rounds, Paige told his corner that his left foot was broken.[6] Phan would go on to continue pressuring Paige in the second round to win the fight.[7]
For his quarter-final fight, Phan was selected to fight Cody McKenzie. Phan defeated McKenzie via TKO (punches) in round 2, securing his spot in the semi-finals.[8] In the semi-final round, Phan faced Michael Johnson. In a back-and-forth fight, Johnson scored takedowns. The consensus at the fight was that Johnson won the opening round, whilst Phan won the second. The third round, however, was argued over, with the coach of each respective fighter believing that their fighter took it. Johnson was declared the winner via split decision.[9]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Phan was expected to face Alex Caceres on December 4, 2010, at The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck Finale. However, Caceres was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Leonard Garcia.[10] Phan lost the fight against Garcia via a controversial split decision. Due to the controversy surrounding the decision, both fighters were awarded a win bonus by the UFC and the fight earned Fight of the Night honors.[11][12] The loss was named as 2010 Robbery of the Year by many MMA websites, most notably by Sherdog.com.[13]
A rematch with Garcia was expected on March 26, 2011, at UFC Fight Night 24.[14] However, Phan was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Chan Sung Jung.[15]
Phan faced Mike Brown on August 6, 2011, at UFC 133.[16] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Phan was expected to face Matt Grice on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136, replacing an injured Josh Grispi.[17] However, Grice was forced out of the bout with an injury with Leonard Garcia stepping in to replace him.[18][19] Phan won via unanimous decision, also earning both fighters Fight of the Night bonuses.
Phan next faced Jimy Hettes on December 30, 2011, at UFC 141.[20] Phan was dominated by Hettes throughout the fight, unable to stop the many takedowns of his opponent and losing via unanimous decision.
Phan was briefly linked to a bout with Zhang Tie Quan on February 26, 2012, at UFC 144.[21] However, for unknown reasons, the bout never materialized.
Phan faced Dennis Siver on December 8, 2012, at UFC on Fox 5, replacing an injured Eddie Yagin.[23] Nam went into the fight with a passive posture, and proceeded to be dominated through the entire three rounds in both stand up and ground games, ultimately losing by unanimous decision. One of the judges scored 10-8 in favor of Siver on all three rounds.
In his first fight post-UFC, Phan faced Kenichi Ito at Grandslam MMA: Way of the Cage on July 13, 2014.[27] He won the fight via first-round TKO.[28]
Phan then faced Yuki Baba at Pancrase 261 on October 5, 2014. Phan won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.[29]
Bellator MMA
On October 17, 2014, it was announced that Phan has signed with Bellator. He made his debut for the promotion against Mike Richman on November 15, 2014, at Bellator 131.[30] Phan lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
Retirement
On March 12, 2017, after his loss to Whiteford, Phan announced his retirement from MMA competition.
Boxing
Nam Phan is currently on a 7 fight losing streak with a record of 3 wins 8 losses and 1 draw. [2]
Personal life
Phan takes pride in his Vietnamese heritage and is part of the Vietnamese-American community. He proudly displays both the American and South Vietnamese flags on his gi as a symbol of his pride in the freedom of his current home and of his lost homeland. Phan owns and runs the Madu Academy, where he teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as boxing and Muay Thai. In 2005, Phan co-founded Ma Du Entertainment, a business to promote mixed martial arts fighters.
Championships and accomplishments
CTE
There has been wide speculation of Nam Phan having traumatic brain damage evident in his slurred speech and aggressive change in interviews and articles."
MMA fans and experts have expressed their concern over a distressing video of former UFC fighter Nam Phan which shows a marked deterioration in his speech over his career.
Phan, 41, is a retired American mixed martial artist and professional boxer who started competing professionally in 2001.
" Daily Mail
The sporters reports "There is speculation that Nam Phan, 41, may be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) due to repeated head trauma. Nam Phan's speech decline over 11 years has sparked CTE concerns among MMA fans. [3] "[4][5][6]
