Dan Charles (born September 24, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the heavyweight division.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Charles was a three-sport athlete in high school with wrestling, football, and baseball, excelling at all three.
[1] Charles had just one amateur bout; a 15 second knockout loss, but elected to make his professional MMA debut later two months later in July 2011.
He then defeated professional boxer James Wilson a month later at the Bellator MMA 2014 Monster Energy Cup via unanimous decision.
After a rematch with Dale Sopi fell through, Charles faced longtime veteran Tony Lopez for the RUF MMA Heavyweight Championship.